224. Italy vs. Portugal

It would take unusual chutzpah to compare Italy, a country where I’ve spent a total of nearly a year over the past six decades, and that looms large in my family’s psyche, with little Portugal, where I’ve spent a grand total of three full days in only one city. But the shoe fits, and here I go:

Food: Italy 4, Portugal 2. Italian food is universally known and arguably the world’s favorite cuisine. And if we’ve learned anything from Stanley Tucci, actual Italian food (not Italian-American) is endless in its regional variety. This turns out to also be true in Portugal, even though it is barely a third the size of Italy. I grew up outside Fall River, Massachusetts, where the majority of people were of Portuguese heritage, from the Azores. I was surprised to learn that the food in Lisbon, where I stayed, was quite different from what I grew up with and expected to find, because of the regionality of the Portuguese cuisine.

That said, the food was excellent, with an emphasis on seafood and pork. There were endless varieties of dishes made from dried salt cod, bacalhau, all imported from Iceland and Norway.

Another specialty was tinned fish, especially sardines, in brightly decorated packages.

And from breakfast to midnight snack, the people eat pasteis de nata, a small egg custard pastry.

As we often do, we went on a food tour of Lisbon. It’s a great way to sample local favorites, typically at out-of-the-way places filled with locals. The guides are always highly educated and knowledgable, so you get just the right dose of history and culture. On our tour, we sampled ginjinha, a liquor made from sour cherries, and Jamon Iberico de Bellota, Portuguese premium ham that is rated by the percentage of acorns in the pig’s diet.

It was all very good, if a little sparse on the vegetables, but it looses points for range and variety.

Decorative Arts: Portugal 3, Italy 2. I love Italy’s decorative arts: its ceramics, mosaics, and blown glass.

But the tiles and ceramics in Portugal were the best I’ve ever seen.

And they use them everywhere. Even our hotel room had extensive tiling on the walls, for no particular reason except just for their beauty. It made me want to come home and tile up my whole house.

I was surprised to learn that Portugal produces more than half of the world’s cork. And when you think cork, don’t just think about stopping up bottles of wine. In Portugal, they use cork for bags and purses, and clothing. You can even get a cork postcard.

People: Portugal 0, Italy 0. I am second to none in my appreciation of the Italian people. But contrary to stereotype, I find them somewhat reserved, in comparison to the warmth I experienced from the Portuguese people I encountered. I was also struck by the population diversity I saw everywhere — much more than Italy — seemingly originating from their former colonies around the world: Brazil, Goa, Angola, Mozambique, Macau. Sadly, Portugal’s history of brutal colonization, which included forced labor, economic exploitation, and the theft of natural resources from the indigenous people, lasted deep into the 20th century.

Things were not always great on their own turf either. We learned the sad story of the Portuguese treatment of Jews, beginning with the 1496 decree to forcibly convert them to placate Spain, where the Inquisition had already begun. These “New Christians” were never trusted, and the Portuguese began their own Inquisition in 1536 to root out those who the authorities suspected of secretly practicing Judaism, ultimately persecuting more than 40,000 over the next two centuries. The Lisbon Massacre occurred in 1506 at the Church of Sao Domingos, after someone questioned whether a beam of light on the altar thought to be a miracle was perhaps from the angle of the sunlight through the window and not from the Holy Spirit. As a result of the religious hysteria that followed, 2,000 Jews were burned at the stake in front of the church.

How does this dreadful history stack up next to Mussolini’s alliance with Hitler in World War II? Nearly 8,000 Italian Jews, out of 50,000, perished in the war, mostly by being rounded up and deported to the Nazi death camps throughout Europe.

I don’t want to be in the business of determining who’s better and who’s worse. They both stink, and they both get a zero.

Crazy Soccer Fandom: Italy 2, Portugal 1. Like much of the world, Portugal and Italy are mad for football. And in both countries, there is a star onto whom they can project their passion. Portugal has Cristiano Ronaldo, considered one of the greatest of all time, scoring 100 goals for four different clubs, and named the world’s highest paid athlete and the most famous athlete many years running. Even if, like me, you know next to nothing about football, a few hours strolling around Lisbon would school you quickly about Ronaldo, whose life-size statue adorns the entrances of sporting stores around Lisbon. Posing with Ronaldo is irresistible, which I’m guessing is the point.

But one statue per store is nothing compared to Napoli’s devotion to Diego Maradona, an Argentinian who played for Napoli from 1984-91 and was responsible for their winning two national championships, before he was suspended for cocaine use. He is revered, now five years after his death and more than three decades after he last played for there, and a stroll around Napoli will reveal every manner of Maradona souvenirs — bobble-heads, socks, shot glasses, keychains, magnets — and as with Ronaldo, a life-size statue for posing purposes.

So Italy wins this category. But if I happen to be in Lisbon thirty years after Ronaldo plays his last game, and see a statue of him to pose with, then I’ll give Portugal the extra point.

So once again, Italy squeaks out a victory: 8 to 6, although the judge was biased and it was hardly a fair fight. I hope to come back to Portugal sometimes — Porto! the Azores! — for longer than three days. I think it could give Italy a run for its money.