, ▁tom atoes , ▁bell ▁pe ppers , ▁par s ley , ▁gar lic ▁and ▁on ions . ▁ ▁S ard ines ▁used ▁to ▁be ▁preserved ▁in ▁br ine ▁for ▁sale ▁in ▁rural ▁areas . ▁Later , ▁s ard ine ▁can ner ies ▁developed ▁all ▁along ▁the ▁Portuguese ▁coast . ▁Ray ▁fish ▁is ▁d ried ▁in ▁the ▁sun ▁in ▁Northern ▁Portugal . ▁C anned ▁t una ▁is ▁widely ▁available ▁in ▁Cont inental ▁Portugal . ▁T una ▁used ▁to ▁be ▁pl ent iful ▁in ▁the ▁waters ▁of ▁the ▁Al gar ve . ▁They ▁were ▁tra pped ▁in ▁fixed ▁n ets ▁when ▁they ▁passed ▁the ▁Portuguese ▁southern ▁coast ▁to ▁spawn ▁in ▁the ▁Mediter rane an , ▁and ▁again ▁when ▁they ▁returned ▁to ▁the ▁Atlantic . ▁Portuguese ▁writer ▁Ra ul ▁Brand ão , ▁in ▁his ▁book ▁Os ▁P esc adores , ▁describes ▁how ▁the ▁t una ▁was ▁hook ed ▁from ▁the ▁raised ▁net ▁into ▁the ▁boats , ▁and ▁how ▁the ▁fish erm en ▁would ▁am use ▁themselves ▁r iding ▁the ▁larger ▁fish ▁around ▁the ▁net . ▁F resh ▁t una , ▁however , ▁is ▁usually ▁e aten ▁in ▁Made ira ▁and ▁the ▁Al gar ve ▁where ▁t una ▁ste aks ▁are ▁an ▁important ▁item ▁in ▁local ▁cu is ine . ▁C anned ▁s ard ines ▁or ▁t una , ▁served ▁with ▁bo iled ▁pot atoes , ▁black - ey ed ▁pe as , ▁coll ard ▁gre ens ▁and ▁hard - bo iled ▁eggs , ▁const itute ▁a ▁convenient ▁me al ▁when ▁there ▁is ▁no ▁time ▁to