It's Official: Percebes At 125 Euros A Kilo!

[MiguelCardoso]

This morning, while placing my regular order at the Lisbon El Corte Inglés (which expertly deliver live shellfish as well as everything else) I was told a shipment of "percebes" ( goose barnacles) from Galicia had just arrived, so I naturally ordered a kilo, which usually costs between 50 and 60 euros. My friend at the fish counter, probably when her supervisor wasn't watching, warned me that these, though they were no fresher or better than usual, would cost me a whopping 125 euros a kilo - more than double.

Only 20 years ago, percebes were almost free. In fact, on the coast, you got a free small plate with a dozen of them whenever you ordered a beer. As the appetite for them has grown (specially in inland Spain and Portugal) and their harvest (quite dangerous when the weather's bad) has become more difficult - not to mention the ravages of oil spills and pollution in general - their price has escalated beyond anyone's most pessimistic predictions.

There are a lot of cheap live percebes on the market (from Morocco, Peru, practically everywhere in South America) but they're enormous, chewy, dry and entirely devoid of that particular sea-tangy delicate flavour of Galician and Portuguese percebes. Frozen percebes, about 15 euros a kilo, are a waste of money. There really is no substitute.

In Summer, when their harvest is easy, the prices tumble - but consumers have become used to the high prices and they never descend below 40 to 50 euros a kilo, unless you travel to the little fishing villages where they're caught.

125 euros is a nightmare and probably a freak occurrence. But already 3 kilos had been sold...

The same price spiral has affected "angulas" - the delicious baby elvers we Iberians so treasure quickly fried in olive oil, garlic and two "malagueta" peppers. Not only are they prohibitively expensive (the best ones) but they're also becoming rarer, so that the few restaurants who can get their hands on prime, just-caught percebes and angullas will keep them for their best customers only, via a well-established phonecall system.

How difficult it is to pay such prices for delicacies we once took for granted!

I need some help here: what should a gourmet's correct attitude be?

(For the record, I refused the percebes and rose hell, ordering two very angry lobsters instead. Two one-and-a-half pounders, caught yesterday off Peniche, cost me 120 euros. That's a kilo and a half of wild "lavagante" for the price of a kilo of goose barnacles.)

My, how times have changed...

Edited April 13, 2004 by MiguelCardoso (log)

[Bux]

Foie gras seems to have become more plentiful and less expensive, but eating certain seafood is becoming a bit like going to Mecca. Something one hopes to do at least once in one's lifetime, but not something that's an everyday occurrence. Perhaps I exaggerate, but just a bit, or maybe I'm accurately predicting the future.

[vserna]

The future is now, Bux: current price for elvers (angulas) is 550 euros/kilo. About $300 a pound...

[Chloe]

Percebes were 40-something euros in the Corte Inglés in Vigo the other week, and 20-something in my "local" cheap-ish supermarket - though I didn't notice the origins of those. And €18 for a reasonable dish of percebes at a restaurant in Baiona last weekend.

Chloë

Ponte de Lima

Ed: just to show that I was talking about the price of goose barnacles, not elvers!

Edited April 14, 2004 by Chloe (log)

[MiguelCardoso]

Mecca is right, Bux. What scares me, though, is the wild exponential price growth.

Vserna: truth is I haven't had angulas for two years - now I know why. How much does a little "cazuela" cost in a restaurant? Are they easy to find? Gambrinus here in Lisbon - probably the most expensive restaurant we have - has actually stopped serving them, not because of the price (that never stops them) but because they can't get their hands on a decent supply. There are a lot of inferior elvers - like the Portuguese "meixão" and worse - but they are not a patch on the real thing.

To continue Bux's theme and open up the discussion, here is a list of current prices for the best live shellfish in Lisbon, per kilo, with the price five years ago in brackets:

"Bruxas" or "borboletas", called "santiaguinhos" in Galicia (small slipper lobsters):

75 to 100 euros (40 in 1999).

"Camarão especial de Espinho", plump red tiny shrimp from the North and Galicia, probably the most delectable shellfish of all:

100 to 150 euros (75 in 1999). Brittany imports: 75 euros.

