I realise you may still be digesting your Christmas dinner turkeys, roast potatoes, carps, herrings or whatever your family tends to have, but this is exactly why I want to tell you about Christmas in Brazil. Before you switch from your table-sofa-table-sofa-bed routine to New Year’s Eve preparations.
Let’s start with Christmas Eve. It’s not exactly a big thing in the UK whereas in Poland that’s what Christmas is all about: the huge evening meal on 24th December. Here in Brazil, it’s something in between. Where I am (the outskirts of São Paulo), it was a simple family dinner, with one dish. A few relatives were invited. I had been told that the father would prepare something special - camarões no morango, prawns with strawberries. How exciting, I love prawns! Never thought you could serve them with this particular fruit, but hey, I’m open to new culinary experiences.
On the day, I got a little confused when I saw this in the oven:
In Poland we serve soup in bread, so I suppose you can serve prawns in a pumpkin. It looked really appetising. A white creamy sauce was poured next to the steaming rice, garnished with freshly chopped spring onions. The smell of garlic made my mouth water.
I sat down with my plate, ready to stick my fork in. But then I remembered. Strawberries! Where are they? I looked intensely at the pink bits but they were nothing more than cooked prawns. Still confused, I quietly asked my boyfriend. He started laughing. It was camarões na moranga – prawns in a pumpkin. The closest thing to strawberries was my red face...
P.S. I absolutely loved the dish. It was one of the tastiest homemade foods I have eaten so far. No strawberries, true, but the mushy pumpkin bits did the prawns just as well.
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