The market – take 2

Whether out of boredom or a desire to please you, yesterday I went to the Mercado Municipal again to explore it better. And guess what! I found that bar where I’d had my heavenly pasteis. It’s called Hocca Bar. So now you know the secret. Save this information for some time in the future when you don’t know where to go for your holidays and you decide to follow my track. Also, I found that the market only gets ridiculously crowded on Saturdays. During the week it’s a completely different experience; I could actually see/smell/touch what they were selling at the stalls and even take a few photos. So here we go:

Don't let this photo fool you, these were not just ordinary prawns. 

They were XXXX-large, the size of your palm, to be precise. 

The area near the market is known for cheap shopping, especially Rua 25 de Março. I was hoping to get some affordable summer clothes. Wrong. 99% of shops (roughly calculated) in the area sell jewellery, or carnival costumes, masks and all sorts of trinkets. The closest I came to clothes was a lingerie shop, tucked somewhere in between the glaring samba outfits and huge Chinese bags. Actually “lingerie” is an overstatement. There were rows of racks with plain knickers, briefs and thongs with prices exceeding Oxford Street best. Cheap they said, hey? A petite shop assistant beamed her forced smile at me as I crossed the door, offering help. It’s normal in Brazil to be assisted by an overly friendly employee, who typically gives you a card or a slip of paper with their name so that you can call them at will, and then another less friendly one when you want to pay so that you can collect what you chose from the first one. Complicated? Well, I didn’t feel like I needed anyone’s help choosing my underwear, so when I saw Denise, Daniele or whatever her name was,  approaching me again, I hurried to the door. Some cultural differences take time to get used to...

Eat before you read (A visit to the market)

São Paulo is not a beautiful city, far from it, but it has got some hidden gems. If you try hard, you’re going to find places definitely worth visiting, be it for their unique character, historical value or for their cosmopolitan flavour. Mercado Municipal (Rua da Cantareira 306, Metro São Bento) is an example of the latter, literally. This city market is a hive of activity with food stalls, selling delicacies from all over the world; Italian Parma ham, Spanish olives, Portuguese salt-cod (ubiquitous!) as well as heaps of Brazilian dried meat and colourful pyramids of local fruit and veg - everything you can get somewhere else with a little effort, but for an adequately higher price. This doesn’t not seem to deter the crowds who fill the alleys to the point of absurdity. Forget delightful strolls among  aromatic mangoes and smelly cheeses; to cross the market from one end to other will take about half an hour of tiny steps, meandering among other hungry souls, with your hand firmly on your wallet. I may be turning neurotic, but living in the centre does make your eyes go around your head in search of potential thieves.

What made my day last Saturday afternoon, was, surprise, surprise! - lunch. I had read about the famous mortadela sandwiches to bite which you wish you were Mick Jagger, but having thought about it, I rejected the idea of paying 15 reais for what you can easily make at home for 2 and opted for pasteis instead. A pastel* is a deep-fried rectangular pastry typically filled with meat or cheese, available at virtually any bar.  But it wasn’t any bar my boyfriend took me to. He would be very unhappy to find out I didn’t give him credit for leading me to the pastel paradise. The menu boasted a staggering number of more to less typical pastel fillings, just reading about which made my mouth water. In my excitement, I decided I would have two – one with prawns and one with bacalhau. I may have been hungry, but I surely overestimated the capacity of my stomach; the pasteis were enormous! You needed two hands to hold them (I mean to hold one at a time!). And, yes, they were the most delicious ever! Crispy outside, soft and creamy inside. Sheer heaven in my mouth. Now, forgive me, but having stood in a lengthy queue, once I devoured the pasteis, all I wanted was to get out, so I didn’t record which bar it was. If you ever want to go there, you’re going to have to do it by trial and error, or get yourself your own Brazilian boyfriend to take you. I ain’t lending you mine.

* read more - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_(food)

Oh, and here’s a video I made during the visit! No eating without music ;)