Big "Lagostins" (Dublin Bay Prawns), at least 400 grammes each:

100 to 125 euros (75-100 in 1999).

"Cavacos" (big slipper lobsters from the Azores, "cigales"):

75 to 100 euros (same price in 1999).

"Gamba" from the Algarve or Cascais (big prawns):

60 to 75 euros (50-60 in 1999)

"Lavagante" (European lobster):

70 to 80 euros (same in 1999, probably more)

N.B. African, Carribean and American or Canadian lobsters are 50 to 60 euros.

"Lagosta" (European spiny lobster):

75 to 90 euros (same in 1999)

"Santola" (Spider Crab):

30 to 40 euros (same in 1999)

"Navalheiras" ("Nécoras" in Spanish; Iberian small crab):

40 to 60 euros (25 to 40 in 1999).

Percebes have registered the biggest increase, as have "canilhas", "burriés", "búzios" and all other conch molluscs (whelks, winkles, conch).

The only shellfish which has actually gone down a lot are oysters and mussels - but they're cultivated, so they don't count.

I wonder whether the Iberian passion for shellfish has lumbered us with the highest prices in the world as imports from Brittany (and France is a richer country) are about half-price and from elsewhere even less...

Depressing, no?

[docsconz]

Wow, That is extremely depressing. I expect the prices have gone up as delicacies such as these have become more desired outside of their traditional zones. They are in effect victims of what eGullet represents - the burgeoning interest in all things food. That is the unfortunate conundrum that is certainly not limited to Iberia or shellfish - look what has happened to the price of wine, specially high-end wines, with the exponential growth in oenophilia of the 90's.

[MiguelCardoso]

Docsconz: Still, it would be OK if you were sure of a supply. Say it's a big day and you want "camarão de espinho" and screw the expense.

The truth, however, is that they're so hard to come by. As prices rise, overfishing becomes worse and it becomes a vicious circle. Mind you, I'm talking about live shellfish, caught on the very day and brought in in the clean sea water they were caught in. You get to examine them in the buckets and watch them plunge into the same (now boiling) water. A few minutes later, you're eating them still warm. No holding tanks - well, not for more than 24 hours. Shellfish starve in tanks and lose their flavour and energy.

To gain access to these catches you must spend at least an hour a day phoning round (or answering the phone) so you're kept in touch. Usually, catches come in gluts, which means you eat what's available, in larger quantities than you otherwise would eat, because you know it may be a long time before the opportunity presents itself again. You can't just eat your way through a selection of shellfish, unless you settle for the "old" shellfish which has been kept alive in tanks.

Or for the "stale" already-cooked, already-dead, probably frozen and almost certainly kept cold, which burns shellfish. Even two hours of refrigeration is enough to rid a simple shrimp of all its delight.

I imagine scoring hard drugs is much easier and cheaper...

Edited April 14, 2004 by MiguelCardoso (log)

[docsconz]

Docsconz: Still, it would be OK if you were sure of a supply. Say it's a big day and you want "camarão de espinho" and screw the expense.

The truth, however, is that they're so hard to come by. As prices rise, overfishing becomes worse and it becomes a vicious circle. Mind you, I'm talking about live shellfish, caught on the very day and brought in in the clean sea water they were caught in. You get to examine them in the buckets and watch them plunge into the same (now boiling) water. A few minutes later, you're eating them still warm. No holding tanks - well, not for more than 24 hours. Shellfish starve in tanks and lose their flavour and energy.

To gain access to these catches you must spend at least an hour a day phoning round (or answering the phone) so you're kept in touch. Usually, catches come in gluts, which means you eat what's available, in larger quantities than you otherwise would eat, because you know it may be a long time before the opportunity presents itself again. You can't just eat your way through a selection of shellfish, unless you settle for the "old" shellfish which has been kept alive in tanks.

Or for the "stale" already-cooked, already-dead, probably frozen and almost certainly kept cold, which burns shellfish. Even two hours of refrigeration is enough to rid a simple shrimp of all its delight.

I imagine scoring hard drugs is much easier and cheaper...

I feel your pain You are so right that it is a vicious circle. another ironic twist is that demand can actually rise because a product does become expensive and hard to come by. Once again, using an example from the world of wine, the effect on availability and price of a high-scoring Parker wine.

