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Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Three Months, Seven Days, Half Way There

Half way where, the unknowing might ask. Well, dear readers, tomorrow is the day that my air shipment will be delivered to my house, a mere three months and seven days after being packed up back in September. Why so slow, you might ask. Well, it mostly has to do with administration (as this is a public forum, I hesitate to use the word bureaucracy) on the Brazilian side. While diplomatic shipments to and from other countries take a matter of weeks, shipments to and from Brazil can easily take three to four months. The actual shipping of goods from Canada to Brazil by air only takes a week or so. In fact, my air shipment landed in Sao Paulo back on November 11th. However, the goods are not allowed to be cleared until a diplomat has all of their official accreditations and residency papers in order, and this is what takes months. In the case of one of my colleagues, his shipment arrived in the country several months prior to his arrival (due to a cross-posting and time off for language training in Ottawa). However, even though his stuff arrived before him, he was still not able to claim it for three months after his arrival while waiting for his papers to clear the system. His boxes arrived in June, he arrived in September, and his stuff was released in December just days before Christmas.

As is often the case, many of the processes run in sequence rather than in parallel, making for the long wait. I received my diplomatic accreditation back in November and since then my residency cards have been grinding their way through the system (well at least I hope they are....).

Life in Brazil revolves around the residency card or RG. Without it a Brazilian citizen cannot work (formally), go to school, go to the doctor, get on a bus or plane, or do pretty much anything else. Because of the vitalness of the RG, life for children who are not officially registered at birth is pretty difficult. The irony of my long wait is that I haven’t actually received my residency papers yet. I think that the timing around Christmas and New Years led to some seasonal cheer on the Brazilian side and the early liberation of my air shipment.

I look forward to seeing what will arrive tomorrow (hopefully no bags of refuse or other unintended items)! As the shipment was split into air and sea shipments after being packed up and sent to the holding warehouse, I don’t have any clue what went into which shipment. Bets are now open for when the sea shipment will be delivered! Unfortunately there is no way around the residency papers for this one.

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Creme de Abacate

Since we are on the topic of food ....

In Brazil, fruits and vegetables move fluidly across and between "standard" categories. Fruits that are traditionally used in sweet dishes in North America become main courses in Brazil, and vegetables that are used in savory main dishes in North America become desserts in Brazil. One example of this is Creme de Abacate or avocado cream. At first I balked at the creamy green dessert, wondering how an avocado could make a worthy end to a meal. It only took one small taste to convince me of the wonderfullness of this dish. It is truly delectable! It is really easy to make and two different versions of the recipe can be used, one with milk or creme and the other without.

Version 1

2 medium avocados
2 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp sugar
Iced water or White Wine

1. Halve each avocado, remove the seed then peel and slice the flesh.
2. Place the avocado slices, lime juice and sugar in a food processor or blender and process until completely smooth, adding a little iced water or white wine if the puree is stiff. Make sure there are no lumps!
3. To serve - Transfer to individual stemmed glasses.

Version II (with dairy)

3 ripe avocados, well chilled, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons cold heavy cream
5 tablespoons lime juice
6 tablespoons toasted coconut shavings
6 lime wedges, for garnish

1. In a blender, combine the chopped avocados, sugar, cream, and lime juice. Blend until smooth and creamy.
2. Divide between footed dessert cups or small bowls. Garnish with coconut shavings and lime wedges.


Feijoada -- A Guest Column

Here is a little piece written by my colleague Vlad, clearly a lover of beans! Feijoada is a bean and pork dish, reputedly invented by slaves during the colonial period who had to be content with using the pork bits tossed out by the landowners (ears, tails, feet ...). Modern versions still contain these pieces of mystery-meat, but can easily be found with more sophisticated cuts of meat as well.

* * * *

Perhaps the most quintessentially Brazilian of all Brazilian dishes in that it's national rather than regional, feijoada (or, as I like to translate it, beanorama) is served in abundance in Sao Paulo. In this city where eating out is often a family ritual, feijoada has its dedicated days: Wednesday and Saturday. While Saturday is the day when feijoada is traditionally served in Brazil as a whole, Wednesday is the Sao Paulo addition to max out on the popularity of this simple and nutritious dish.

Feijoada is actually more than a bean stew with different parts of the pig and cubed dried beef, it's an institution. Families gather around the plentiful feijoada spread in good restaurants, and it's often accompanied by Brazilian rhythms and turned from a simple meal into a festivity. Being an eater rather than a dancer, I'll mention here places where the food itself is the primary attraction, rather than the surroundings.

