Brazil 7 - Cocada

Well it's sweet time again. And this is what we just had for dessert here at home. Cocada. It's sooooooooooooo brazilian, everyone eats it here. It's made from fresh shredded coconut and a lot of sugar then other things are added to flavour it.

It's bloody beautiful, sort of like an exotic coconut ice.

You can see here what we had today. The two white ones are the basic one made with just sugar, and the other white one is made with condensed milk. The orangey looking one is passionfruit - and today was the first time I had tasted this and OH MYYYYYYY - fantastic - the acid of the passionafruit cuts the sweetness and richness of the cocada - it was sort of like a beach party in my mouth!!

Now the best of all I've left till last. The dark brown one there. It's made with the skin still on the coconut and it's burnt....mmmmmmm that wonderful burnt flavour of not just burnt coconut but burnt sugar...just perfect with my coffee...sigh...does life get any better than this?????

I never really got into cocada when I was here last time, but clearly I bought them at the wrong place. This one came from a local food fair and was so moist and so sweet, with that wonderful coconut taste and texture, a perfect example of Brazil's dedication to all things sweet and decadent.

Brazil 6 - My Feijoada!

I know I have raved about Feijoada already. Well, it's so bloody good! And on Saturday my third dad and I made it together for the Sunday family gathering. Don't worry, family and friends, I took notes so it can be made on my return.

I just had to include the top pic - we had picked through the feijao (black beans), washed it, started to boil it and soften it, added the dried meat, the smoked ribs, then all this pork sausage (three different kinds) and set it to boil. And here it is! It's sort of Feijoada in the buff, as it were!

The second pic is my third family and a few friends tucking in to my Feijoada - it cooked for 7 hours, then left overnight to mellow, then heated up again the next day.

God, it was good. Really really really good.

Brazil 5 - Agua de Coco

This post is dedicated to the General who has asked for some cycling food stories or at least a post about beer or wine - this is as close as it's going to get, General!

Times have changed in Brazil.

Once upon a time, if you wanted Agua de Coco - Coconut Water - you went to the beach or a roadside stall, picked your green coconut from a big esky of really really cold coconuts, the man used his huge machete to cut off the top, they wacked a straw in the top - then you walked away sipping your Agua de Coco.

Not so now.

I saw this little stall set up in the parking lot of a huge shop, sort of like a Campbells Cash & Carry, and here was this woman with her two gadgets. The one you see in the top pic above, would puncture a hole in the top of the coconut (machete no longer required, which in my book takes away a little of the drama really), then she lies the punctured coconut upside down on another machine - sort of like a beer keg (second pic). Here the coconut water runs through a spiral of chilled tubing and pours out the bottom into a cup - all very civilised. You walk away to do your shopping with her very delicate cup of Agua de Coco.

And get this - you can even choose if you want 300ml, 350ml, or 400ml!!!! Crikey!

Now I myself am not a big fan of Agua de Coco, in fact I really don't like it! It sort of tastes like off water to me. But the locals swear by it - they seem to think it is the best way to "matar sede" (kill their thirst)!

I have to say, though, it's not the same seeing someone walking around with a clear plastic cup of opaque liquid. I preferred the old days when it was an exotic site of people walking around with a giant green coconut in their hand, with a straw sticking out the top!

Yes, things certainly have changed in Brazil.

Brazil 4 - Pascoa

It's Pascoa - Easter - and all over the world supermarkets and shops are restacking their shelves full of eggs. But no-one does it like the Brazilians!!

This isn't really about food, this post, but about something that I love, and laugh at, every time I see it! Here in Brazil, at Easter time, they line the ceiling of part of their shops with Easter eggs - as per above.

I took this pic in the local supermarket on Monday - and it's not a grand supermarket, you should see the ceiling of Lojas Americanas!!! OH MY GOD - it literally rains Easter Eggs (well not really literally, they are all tied to a structure thingy, they don't fall down on your head or anything - it just sounded good!)!!

All the different colours are all the different types of Easter Eggs. Crikey! Puts bloody Kmart to shame!

Brazil 3 - Balas

Well I know the title says balas, which means "lollies", but I'm afraid what we have above aren't technically lollies. Well one is, Bala de Banana (banana lolly), the small square one is a lolly, but the other, Sonho de Valsa (Waltz Dream) is definitely a chocolate!!

And these are the two greatest lolly things of this country.

Sonho de Valsa - ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh joyous Sonho de Valsa, my absolute favourite Brazilian treat. I still remember my first one, out at the apple farm, at the factory where they did all the classifying of the apples, my Brazilian mum brought me one as a treat for working so hard (hmmmmm, not so sure I was actually working that hard - just getting motion sick as the apples went past my eyes as I looked for dodgy ones!), and oh myyyyyyyy. All I wanted to do was race over to the little shop and buy 22 more!!! They are about the size of a golf ball, and have this wacky yum filling encased in wafer, then this is encased in chocolate. Oh sweet thing wrapped in hot pink! I bought a pack of 6 on Monday, it's now Friday, and well, let's just say it's time for another trip to the supermarket!!