I am certainly jealous though of anyone who can regularly experience the delights of high quality extremely fresh seafood on a regular basis. This is one area where coastal europe has it all over the US. I remember the markets (esp. seafood) of Barcelona, Palermo, Venice, Siracusa and Naples with rapture. I particularly remember the live octopi climbing out of their buckets just off the boats outside of Palermo

I'm looking forward to a return trip to Catalunya and the Basque countries for a little fine dining at the end of September. I'm hoping to extend and finish our trip in Portugal, where hopefully, I will be able to find and experience some of the delights you have mentioned here and in other threads.

[johnnyd]

Miguel,

I can't believe that price! The whole list was eye-opening. I remember whole fleets fishing for lulas at night off the Algarve each July. Their lights were quite a sight. What has happened to THAT fishery? I can't imagine not seeing Lulas em su tinto on a menu in P. How about tuna?

Joaozinho

[clothier]

can I ask a question?

And I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, but are you typing in english or in Spanish?

and do you see this forum in english or spanish?

thanks!

[Chloe]

Miguel

Do your prices refer to restaurants, shops, wholesale???

Chloe

Ponte de Lima

[Bux]

can I ask a question?

And I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, but are you typing in english or in Spanish?

and do you see this forum in english or spanish?

thanks!

I'm typing in English. How does it appear on your screen. Miguel, by the way, would most likely be typing in Portuguese when he's not typing in English. The text you see is the text we enter. There's no magic artificial intelligence at work here translating posts from one language to another, if that's your question. One need only try running some text through one of the online translators to see the state of that art.

[clothier]

that was my question. thanks for the answer.

[Steve Klc]

Miguel--how much of the increased demand and price do you suspect is due to 1) use in traditional dishes--in either restaurants or homes 2) use by more creative and modern chefs and 3) due to export demand?

[MiguelCardoso]

Hello there, Steve! I don't suppose you could have asked an easier question after having wowed the chefs of Lisbon with your magnificent displays?

It's not export demand because, so far as I know, no shellfish is exported - even to Japan - because of the high prices. The traffic is the other way - into Portugal and Spain - attracted by how much people here are prepared to pay. In the case of Galicia, which has excellent percebes and red shrimp, Portugal and (the rest of) Spain bid against each other.

There's never any danger of not selling as "mariscos" are uniquely considered a luxury which must be indulged - people just close their eyes and open their wallets. Even at these prices, prime, live shellfish are difficult to find and turn up, at most, once or twice a week.

The Portuguese would never eat freshly caught live shellfish any other way but simply boiled - although some heathens grill their spiny lobsters. For shellfish dishes - like the "arroz de marisco" - they'll use fresh (but dead) or frozen. I've had "arroz de marisco" made with live shellfish twice, made by an expert cook (in Porto de Santa Maria), because I insisted. I selected the poor creatures myself - but it was a huge disappointment, no better than the usual version. (The second time was because I couldn't believe the first, stupid and stubborn as I am).

The Galicians have a wholly different attitude to shellfish and actually season them and cook them up in imaginative ways - which we deplore. Some of them still boil their pristine percebes with a leaf of laurel - perhaps a hangover from old times when they were a bit whiffy. Their wonderful scallops are rarely eaten without the addition of garlic or tomato or what have you. Delicious...but a waste, I think.

Like the Japanese, we rarely eat shellfish at home. I like to, but I'm an exception. A "mariscada" is a joyous occasion where friends enjoy shellfish together and screw the expense. It's less fun if you're not in a crowded room, where someone inevitably will say "I don't care how much it costs - it's worth it!"

It's this attitude which leads to the current, outrageous prices. Funnily enough, with any other food - including fish! - the Portuguese are notoriously tight-fisted. "Expensive is worse than rotten" is a popular saying. But shellfish is this great big exception.

Damn, because it's so good!

Perhaps, in some weird psychological potlatch-like way, paying so much for it and having to look so hard for it is part of the pleasure.