The restaurant in Sao Paulo almost synonymous with feijoada is Bolinha. It has the advantage of serving feijoada every day. It has existed in the same Cidade Jardim location for half a century, and its feijoada is traditional. However, it's on the pricey side, and the overwhelming opinion is that you don't get your money's worth. Another restaurant that specializes in feijoada and where you can enjoy it every day is, in my opinion, a friendlier and better option. Feijoada da Lana is located in the charming neighbourhood of Vila Madalena (Rua Aspicuelta, 421). The spread isn't as varied as in some other establishments, but they have one of the tastiest feijoadas I've tried in Sao Paulo at very reasonable prices (R$ 17.50 on weekdays, twice that much on weekends, but dessert buffet is included). On a nice day the small patio is a nice place to sit. The ambiance inside is simple and unassuming. Their caldo de feijão is excellent!

Feijoada is served in a wide variety of places. If you want cheap, you go to your local padaria. You do that, and you're likely to stay in single digits for something that's a very hearty and, in better cases, tasty meal. Indoor markets, such as the one in Santo Amaro, also offer the feijoada option on designated days. However, if you wish to go for quality rather than the price, and if you want to see what you're eating (in bakeries you're likely to get feet, ears, and other interesting parts of the animal), you may wish to opt for one of the high end restaurants. Many people think that Baby Beef Rubaiyat (make sure your audio is on if you check out the website) has the best feijoada in the city, and the trimmings, including free batidas, are abundant. There are two locations: one on Alameda Santos, the other on Faria Lima. For those who want to see and be seen, that's the place to be. Another option for those who are willing to spend a few reais more on their feijoada are some of the better hotel restaurants. Let's not forget our own Caluma, on the concourse level of the building where the Consulate is located, which also serves good, albeit not cheap, feijoada, and has excellent deserts to boot.

The options are endless; however, I must suggest a place that we've already tested several times, a hidden gem of a boteco chique called Armazén Paulista, in Moema. It's a beautifully decorated Brazilian bar, evoking the spirit of old Sao Paulo while being very modern at the same time. The feijoada is tasty, the buffet is rich, and the price is unbeatable (R$ 18 per person). Their draft beer is served very carefully, at the right temperature and consistency, and the atmosphere is casual and relaxed. Although the restaurant is well attended, if you get there before 2 pm your chances of finding a table are actually pretty good. They have other things on the menu as well, so if you don't feel like feijoada, you always have the option of going there another day. Right across the street is another fancy boteco, Favela, which also serves feijoada on Saturdays. And there are probably ten thousand other places in Sao Paulo which we'll never have an opportunity to visit...

Whatever your choice may be, feijoada is an integral part of living in Brazil and shouldn't be missed. Whether you genuinely like feijoada or think it's just a good pretext to drink caipirinha and beer, or sit with family or friends for a couple of hours, it's a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon - especially if you leave room for a refreshing nap afterwards.

Friday, December 24, 2004

A Little Piece of Germany

On the weekend of December 17 – 19, Claire and I headed to Campos do Jordão, a small town 180km northeast of Sao Paulo. Campos do Jordão is where Paulistanos (inhabitants of the city of Sao Paulo) go to experience winter. Nestled high in the Mantiquiera mountains, Campos do Jordão is most popular in the winter months (July and August) when temperatures dip and prices rise. During these months the temperature easily falls to single digits and it has been known to snow before (although I am doubtful that there has ever been any accumulation).

Campos do Jordão’s other main claim to fame is that it is quite literally a little piece of Germany in Brazil. German architecture is predominant and if it were not for all the signs in Portuguese, one would swear that they were walking around in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, minus the fortress walls. The town’s main products are chocolate (there are quite literally dozens and dozens of chocolate shops), sweaters, fondues and schnitzels, and the locally brewed Baden-Baden beer. Claire and I tried it all except the sweaters.

The day before heading off to Campos do Jordão, I called around to a couple of pousadas to see if we could find a reasonable place to stay. After finding a few places in the R$140 – R$440 a night range, I stumbled across a place on the internet for R$50 for two. Surprised at the lowness of the price (approximately C$22 a night), I asked a lot of questions about the location. Not surprisingly, the owner assured me that although in no way luxurious, the pousada was clean, comfortable, safe, and close to town. We took it, thinking that we could always change places, should it be a little too inexpensive. In the end, everything was fine and we were even treated to quite a good breakfast in the morning. The pousada, Recanto Dona Olga, was right next door to the Canada Lodge, a self-named “theme hotel”, based on the style of Mont Tremblant or Whistler. The lobby was covered in just about every piece of Canada kitsch that one could imagine, old cross country skis, Mounties, snowshoes, fake moose heads, maple syrup buckets, etc. Out of curiosity, we inquired about the price of a double room, although I am not sure why the women at the desk didn’t laugh when we asked if there was a discount for Canadians!

