There are, at least, six varieties of red porgy along the Portuguese coast. The “legitimate red porgy” is the most known. It is a greedy and migratory predator that feed on squid, crab and other fish. Between December and April, it is abundant for the Vicentina coast fisherman, where it is line caught by the Sagres boats. Our dear friend Carlos Duarte is the illustrious representative of this fish and he can bring us the most beautiful exemplars of an intense rose colour and blue eyebrow, with a muscular and compact meat, full of complex and dense flavour.

The red skin and the immaculate white meat make this fish one of the gastronomic ex-libris of our waters. Very unsocial, its captures are scattered and occasional. At the table, it is a success in cataplanas and fish soups, due to the firmness of the meat that resists very well the cooking process. The taste? Some compare it to the Spiny Lobster.

Also known as “Striped Porgy” due to the stripes that alternate on its back, in red tones, pink and white tones. It is a rare porgy on Portuguese coast, finding it exclusively on the Algarve coast. But it is the chosen one by our brothers, the Spanish. Similarly, to the other porgies, it should be cooked whole in the oven to better express its characteristic and gastronomic potential.