Cibo: a little bit of almost anything
In Trás-os-Montes, a cibo is a little bit. A cibo of bread, a cibo of chat, a cibo longer by the fire. A small word full of affection.
Some words you only learn at home. Cibo (say SEE-boo) is one of them.
Anyone who grew up in Trás-os-Montes, the mountainous north-east corner of Portugal, has heard it a thousand times: “give me a cibo of bread”, “hang on a cibo”, “have another cibo, you’re far too thin”. And at the door, when guests already have their coats on: fica mais um cibo, stay a little longer.
A little bit of almost anything
A cibo can be food, time or patience. It’s small, but it’s never stingy. When someone asks you to stay another cibo, they don’t mean minutes. They mean they like having you around.
It’s cold outside. Inside, there’s warmth and good people.
Small, but never stingy
That’s why it’s one of the loveliest words we have: it holds the whole way people welcome you up here. Nobody leaves a house in Trás-os-Montes without hearing “have another cibo” at least once.
A note for Italian speakers: yes, in Italian “cibo” means food. Here it means something smaller and warmer, but we’ll happily feed you too.