One of the fun things that we did while in Campos do Jordão was an hour of swinging from the trees! There is quite a bit of access to "adventure sports" in and around town and Claire and I signed up for a session of arborismo -- swinging from tree to tree under the canopies. As a first experience it was a lot of fun. The hardest thing to do is trust that the wires and buckles will hold you up. Once that fear passes, it's all great!


Thursday, December 23, 2004

Beware Fruitcake

Is this for real?? I realise that fruitcake has always gotten a bad rap, but this is too funny.

Fruitcake the Latest Banned Item on Airlines
From CTV.ca

Holiday travellers packing one of the season's traditional fruitcakes had better hope their journey's short. Transport Canada says the festive confections are not welcome on the nation's airplanes. The ban is not, as one might suspect, the punchline to a joke about old, dried-out fruitcakes making lethal weapons. That would be in bad taste.

According to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, fruitcakes are being banned because they are notoriously difficult to identify on the X-ray scanners used to inspect air travellers' luggage. And that, according to the agency's Jacques Duchesneau, means the otherwise innocent cake could prompt unnecessary security alerts and subsequent delays.

The fruitcake is just the latest in long list of items banned from travellers' luggage in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. All the likely weapons -- from automatic guns to razor blades -- are banned, of course. But among the more unusual items, air travellers would do well to remember they should leave their ice skates at home. Or at least pack them securely in luggage destined for the cargo hold. As for that homemade wine intended as a gift for travellers' hosts? It should also be packed away. It's one of the "unidentifiable" items the security authority has banned from carry-on luggage.

And, the agency warns, don't forget to take any holiday gifts you're packing unwrapped. If the contents are hidden beneath ribbon and wrapping they could be opened by security personnel at the airport.

The Five-Dollar Umbrella

I refuse to pay more than $5 for an umbrella (just to show that I am still flexible, the $5 can be either Canadian or US). This price cap isn’t because I tend to lose them, as I do with sunglasses, but rather because I tend to get caught in the rain without one and then want/need to buy a new one without significant investment, since in most cases “a perfectly good umbrella” is waiting for me in my hall closet back at home.

I’ve discovered over the years that the going rate for basic street-sold umbrellas around the world is somewhere between C$5 and US$5, and my collection includes editions of these $5 specimens from New York, Hong Kong, Paraguay, and now Brazil. It rains a lot in Brazil during the raining season (November – March) and I am getting much better at never leaving the house without an umbrella no matter how promising the weather looks in the morning. Invariably, it will cloud over and start to pour just when I am leaving work or wanting to walk outside.

At the beginning of December, I took a week off to travel to Rio and Parati with Mark (visitor #2) who was here for a two-week visit. We were pretty good about the whole umbrella thing, although we did get caught one afternoon in a downpour in Rio. Even though we had not one, but two, umbrellas back at the hotel, we found ourselves sans parapluie and getter wetter. Finally we decided to bite the bullet and purchase a third umbrella. As it turned out, the going rate in Rio is not $5 but R$5 (reais). Now, at the moment, the real (singular of reais) is worth approximately C$0.44, making the umbrella worth C$2.25! Who knew that the $5 barrier could be broken? Makes me wonder i) how much umbrellas actually cost to make; and ii) how much the people making them are being paid.

Three days later in Parati, we got caught in another torrential downpour (you would think that we would have learned our lesson by now, but no ....). A small sidebar – Parati, for some unknown reason was built to glorify the torrential downpour. The transition between the ocean and the town is quite fluid (pun intended) and the town literally floods every time it rains, regardless of the amount of rain that actually falls. It makes for very photogenic conditions as the historic buildings are all beautifully reflected in the flooded streets. It also creates fairly challenging time for pedestrians who need to hurdle rather large bodies of water to cross from street to street, but I digress. So when we found ourselves caught in the storm we ducked into a bar to wait out the storm and have a drink before dinner. Well, there was no sign that the storm would let up, so Mark ran across the street to buy yet an other umbrella (number four, for those who are counting). He came back a few minutes later with a rather large, walking umbrella. Incredulous, I was sure that we had broken the barrier. But no, the umbrella cost R$15 equivalent to US$5! My faith in the umbrella industry was restored! Although I must admit that I was feeling rather silly now having four umbrellas between the two of us. With our new gear in tow we leapt from sidewalk to sidewalk and made it to the restaurant for dinner (where I was about to discover the banana-stuffed squid, so all was soon to be well). Of course, the rain stopped fifteen minutes later and we were feeling even sillier!

