CanuckJim's Portuguese finds

[jengineer]

Jim has sent me a couple of pics of different Portuguese ovens in Canada.
The first 3 pics are from a baker in Toronto
The last 2 pic location was not identified, but were taken from someone's backyard.

Added another pic that I did not include before. It goes with the first 3 pics and is looking inside the oven and up the throat of the flue/chimney stack. Jim had to explain that he took this so that one could see the transition from tight brickwork of the oven to typical brick work for a flue.

Bummer I have to reply to upload another pic

[jengineer]

say ahhhh,

[CanuckJim]

Portugues Ovens

JE,

Thanks again for helping out this digitally challenged individual. The first three full pics of the oven were taken in the back yard of a former next door neighbour. The next two were taken from what was my back yard at one time. If you look down the fence line from that yard, you can see many more ovens. Guess the point is that just about every family had their own, for smoking (mainly fish and sausage), baking (mainly bread and rolls) and grilling (commonly lamb). Sadly, as the ethnicity of this particular neighbour changes, the ovens are falling into disuse. Too, as the older people die out, the bricklaying skills die out, too. It used to be in Toronto, just after WWII, when the Portuguese first came here, the skill in demand was bricklaying. Same is true of the Italians, I've heard, but I never lived in a close-knit Italian neighbourhood, so I can't say about the ovens. My neighbour told me in no uncertain terms that he could tell which nationality layed which bricks where. Maybe.

I'll ask a Sicilian friend of mine in the city if he knows the whereabouts of any neighbourhood Italian ovens. No Calabrian comments, please; he'll hear.

Jim

[carioca]

safety first ?! :-)

just HATED to see a petrol can next to the oven on one side - and a gas cylinder on the other side :-)

[CanuckJim]

Safety

Carioca,

Unfortunately, the owner of that oven, Tony, has gotten to about the end of his string. Hasn't used the oven in years. He cleaned out the interior for me to take pics, because it's become a kind of outdoor cupboard.

Jim