Category Archives: Brazil

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The best of Brazil (part III)

One of the most missed things from Brazil is the food. Or perhaps, the fact that I don’t need to cook there. Grandma cooks for us, uncles cook, sometimes mum cooks, we have maids who cook for us… And I never have to cook. And I just think how amazing that is! Hahahaha! ‘Cause you know, I’m not that passionate for cooking…

So every time I’m planning to visit Brazil, I’m crazy to crave all the good food we don’t have here in Australia. Like a kind of pastry, aka pastel, which can be dressing with melting cheese (my favourite), or mince meat, prawns, chicken, olives, and much more. For me, the best combination is a melting cheese pastel and a really cold “pint” of sugar cane juice! Oh my-y GOD! That is absolutely delicious. And you can find it everywhere… There are always a kind of street bar selling this stuff, just like this, in the middle of some street.

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You can particularly find an awesome combo of pastel + sugar cane juice in my hometown, Brasilia, at Feira da Torre (Tower Market). We can say it’s a kind of Queen Victoria Market, but they only sell special stuff, you won’t find anywhere else. Besides the typical food, you will also find beautiful craft works there. All kind of craft necklaces, bracelets, most of them made with local seeds and grains, craft clothes, rugs, wood furniture, and some kind of desserts. Plus this market takes place around the TV Tower of the city (which gave the name of Tower Market) and you can actually go up there and appreciate an amazing view of the city. I’ll definitely suggest you to watch the sunset, ’cause as we’re in a flat, elevated region, we have a gorgeous view of the horizon. Imagine that…

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March 5, 2012 · 11:56 AM
March 4, 2012 · 11:49 AM

The best of Brazil (part II)

Have I mentioned our every-day-view in Salvador, BA, Brazil?

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How about our tough life up there?

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Oh I miss all those popsicle sellers in the beach! Be prepared to have some change when you go to Brazilian beaches, ’cause everywhere you go there’re something irresistible to buy, like delicious fruit popsicles, coconut water, bikinis, beach towels (aka “canga”)… Some places you can even find corn with butter, sandwiches, and of course, caipirinhas and beers. Oh… Bahia!!

Am I way too early to plan my next summer trip?

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February 28, 2012 · 3:22 PM

The best of Brazil (part I)

So let’s get back to the holidays and remember our Brazil’s trip! Oh Brazil! We had a ball in Brazil!

We took ten beautiful days off to Bahia! Ooohhhhh Bahia!! There’s much more to know up there than the tourist sites.

Since we got at the airport, I had a big smile on my face. Because I simply loved the 35 degrees welcoming us!

So, we rent a car and drove about 40km up to the city of Salvador. We stayed in a village, 4km before Guarajuba (one of the most famous beaches) and 11km before Praia do Forte (where the Tamar Project takes place, that one with the turtles).

Let me tell you something: we own the beach!! Seriously, that was amazing. There were like 6 people on the beach, including us!! There were no rubbish at the beach, no competition of space on the sand. Just perfect!! I wish I could stay in a place like that 6 months of the year… or 12. Just laying on the beach, drinking coconut water, swimming on the warm water of the ocean and don’t having to worry with nothing else.

I wanna stay here for ever and ever!

As we stayed in that little village and all we had to have fun was the beach, at nights we went up to Praia do Forte, where we could find lots of different restaurants and shops, and pubs. So we went up there almost every night!

They have the best pizza restaurant I ever ate in my entire life!! There’s many different pizza restaurants at Praia do Forte, but the most amazing one is called: 7 Pizzas. Seriously, no matter what were the flavour we asked for, was the best pizza of our lives! Better than everything you ever tasted before!! Remember the 7 Pizzas Natural Bar next time you go to Bahia :)

And of course you’ve heard about caipirinha. The most famous Brazilian cocktail made with cachaça (the brazilian liquor). But in Brazil, we can have any flavour of caipirinha we imagine. This summer the tredding flavour of caipirinha was siriguela (. But my choice of the night was passionfruit caipirinha!

That was bigger than a pint!

When we travel to Brazil, we just eat. When we travel for Bahia, we just eat shrimps, praws, fish, acarajé and moqueca and everything else made with shrimps and fish, everything really fresh, which are incredibly delicious. I’m already hungry just to remember how good that was.

A little bit of prawns on olive oil, garlic & peper

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January 18, 2012 · 7:16 AM

Running out of time

I’ve been really busy the past few days having a ball in Brazil, thanks God!

Since we arrived, our super vacation has been amazing and we’re enjoying every single day of it. There was Christmas Eve, New Years Eve, friends to meet, parties to go, trips, beaches, farewells…

I’ll try to make a post of every special moment we’re having in Brazil, I swear it deserves it, but I’m really running out of time at the moment. I wish I had enough time to have a seat and a beer with every single friend. So, I’m doing my best to meet everybody, and unfortunately the posts will be a bit late. Sorry guys:(

But don’t give up on me! I’m already twitting some pictures, so stay tuned here.

