{"id":15528,"date":"2025-02-27T11:34:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T11:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tasteporto.com\/?p=15528"},"modified":"2025-05-05T17:17:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T17:17:02","slug":"the-portuguese-saudade-and-anthony-bourdain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tasteporto.com\/de\/the-portuguese-saudade-and-anthony-bourdain\/","title":{"rendered":"The Portuguese Saudade and Anthony Bourdain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Saudade<\/em>. The Portuguese word that allegedly defies direct translation. Anthony Bourdain described it as \u201c\u2026a kind of melancholy \u2013 a yearning to get back to something or someone lost, perhaps to a happier time.\u201d Close, but not quite! Maybe only a Portuguese can try to describe it. But, truth be told, Tony, we miss you deeply \u2014 and that, too, is Saudade<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, too, is Saudade<\/em>!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every Portuguese person has a deep connection to their roots. In fact, if a Portuguese person had roots like a tree, they would be like the oak tree \u2014 sturdy and strong enough to grow between huge rocks. When we\u2019re talking about the people of the North of Portugal, their roots would go through granite, entwining and becoming part of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you walk around Porto or Lisbon, it\u2019s common to hear locals using the word Aldeia<\/em> (village) to refer to their family\u2019s hometown. It is a fact that, by the late 19th century, thanks to industrialization, many families moved from the countryside to the big cities. They were seeking better opportunities \u2014 chasing a kind of Portuguese version of the American Dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expression \u201cVou \u00e0 Aldeia\u201d (I\u2019m going to my village), although it might sound as though city dwellers have a higher status, actually conveys a connection to the Portuguese untranslatable word. Saudade<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a return to the past, this word expresses a wishful longing for a better future. You visit the aldeia<\/em> and dream of retirement, imagining the day you can reclaim your rightful place and restore what was taken \u2014 returning the tree to its roots. You make peace with your homeland and dedicate your last good years to caring for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudade<\/em> is also tied to food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Saudade<\/em> is a kind of Happy Place where you go to reconnect with your DNA. It reminds us of what truly matters and shapes who we are. Using Saudade<\/em> as a spiritual time machine to revisit our loved ones is one way to re-cherish the things and feelings that made them special. This isn\u2019t always painless. It\u2019s a pleasant pain, tied to something you\u2019ll never have again but which profoundly shaped your core, helping build the best parts of your character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People also connect saudade<\/em> to food \u2014 not the food itself, but the emotions it evokes. The memory of a meal is inseparable from the people who surrounded you during that epic meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take Christmas Eve dinner in Portugal<\/a>: the food itself \u2014 boiled salted cod, boiled potatoes, and three types of kale \u2014 is modest, even boring. But sharing it with family transforms it into something magical, making it a conduit for reconnecting with those good feelings whenever you repeat the meal on other occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mom\u2019s cooking feels special because it holds the emotional connection of the umbilical cord \u2014 a direct link to the feelings that tie you to family. This, too, is Saudade<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Two fishermen catching our precious Cod for Christmas Eve Dinner (located at Armaz\u00e9m Frigor\u00edfico de Bacalhau)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Saudade<\/em> is being happy and sad at the same time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Saudade<\/em> is a walk down memory lane, but it\u2019s a two-way street. You should go back, gather the good moments, and then return to the present. If you stay too long, it becomes a one-way ticket to depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientifically one can relate Saudade<\/em> with Marcel Proust\u2019s \u201cInvoluntary Memory\u201d. Proust defines it as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n