P.S. After hearing about the courageous and brilliant version of "arroz doce" you presented to your fellow professionals here, to so much applause, I inevitably await your take on the "arroz de mariscos" which, though it's made everywhere, is very rarely as sublime as it could be! :)

[vserna]

The Galicians have a wholly different attitude to shellfish and actually season them and cook them up in imaginative ways - which we deplore.  Some of them still boil their pristine percebes with a leaf of laurel - perhaps a hangover from old times when they were a bit whiffy.  Their wonderful scallops are rarely eaten without the addition of garlic or tomato or what have you.  Delicious...but a waste, I think.

This is one of the reasons why the Portuguese and the Brits get along so famously, Miguel - their shared belief that boiling fish (or roasting meat) is all that's needed in the kitchen.

This, with all due respect, is a reductionist attitude that leads to a limited cuisine, ultimately translating into endless repetition and negating gustatory progress. France and China became the gastronomic superpowers of the world because their philosophy was entirely different from the simplistic approach: for centuries or millennia they constantly sought to improve on even the best raw materials nature provided us with, by applying technique and imagination at every juncture. A similar philosophy, with a modicum of impertinent Hispanic revisionism added, is what has propelled Spain to the forefront of the world culinary scene in less than a quarter-century.

There must be room both for the simply boiled and the deftly manipulated ingredients in any great cuisine. And even within a specific range of raw materials - say, seafood - there must be variety, from the pristinely simple to the plat cuisiné, as the French call it. Or, as the Spanish saying goes, en la variedad está el gusto, "taste lies in variety".

Going back to your Galician example, I would reply that you distort the facts somehow. Galicia is by far the most conservative coastal region in Spain as regards the treatment given to shellfish. Be it lobsters, Arcade oysters, Carril clams, langoustines or camarón shrimps, 90% of the time they eat everyting either raw or simply boiled. They are right, of course - these are hard to improve on. But if you alternate your boiled or raw seafood, in a nice iodine-rich meal, with a flavorful cockle-stuffed empanada (pie) or a plate of zamburiñas (the tiny scallops which the French call pétoncles) that have been very briefly cooked in the oven with some minced onion and a few breadcrumbs on top - then you're in the world of cuisine, not just of eating!

Move clockwise from Galicia to Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia and Andalucía, and the culinary habits become much more deplorable - in the boiling-is-best mindset.

Sea spiders transformed into txangurro by the Basques, spiny lobsters thrown into the fragrant, thyme-and-saffron-flavored sea stew called a suquet de peix by the Catalans, clams dropped on a seafood paella by the Valencians, red Garrucha gamba shrimps that are seared a la plancha with some sea salt by the Murcians or these gambas' relatives, the white shrimps that are deep-fried in batter with olive oil, en gabardina, by the Andalusians... oh my, what a countless list of atrocities inflicted upon the poor maritime creatures by those interventionist Spaniards!

[MiguelCardoso]

I couldn't agree more, vserna. I was referring to live, wild-caught hard-to-find crustaceans like that plump red shrimp, percebes and small slipper lobsters. They're just too good to use in cooked dishes and wouldn't make a difference from regular, live tank-held or just very fresh but dead or, in the case of prawns, even frozen. Spider crabs and spiny lobsters are an exception as they're still plentiful. There a lot of fine Portuguese dishes - some very complex - made with shellfish, molluscs and fish. It's a bit like properly cut, very fresh sashimi: enjoying it raw just adds to the many pleasurable ways the fish can be cooked.

Sixty years ago, shellfish was very cheap and abundant and resourceful cooks, sick of the taste of it, were obliged to seek out interesting ways of cooking it - some which successfully masked its original taste. Lobsters were so plentiful that a lot of them were just used as fertilizer. But times have changed, unfortunately!

[Bux]

For what it's worth, I saw percebes at the Corte Ingles for about 115 euros the other day in Valencia. I was surprised at how large they were. In the central market, we had seen percebes for maybe half the price, but they were quite tiny. Local gambas on the other hand seemed far better in the local market. All in all however, the Valenican Corte Ingles seemed like an exceppent place to shop for food. We'll have to check out a Corte Ingles in Madrid before we leave. For those who are unfamiliar with Spain, Corte Ingles is a, or perhaps the, major department store chain with branches all over Spain. In a large city, there will be branches all over town.