My lovely mum and I enjoying Brazil’s beaches

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November 22, 2011 · 4:56 PM

Acarajé from Brazil in Melbourne

I don’t know about you guys, but one of the things I miss the most from home is food. But why am I missing Brazilian food, since most things can be found here in Australia? Well, that’s because I don’t like cooking. I cook to survive, but I’m so more likely to order a pizza instead. God bless the food deliveries! Hahahaha

I do miss grandma’s and mum’s dishes a lot! And of course, the whole comfort about it. I’ve tried so many times to successfully follow their recipes, but they don’t work with me!! Yeah… Can I order a pizza?

But thanks God, Australia is an amazing multicultural country, where international food festivals take place every year. The Latin Food Festival is certainly my favourite! The last one happened last weekend at Johnston St, Fitzroy. And specially this year we could find a traditional dish from Bahia, Brazil, called Acarajé.

The Acarajé is a delicious dish from Bahia, Brazil, made of black-eyed pea flour, beans, with prawns, and a traditional sauce called vatapá! It’s specially cooked in Bahia, and it’s really difficult to find it elsewhere. Every Brazilian who doesn’t live in Salvador, is only able to delight this passionate dish when they travel to Salvador.

Outside Brazil it’s really difficult to get all the ingredients and it’s a lot of work to fry it up. I won’t even try, as I am that food lover who does not cook!

But, I’ll give a recipe that I found in the Flavours of Brazil blog if you are up for the challenge:
RECIPE – Acarajé1 kg. of dried black-eyed peas
2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. salt
1 litre dendê oil (for frying)
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In a very large bowl, cover the peas with water and let soak for at least 24 hours to soften the peas and to facilitate the removal of their skins.

Drain water, re-fill the basin several times, stirring the peas to remove as many skins as possible. Rubbing handfuls of beans vigorously between the hands assists in this process.

After several changes of water, drain, and individually remove the skins from any peas that still have them. (Allow plenty of time for this.)In batches, blend the skinless peas, the onion, the garlic and the salt in a blender or food processor until you have a light batter.

Pour the batter into a large, dry bowl, and beat with a wooden spoon, lifting the mass from bottom to top until you have a airy mass that has doubled in volume.Heat the oil in a large pan, or deep-fryer.

Meanwhile, soak two very large wooden spoons in water, then use them to form fist-sized balls of batter. Drop them one by one into the hot oil to fry until they are bright orange and crispy, turning them over halfway through the frying process.

Remove from the oil, and let cool for a few minutes. Serve the acarajé with vatapá, hot pepper sauce, fried dried shrimps, and finely chopped green tomatoes.

From: http://flavorsofbrazil.blogspot.com/2010/01/recipe-acaraje.html

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August 30, 2011 · 10:11 PM

Ayrton Senna of Brazil!

You don’t need to be a sports fan to know Ayrton Senna. He is considered by many as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. He wasn’t  just a worldwide known icon, Senna built patriotism inside of each Brazilian citizen. We’re still crazy about him and his story. We are proud of him, of what he did, and of all his legacy.

But you can check it out yourself by watching the recently launched documentary about his life and death, Senna – No fear, No limits, No equal. That’s still such an emotional film, even for us (Brazilians) that have heard so much about him and followed his achievements.

I’m here to share my point of view of Senna’s documentary screenned at the Melbourne International Film Festival last month. First of all, the tickets sold out two weeks before the opening day. Many of my Brazilian friends couldn’t get one. The house was completely full and was interesting to note that most of the audience was made up of Australians. I didn’t know Senna’s had so many fans here.

I was also impressed by seeing a lot of them wearing Senna’s t-shirt and some even carryng a replica of his helmet. That truly thrilled me. That made me realized just how known Senna was, and how people outside Brazil are also crazy about him, which made me feel prouder and prouder of his character. The documentary by itself is so much exciting and make us to remember every race we were watching and cheering for him. It reminds us of the good things about our country.

Senna had a theme song made for him by Brazil’s largest TV Network, Rede Globo, which was played as soon as he was approaching the finish line. Once the chequered flag was waved, Galvão Bueno, the Brazilian commentator, would yell Senna’s name like this: ”Ayrton! Ayrton! Ayyyyrton Senna of Braziiilll!!!” And that is an indescribable exciting sentiment, that we still feel, every time this song is played.

The crowd was vibrating in every one of Senna’s victories on the movie, as if it was happening in real-time. It was possible to hear some shocked gasps about the political intermissions on the races, shown on the film. I’ll say that the British director Asif Kapadia, could get the whole audience involved with the film. As a Brazilian, I was pleased with the way Kapadia directed it. By the end of the movie, every single person had tears in their eyes, even the most hardened man! The applauses was thunderous. I was truly impressed by how the non-Brazilian public was also so involved with Senna’s story.

Here is the trailer:

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PS:

I am speechless…

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