How to Clean a Fish: And Other Adventures in Portugal

"Perhaps it is saudade that pulls me back to visit my other country as often as possible. When the opportunity arose for our family to live in Costa da Caparica for an extended period, it took only minutes to decide. We were going."

How to Clean a Fish is an inviting family travel story about an extended stay in Portugal, full of food and cooking adventures, language barriers and bureaucracy, and that irresistible need to connect with the culture of our birth. After immigrating to Canada as a young child, Esmeralda Cabral remembers the initial shock--the weather, the wide and empty streets--and the immediate longing, saudade, to return to her homeland. That longing changed over time but never completely left. Cabral and her Canadian-born family had visited Portugal as tourists, but were now returning as residents for eight months, bringing along their Portuguese Water Dog, Maggie. Cabral has a deep desire to pass on her heritage to her children. By exploring the intricacies of adapting to a culture that is at once familiar and foreign, she reveals that the search for identity and belonging is a universal story. How to Clean a Fish will appeal to travellers and foodies, those curious about Portuguese culture, and to anyone who has moved from one place to another and is searching for their own version of "home."