The saudade/hüzünlü octopus, by Rukiye Uçar.
We crave you, we miss you, we yearn for you
Your eight legs of heaven
Portuguese octopus!
Jump in some rice
or olive oil
for us –Zeynep & Ezra
Seems like we ate octopus in some form every day during our recent vacation in Portugal: usually chopped up in bit size chunks, drizzled with virgin olive oil, served cold. Once, at a Fado night in Lisbon’s Alfama district, it was mixed with rice, a light and garlicky tomato sauce.
So, on honor of the octopus and her 8 delicious legs, which both Turks and Portuguese love (it was on the tourist menu, at least), I thought I’d write about similarities between my adopted country and Portugal.
8. Yearning for the past — Melancholic nostalgia is so strong in both cultures that both have a word for it: saudade in Portuguese; hüzün in Turkish. For the Portuguese, they yearn for the glory Age of Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries, when Portugal’s tentacles (hey-oo!) of trade and conquest stretched from Brazil to Japan. Turkey’s, of course, is all about the Ottoman glory days — which happened around the same time — and its centuries of land based conquests from the gates of Vienna to the Bab el-Mandeb. Saudade is expressed in Portugal by means of fado.
The Porto waterfront on an early June afternoon.
7. Waiting for the savior — Both countries revere strong leaders, and according to a couple Portuguese people we met, at least, Portugal is waiting for that great noble leader to take them back to aforementioned glory days. Portuguese wait for another Alfonso I, the brash first king of Portugal in the 12th century. Some Turks yearn for Süleyman the Magnificent, the Ottoman conquerer at the apex of Ottomania. More recently Turks wait for a benevolent dictator like Atatürk, and the culture of head strong, confrontational leaders explains the popularity of Recep Tayip Erdoğan. Portugal had Antonio Salazar, who was, like Atatürk, a learned and authoritarian leader — albeit far more controversial. Both men presided after times of chaos, Salazar’s being after the first republic, when there were 44 governments in 16 years. Atatürk , of course, came after World War I to resuscitate a devastated Turkish society.
6. Futbol! — Yeah yeah, futbol is big EVERYWHERE, you say. What I mean is the similarity of their respective top-heavy domestic leagues. Both have a “big three” which have won nearly all domestic first league titles. Turkey has the big three Istanbul clubs, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe. Portugal has Benfica, Sporting Clube de Portugal and FC Porto, which of course, is located in Porto, the second largest city.
5. Lower Brittania — White, pasty bodies hop off the plane; lobsterbacks hop back on. Droves of British tourists and retirees form contribute to a huge portion of the GDPs of both nations. About 2.1 British nationals visit Portugal every year, 2.5 million visit Turkey, according to official statistics.. In Turkey, it’s Marmaris, Kusadasi, Bodrum. In Portugal, it’s Lagos and the south coast.
4, Brain Drain — There was a brief period of hope that Turkey would be a boom country around the time I came to Turkey, but especially now, secular Turks are leaving, fearful of an intolerant, religious, authoritarian regime and sluggish economic growth. The outflow started in the 1960’s with German guest worker programs. Portugal had a similar exodus in the 1960’s of people fleeing Salazar. But those emigrations in both nations were mostly poor, uneducated. Now, it’s the educated human capital which is leaving. Apparently, London is the most popular destination for young Portuguese. Hey, at least Portugal is in the EU.
3, Climate — Both have Mediterranean climates. But both also have a number of climate zones for being relatively small countries. The moist, maritime climate of the costal regions of Portugal is like the Black Sea. The Douro Valley is classic Mediterranean. Lisbon feels like Istanbul: the metropolitan area is at the confluence of Mediterranean and continental/maritime zones. Sintra (north of Lisbon) and Sile/Agava (north of Istanbul) are green and cloudier places influenced by the Black Sea and Atlantic, respectively , while the Princes’ Islands and Lisbon’s estuary fronting areas have distinct Mediterranean feels.
2, Complaining — Ok this one is a bit of reach, since everyone loves to complain. But like the Turks, Portuguese can complain about their culture all they want, but you are better off not complaining too much if you are a foreigner! The sun is shining, there is delicious seafood and wine, but the Portuguese will still find something to complain about, or so I have been told!
This tomato has the Portuguese cross! Ay, maria, it’s a miracle! (Octopus and rice at Fado night in Alfama, Lisbon)
1. Food! — Did you think I was going to end with anything else? I’ll start with seafood, as it’s the theme here. Hand it to the Portuguese for more creative culinary creations, like octopus rice, but the staple is throwing the fish on the grill, eating it as it looks when it’s alive, as it is in Turkey with balık izgara. Cod, now no longer found in Portuguese seas, is everywhere, but so are common fish found in Turkey, such as sea bream, mullet, etc. There’s loads of olives, too, of course, not to mention mezze/tapas culture (our octopus salads are quite similar) called petiscos in Portuguese, and long slow dinners over a bottle and some conversation.