Not suitable for vegetarians

After such a bloody long break, it’s hard to decide what to write about as it should be something that would justify the prolonged silence. My last post was hardly even a proper one – promise I’ll try harder. It is just that since coming back from Brazil (2 years ago!), nothing has impressed me so much as to make me want to write about it. I’m not saying all Brazilian things are better back there, but many of them are and no matter how hard we try, what we get here in London is only a substitute. Take Brazilian food. No bar or restaurant run by Brazilians themselves on the ‘terra da rainha’ (= the land of Queen Elizabeth, as they often call the UK) can compare with churrascarias* across the Atlantic. Although there is one that tries very hard. 

Being Brazilian, my BF gets meat cravings from time to time (ok, let’s not be diplomatic – often!) and it’s not enough to fry up a mountain of steaks; he wants real meat. By real he means proper Brazilian beef, prepared in a traditional way. I’m a meat-lover myself and I remember that what I had back in Brazil did not resemble the stiff, dry shoe-sole British beef usually becomes when you try to fry or roast it.  No, no, no. Brazilian meat literally melted in my mouth, inundating my taste buds with a flood of luscious meat juices mixed with delectably sizzled fat.  I am so getting hungry just thinking about it.

Source: http://redemeridional.liveradio.com.br/radio/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/picanha-1.jpg

Anyway, pra matar a saudade** of the ‘real meat’, we go to Rodizio Preto. There are a few in London, but we’ve been to the one in Shaftsbury Avenue, several times now. I’m not going to start praising them to the stars, but those guys know their business. The buffet offers an impressive choice of fresh salads, rice, beans, even feijoada*** itself. You could easily just eat the buffet food and be happy, but, frankly, that would be plain foolish. The meats that the waiters serve come in good quality and quantity – basically every few minutes someone turns up next to your table with another juicy cut. And the best thing is, you can actually ask them to bring you what you want. Picanha, maminha, lombo, costela de carneiro**** - they serve up to 15 different kinds of meat! 

Source: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/7e/2e/d4/spits.jpg

I always finish off with corações de frango*****. I’ve loved them ever since I tried them at another Brazilian churrascaria in London years ago; soft, yet crispy, with plenty of flavour.

Source: http://culinaria.culturamix.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/196-300x450.jpg

There are, of course, plenty other venues where you can have meats served in the traditional Brazilian way, but choose wisely. You choices will, in most cases, be limited to the following: the wrong kind of meat, meat left to roast forever until it becomes dry, meat served every half an hour at best (apparently Rodizio Rico have a policy of purposely not serving meat too often…), poor choice at the buffet, unfriendly waiters. Been there, done that. I stick to Rodizio Preto. £19.90 may seem like a lot, but when you compare it with just about any main course at a good London restaurant, you’ll understand that you’ll be better off paying a few quid more for the ability to sink your teeth into prime beef (and other meats) WITHOUT limit. And if anyone from the restaurant happens to be reading this, please sponsor me :D. Rsrsrsrsrrsrsss…******

Source: Groupon 

*restaurants serving freshly prepared meat without limit

** an idiom literally meaning ‘to kill the longing’; so when you miss something or someone, you will try to ‘matar a saudade’ by doing that thing or being with that person, if that makes sense…

*** you will find an explanation here: http://thebraziliandream.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/reality-bites.html

****different kinds of meat, will explain in a separate post

*****chicken hearts

******a Brazilian equivalent of ‘hahahaha’ in written slang (consider the fact that initial ‘r’ is pronounced almost as the /h/ sound and you’ll understand)

Reality bites

Why didn’t anyone warn me that coming back after nearly four months in Brazil is so... bad? The first day in London was a nightmare. I was tired, confused (language, driving on the left, bland food), irritated, I felt cold and spaced out, and to top it all, I argued with my flatmates. I miss the heat, I miss the samba, the cold beer, the delicate raw tuna melting in my mouth at the Japanese restaurant, the properly salty dishes (have the English given up on salt altoghether?!), I miss requeijão*, and, of course, I miss my boyfriend. Yes, saudade, jet lag, holidays coming to an end, mixed with a heavy dose of reality which I’m going to have to face from now on is a hard one to swallow. Obviously, there are things I’m NOT going to miss; the absurd traffic, the expensive and unreliable transport, the littered streets in the less glamorous areas of São Paulo, but, all in all, positive memories prevail.

