The carapau is one of the most delicious fish in the Portuguese coast. Yet, it toils in obscurity while the Portuguese sardine basks in glory. Why? First, there’s the name. Carapau means “wood face”; who wants to eat a fish called wood face? Second, grilled carapau is often served with Spanish sauce (“molho à espanhola”). How can a Portuguese fish shine drowning in a Spanish sauce?
We propose giving the carapau the recognition it deserves by changing its name to imperial sardine. This new identity will make carapau irresistible. Wouldn’t you prefer an imperial sardine to a regular one?
Please help us spread the word about carapau’s new name; tweet, facebook, text, call. Let’s make the wood face smile!
Salt of Portugal 
Ah! I can now confess I love imperial sardine a lot more than the simple regular sardine. 🙂
Yes, maybe we should start an imperial sardine Facebook page!
I went to Portugal and didn’t even know this fish existed! Now I feel gipped. Well, I guess I’ll just have to make it back to Portugal for a carapau (imperial sardine) dish. Thanks for the tip.
This is a clear sign you have to go back!
Beautiful ink drawing. Any of these fish-motifs for sale?
The author of the drawings is an architecture professor called Rui Duarte. You can email him at apprbd@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing a drawing. The originals are even more impressive than the digital scans we use on the blog!
Thank you for the info and reply!