Sardines, olive oil, bread: a lunch that does everything

There are days in Portugal when I want nothing else. Three sardines from the fishmonger down the street, twenty minutes in the pan with coarse salt. Half a lemon. A good loaf, bought the day before, so no bakery queue at midday. The olive oil is from the Alentejo, a litre lasts our household two weeks. That is lunch. It costs less than a wrap at Frankfurt central station, asks less attention than a latte, and delivers in a single portion more omega-3, more selenium, more vitamin D, more choline than most women allow themselves in a week. I'm not writing this to sell a product. Sardines do not sell. I'm writing it because it is one of the few examples I can use to show what the Portuguese have got right for centuries, and what the rest of Europe is slowly having to relearn.