About the cannery
Andalusian entrepreneur Sebastian Ramirez founded the cannery behind Berthe in 1853. He established Ramirez in Vila Real de Santo António, setting up vast, labyrinthine tuna traps along the nearby Algarve coast - there’s a scale model of one in the foyer of the Matosinhos cannery today.
It made sense to put down roots in Vila Real de Santo António. There was already a salting tradition there dating back to the Romans. In nearby Castro Marim you can still see the remnants of ancient salting tanks where tuna was preserved and garum, the Romans’ fermented fish sauce of choice, was prepared.
By the 1920s, sardines were all the rage. The company took heed and opened a small outpost in Matosinhos in 1928 to meet demand.
Larger canneries followed in Matosinhos in 1945 and 1959, and finally the current, state-of-the-art one. Mindful of tradition, the cannery has always been future-facing too. It fuses artisanal techniques like preparing and filleting sardines by hand with new technology such as cocooning tuna in a microscopic layer of ice, harvesting rainwater for use in the cannery and powering its plant with solar energy.
The Berthe sardines and mackerel are sourced locally at Matosinhos fish market where the best fish is chosen and canned the same day. The cannery is one of the oldest functioning canneries in the world and brings a vast amount of knowledge to its canning process. It is this that sets its tins apart and mean Berthe tinned fish is among the best there is.
The sardines are wild caught by purse seine - where a net is lowered into the water and closed, thus avoiding damage to the seabed and allowing smaller fish to swim free and replenish ocean stocks. Its skipjack tuna is also pole-and-line caught.
The Berthe brand dates from 1906 and is aimed at the French market so the labelling is in French on the front of the tin. The girl depicted on the front of the tin is an icon of Lyonnaise literature.
Serving tips
•Spicy tuna bagel: dice 1 dill cucumber, 1/2 a celery stick, a shallot and mix with Tabasco and smoked paprika, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper - all to taste. Lay the tuna fillets on top and sandwich.
•Try the Berthe sardines with avocado: blend two avocados, half an onion, the juice of one lime and salt to taste in a food processor. Spoon the avocado cream over thin slices of toasted bread and place a small sardine on top.
•Or try the sardines in olive oil with butter beans: heat shallots and garlic in the oil from the sardine tin slowly on a low heat. Then add tomatoes, then butter beans and smoked paprika. Lastly, add the fish and mix it in and warm through.