Now two nights ago, Claire (visitor #3) and I were in a cab heading from Jardins to the Ibirapuera Shopping mall. We hoped out of the cab unexpectedly since we found ourselves very close to the mall, but still miles away due to the traffic in which the cab was stuck. We realized it would be a whole lot faster at that point to hop out and walk. As soon as we were out and the cab pulled away, Claire realized that she had forgotten one of the umbrellas on the backseat. Feeling terrible and promising to buy me a new umbrella, I tried to explain that in fact I had many many umbrellas at home and that the particular model which had just been donated to the cabbie, was in fact the Paraguayan edition, which was worth exactly what I paid for it a year ago. Ten minutes after purchasing it, the wind blew it inside out and permanently bent the shaft. I guess you get what you pay for! In the meantime, I will try to remember to take my one of my umbrella’s with me so that I don’t acquire yet another one here in Brazil.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Banana da Terra

Parati is a small coastal town half way between Rio and Sao Paulo. Founded in 1667, Parati’s first heyday was in the late 17th Century and early 18th Century when it was the main port for gold and diamonds being shipped out of the state of Minas Gerais in the interior of the country, as it was the only place that the mountains between the coast and the interior could be scaled. The town’s simple colonial architecture is a testament to the glory that it lived during the early days of the gold rush. However, by the early 1720s it fell into disuse due to the construction of a road between Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais which cut fifteen days transportation time off the Minas – Parati route. Somewhat revived during the coffee boom, Parati is now living through its second heyday, the advent of tourism, aided by the 1954 construction of an access road from Rio. Aside from the colonial architecture, Parati is also a perfect base to discover the beaches, islands, and bays that surround it. It is also home to many fine restaurants.

Mark and I spent a couple of days in Parati last week and had a great time exploring both the town and the beaches. One evening we ate at Banana da Terra, a terrific little restaurant that incorporates bananas into all of its dishes - or as the Fuja guide states "uses and abuses". We chose Banana da Terra since it was one of the restaurants that included an eggplant dish in the Boa Lembrança cookbook. Hoping to try one of the dishes, we headed to Banana only to discover that the recipes were in fact exclusively produced for the book and were not available to order. Quite sad, but not to worry, we ended up ordering other rather exquisite dishes despite the fact that there was not an eggplant to be seen. Of the two dishes that we ordered, I will immodestly have to say that mine was probably the tastier and more elaborate of the two – two intact squid, stuffed with, you guessed it, bananas and cheese and then smothered in a shrimp, tomato and coconut milk sauce with a side of rice. Possibly one of the best things that I have ever eaten!! Now to see if I can just recreate it ....

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Berinjela!


Why do I love eggplants so much? It’s hard to know, but as I’ve said many a time, it just isn’t a meal unless there is eggplant – beringela, in Portuguese – on the plate. Fortunately Brazilians also seem to love eggplant, so I can eat it, both in and out, with regular frequency – sometimes even twice a day. I am not sure if there is an official “eggplant season”, but eggplants in Brazil are plentiful and inexpensive these days. The last one I bought put me back a mere 12¢. Last week in Rio, Mark and I were perusing a bookstore when there on the table was a cookbook dedicated to the eggplant! I couldn’t believe it! A whole cookbook, just on eggplant. It reminded me of the “all lentils all the time” website that I started a few years back [may its memory rest in peace].

The eggplant cookbook is part of a series produced by the Association of Restaurants of Good Memory – A Associação dos Restaurantes de Boa Lembrança – in collaboration with the National Commercial Apprenticeship Service (SENAC) and Varig, one of the Brazilian airlines [please, no mentions of regional aircraft trade disputes]. The Associação dos Restaurantes de Boa Lembrança is a network of restaurants in Brazil which serve special “signature” dishes. Each year, the signature dishes change and customers who order the dish receive a hand-painted ceramic plate which includes the name of the restaurant as well as the name of the dish, the city and the year. For some, it is a matter of pride to collect and display the plates from the restaurants. The other cookbooks in the series include Tomato, Beans, and Pork. For the eggplant cookbook, chefs from sixty-eight of the Boa Lembrança restaurants provided exclusive recipes for the collection. From eggplant crêpes-flan with crabmeat, pressed tomato and mango, served with arugula pesto to eggplant and marscapone cheese soufflé with orange sauce, this book has it all! I have been having great fun the last few days perusing the recipes and deciding which ones I want to make first. I will be sure to blog the results of the recipes!

Some interesting facts about eggplants:
  • Tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, bell peppers, and peppers are belong to the same family: solanacae;
  • Eggplants were thought to cause epilepsy and dementia and the name for the eggplant in Italian – melanzana – literally means “mad apple”;
  • According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the eggplant is the now the ninth most produced vegetable in the world;
  • Between 1591 and 1923 eggplants were blamed for 500 major fires in Istanbul as the city’s wooden houses would catch fire after sparks from the eggplant grills would be carried through the wind.