Author(s)

ISABEL MARIA MADALENO

Abstract

The current contribution compares flora eaten in the 16th century with food grown, traded and consumed in Lisbon and the outskirts by Portuguese families now. About 500 years separate the writings of the poet, who lived in Lisbon and nearby locations (Alenquer), but also extensively travelled all around the route of spices (Indian and Atlantic Oceans) for several years having experienced all types of food that the Portuguese sought to import to Europe, in the period of Ottoman Empire expansion, which turned the traditional caravan’s route impossible. Camões’ experiences, both in Portugal and in the Extreme Orient, turned his writings into a good source of secondary information about flora, giving us the opportunity to explore the food stores, restaurants, cafés, supermarkets, bakeries, home gardens and to inquire about the diet of Lisbon and Alenquer Portuguese families, including the food supply chains used in the metropolitan area of Lisbon in Portugal. The methodology used in this contribution was twofold: (1) Literature analysis and flora identification in six Camões writings; and (2) food gardened, traded and consumed in Lisbon Metropolis and surroundings, using the techniques of inquire, participative observation, street walking, scientific literature analysis and online flora taxonomical links consultation. The results show that almost all of the 37 food and spice plant species referred to by the 16th century poet are consumed nowadays, many of them supplied from home gardens and nearby small farms.

Keywords

city food chains, urban agriculture, food sovereignty, Lisbon, Portugal