So, para matar a saudade**, I’m going to indulge in re-living the best moments of my trip. And what’s better than trying great food? I remember I never mentioned the famous feijoada (from feijão – beans). The origin of the dish goes back to slavery times; hard-working slaves needed a substantial, nutritious meal to endure their daily grind. African cuisine included a bean stew, which on Brazilian ground acquired some meat ingredients. I suppose meat is an understatement. In truth, the masters relished the best parts of pork and whatever was left of the pig they gave to the slaves. Thus, the original feijoada had ears, tails and noses floating around among the beans. It would have been considered the meal of the poor, but today it can be found in the fanciest restaurants all over Brazil. Being a heavy dish, it is usually served only twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, although you’ll easily find places where feijoada is available non-stop. In cheaper venues, everything comes in one pot; the bean stew, chunks of pork meat, pork ribs, sausage, carne seca (dry beef) or corned beef, bacon and the chef’s other secrets. More luxurious ones will usually have a feijoada special, meaning that you pay a certain amount (the most expensive I’ve eaten was R$50, which is slightly less than £20) and you eat as much as you want choosing the ingredients. There is a pot with the beans (in a nicely flavoured brine), followed by pots bursting with all the sumptuous meats separately! To complete the dish, you also will have to help yourself to the following:

-        -  rice (obviously!)

-        -  couve (collard greens)

-         - farofa (lightly roasted coarse cassava flour, often with bits of bacon in it)

-         - torresmo (deep-friend pork rinds)

-         - hot pepper sauce (to spice things up!)

-         - a salad of finely chopped tomatoes and onion

-         - a slice of orange (to refresh)

and if available:

-         - deep-fried cassava

-         - deep-fried banana

Feijoada definitely tickles my buds, so I tried it on a few occasions, but the best one was when my boyfriend took me to Armazém Paulista. We could eat à vontade (as much as you want), but after the starters and the first round, I was full! You’re supposed to wash it down with cachaça, caipirinha or beer, and wash it down we did, with all three, I believe, which allowed me to eat a little bit more of the divine dish. After that though, you could roll me out like a ball... It was our lunch and I didn’t touch food until the next morning!

* requeijão is a type of cream cheese, sold in plastic cups, with a mild but very characteristic taste

** an expression meaning to get rid of the longing (literally to kill the longing)

Samba sem você

 At the beginning of my stay in Brazil, I had the impression that time had slowed down. Suddenly I felt more relaxed than ever and could finally savour moments of laziness in the warm sun. It seemed like my trip would last forever, and, of course, I wanted it to! But all good things come to an end. Due to personal circumstances I wasn’t able to stay there any longer and there came a day (on Tuesday)  when I had to pack my bags, heavy with bottles of cachaça, and board the plane. Since, towards the end of my stay, invitations to meet suddenly bloomed, final errands had to be made and I was working on some translations (to relieve my dented budget), hardly any time was left to take care of my blog!

So I’m back in cold London (and no, it’s not a bad dream), tired and pensive, but with pockets full of stories and enough of good memories to keep filling the pages of this blog until my next trip to Brazil. I am pretty sure I will now be a frequent visitor! What I also have in excess, and that wasn’t planned, are the few kilos I gained during the numerous trips to bars and restaurants. I reached my record level of 65kg! So, please, dear friends and family, if you see me these days, kindly refrain from commenting about what I already know! I’m starting my post-Brazil diet right away. So today, instead of sinking my teeth into a juicy lump of beef and quenching my thirst with (stupidly) cold beer, I had to make do with wild rocket, organic carrots and light Philadelphia cheese.

Stay tuned, folks! More Brazilian tales coming soon. And in the meantime, listen to the beautiful voice of Rosa Passos singing “Samba sem você” (Samba without you). This song really reflects my current mood as my love stayed behind and will only join me in about a month...

Been there, done that

Since there is less time till the end of my trip than has passed since my arrival in São Paulo, or, to make it simple, I’m more than half-way through, it’s time for a summary. What have I actually done in those two months and what have I yet to do? I’m kind of thinking aloud, if you will. As you will have already figured out, I AM coming back to London after all. I miss it!

Let’s have a look at what I’ve done first. It seems that my main activities have been eating out  and going to music shows (I warned you, didn’t I). I’ve tried, repeatedly, wonderful Japanese food (sushi rodizio – eat as much as you want!), Brazilian feijoada (I owe you guys that one, pictures coming soon!), countless salgados (savoury pastries, such as pastel), invariably accompanied by cerveja gelada. See? Your Portuguese is getting better!* I have to reiterate – gastronomy in São Paulo is of top-notch quality, with even the crudest corner bars serving fresh food and following all hygiene requirements, let alone fancy restaurants. Most dishes I’ve tried were absolutely amazing. The only thing you have to watch is your wallet; first of all, because you don’t want it to disappear, secondly – not to get carried away. Some might want to watch their weight. I decided not to worry about that.

As for music, I have been to six or seven excellent shows at Teatro FECAP (Francis & Olívia Hime, Tom Jobim Festival that included the likes of Zimbo Trio and a few other bands I can’t remember) – they’ve got amazing sound there, seen a beautiful instrumental performance of Swami Junior at SESC Consolação, had fun watching friends play samba rock. I even got to sing. A song or two here and there. And I have to say that the pressure is high; after all, a gringa venturing to sing samba in a country where it was born, in a Portuguese that, unfortunately, still sounds a little foreign, is no common sight. Let’s say I got positive reviews and motivation to continue learning. I have tried paulistan nightlife too. The best area to go, and I may be repeating myself, is Vila Madalena. This is where you find the best music bars the entrance to which won’t ruin your pocket. I’ve been to  Ó do Borogodó, Pau Brasil, Traço de União, Bom Motivo and can easily recommend all of these. I left the best bit for the end. The already mentioned roda de choro** at the Contemporânea music shop is in itself an experience worth coming to Brazil for.

As every day brings new events, twists, turns and last-minute invitations, the what-I’ve-done list is getting longer and what-I’ve-yet-to-do is shrinking at an amazing pace and will hopefully come to a point where I can safely say “I can go back now”.

*my dear Brazilian friends will hopefully understand that my main focus (target audience?) were people who don’t speak the language

**for details, see an earlier post (Next station: Contemporânea)

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 ;)

Christmas Special 2

This is just a quick one to tell you what Brazilians eat on the actual Christmas Day. Now, I haven’t been to every house in this country to check the pots and pans, so my research is not representative of the whole nation. I based it on one, heavily Portuguese-influenced, family (yes, my BF’s family).

Starter:

Strips of aubergine, courgette, onion, green pepper, tomatoes – baked in the oven and soaked with extra virgin olive oil. Simple and delicious. Served cold with bread. Not only during Christmas, by the way.

Main course(s):

There was bacalhau (100% Portuguese tradition) – dried salted cod that you later soak and prepare in one (or more) of the 365 styles your family tends to prefer. We had bacalhau in olive oil with garlic, on a bed of boiled potatoes, eggs and roasted green peppers, garnished with olives. The fish was so juicy and springy that I could barely keep myself from having a second helping.

But I also wanted to try pernil. In simple terms, it was a huge roasted pork leg. Nothing too fancy, but the flavouring made the meat succulent and soft at the same time. Mmmm...

Good Lord, I nearly forgot about the soup! Caldo verde. Served all over Portugal and, apparently, in some Brazilian families. The clear version is a broth prepared with pork sausage and bacon. The green part (verde) is provided by special kind of dark-leaved cabbage. There is also a creamy version – you just add mashed potatoes which give the soup a rich mushy texture. Delicious.

Dessert

I barely had room for it! It may not look too appetising, but this pudding was heavenly! Very light, I suppose it’s made from nothing more than milk and sugar.

 If you think I stopped there, you’re wrong. I had to try these:

Why? Because I had made them! These are Polish cookies. They don’t really have a special name, but their buttery taste is what makes them special. And I want to give special thanks to Milena for the recipe. OK, I’m done. Go enjoy your New Year’s Eve, if you haven’t already started to party. See you in 2012!!!

Christmas Special – Where are the strawberries?

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 24^th 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.

Fala japonês?*

There is a significant Japanese diaspora in São Paulo, and in the rest of Brazil, I imagine. And thanks to this fact, a myriad Japanese bars line the streets, especially in the centre. Some of the dishes, however, have been conveniently “brazilianised”; you can get, for example, maki covered in breadcrumbs and fried (!) or supersized temakisushi (well, a few times bigger than in London anyway) with salmon and mayonnaise. Delicious. Both of these.

Now, the vocabulary for the various dishes and utensils has, interestingly enough, been kept original. And while it’s understandable with maki, nigiri and sashimi, names already well familiar in most of Europe, there are a few surprises. So, for one, you don’t go asking for soy sauce, oh no. It’s shōyu you want. And I had my moment of embarrassment, and started to question my ability to speak supposedly fluent Portuguese, when I got asked by a waitress if I wanted to use hashi with my guioza (Japanese gyōza). And no, I did not think she said hashish. She simply meant chopsticks, which took me a moment, and a friendly whisper, to realise. It looks like I’m going to have to brush up on my Japanese...

Luckily, there are also bars/restaurants where you don’t have to use any of these words, you just pick and choose whatever you feel like eating. It’s self-service we’re talking about. And it gets even better as you don’t have to decide between Japanese or Brazilian food. You can have both! As a sworn foodie, I couldn’t believe my eyes the first time, and the only one so far, my friends took me to a bar like that. I was thinking about having a light lunch, so I passed by the steaming feijoada, meats and sauces with little interest (I had these for the first three days after my arrival) and headed straight for the sushi section. Oh meu deus! My hands were almost shaking with the anticipation of the delight I would experience with the fresh slices of sashimi, maki rolls and nigiri. Sizzling king prawns caught my eye, so I had a few of them, and I couldn’t resist the very Brazilian fried chicken hearts. Some mushrooms, a few green salad leaves and we’re done. Who’s going to waste time with boring (and heavy) things like rice. You pay per kilo so you want to make sure you get the best stuff. Miso soup on the side and watermelon as dessert are included in the price. So is the little cup of caipirinha, next to the lemon juice with ginger. I’m in Brazil after all.

*Portuguese for - do you speak Japanese?