Bala de Banana - well, this one certainly is wacky. These are little chewy bites of black gold tossed in sugar. It's made from dried banana and treacle I think, and that's about it - and it's soooooooooooooo freaking good I can't believe it. These lollies are made in a beautiful old historic town an hour from here called Antonina (where I actually spent my first ever Carnaval back in '88), so they're local and sort of home-made. I have a bag of them in my drawer beside my bed as I type, they are the perfect accompaniment to late night book reading (and even early morning stretching)!!

Brazil 3 - Sobremesas

Now here is a word you must learn if you're ever thinking of going to Brazil - SOBREMESAS.

It means "dessert".

(By the way, in Chile it's POSTRES, just in case you need it!)

Now this is a word I learnt very early on in my Brazilian adventure - and for good reason. Check them out above. Oh my. Now these are just desserts we had at lunch on Monday, here at home. Two home-made and two bought. Sitting there looking at me from the Lazy Sussan. I just sat there thinking about a place that has 4 desserts like this on offer on a Monday afternoon, without any ceremony, without having done anything special for their aussie guest, they were just there. Sigh. What a place.

I would like to introduce them to you.

Ambrosia - this is the golden lumpy mass at 12 o'clock on the plate. It looks so innocent and blah blah, yet one mouthful of this and you'll think you're floating on wonderfully spiced clouds of yumminess! Ambrosia is made from egg yolk and lots and lots of sugar and infused with spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and home-made candied lime peel. Normally, ambrosia floats in a sugar syrup of the same infusion, but this one you see is much dryer, and in my opinion, better! I can never get over the fact that something that looks so boring, is like a party in your mouth.

Rocombole de Goiaba - this is the spiral looking thing at 3 o'clock on the plate. We actaully bought this that morning in a shop we stopped at after doing the food shopping, we went in to look, had a coffee, and bought this to try. It looked pretty good. I had high hopes. In my book, anything with goiabada (guava paste) is bloody spectacular. Well this was...well...just ok. It wasn't great, it was ok. It was like a thin dense cake with the goibada, nothing more, nothing less. And after eating Ambrosia...well...not even close!

Doce de Abobora - Mmmmmmmm...now this is something different for us aussies - it's Candied Pumpkin - yes, they eat pumpkin sweet here (as well as avocado), never in savory foods. And it's sooooooo good. This one you can see, the organge blob at 6 o'clock, is bought from a good local padaria (the same place as the sonhos - see previous post), but I have seen my brazilian mum make it, and it's a labor of love. But it tastes fantastic, sweet and gooey, with the smallest hint of the pumpkin's personality coming through (does that sound too tossery??). I would highly recommend gettin stuck into some if you get the chance. It looks a bit gross, but tastes really good.

Marron Glace - I know, I know, this is really a French sweet, but I had to include it, because a) I love it, and b)My brazilian mum had actually made it herself from the chestnuts from their farm!!! I couldn't believe it. For those of you who have never eaten one of these candied chestnuts, at 9 o'clock on the plate, well, you don't know what you're missing. These sweet nuts are usually eaten only at Christmas time in Europe, and they're hard to find at all in Oz, which is a shame because they are really something special. The first taste is a bit wacky, it has a grainy consistency, but a wonderful woody sweetness that is quite unlike anything I had tasted. My brazilian mum wraps each chestnut in muslin, individually, then cooks them for three days in a sugar syrup, then drains them, and then they're ready to eat. You usually see them in shops individually wrapped in gold foil (probably because they cost a fortune), but I have to say, that the home-made ones may just be worth the hassle!!!

So, there you have it. Four desserts, or sobremesas. Stay tuned for more fab Brazilian sweets - I have no doubt there will be more!

Brazil 2 - Feijoada

Now, I know you've read a lot about south american stews so far...and I have no intention of boring you to death, but this one is the stew of all stews. This one, I don't want to bathe in (see previous post), this one I just want to eat and eat and eat, and eat!

Feijoada. Sigh.

The quintessential Brazilian dish. You can see it above. Take a moment to have a good look at this dark, smokey, mysterious mass. It's the cassoulet of Brazil (and let's face it we all love a cassoulet!).

See the big dark brown mess? Well that, obviously is the stew - a mix of all things pork, including wonderful smokey ribs, smokey pork sausage, and traditionally included even pig ears and tail! This is cooked for a very long time with feijao (black beans), garlic, salt and a bit more stuff, and just left to cook for ages. Oh my, it becomes gluggy and aromatic and marvellously muddy.

Feijoada is always served with rice, shredded kale (sauteed with bits of fatty bacon - just to get more pork into the dish), and oranges slices. You can see it all there. I think the kale is there as the token vegie, and the orange helps cut the richness of the dish.

Now one thing you don't see (it's hidden in that wooden bowl) is the very very brazilian (but I can't stand it, never developed the taste for it) farofa - which is like sawdust really, but apparently is manjoica flour - which they sprinkle over the top of the feijoada (for a reason that I don't really get, they swear it adds something - not too sure exactly what though!). Anyway, these Brazilians are a people of wonderful palate, so I give them the benefit of the doubt that farofa works. Hmmmmm.

So, there you have it. The thing I crave when I'm back in Oz. The dish I once ate at a food fair in Sydney, and as soon as I swallowed the first mouthful, tears sprang to my eyes, and I started crying - just like that, an instant physical response to the wonders of this magical dish.

Now I did a bit of research and discovered that Feijoada is originally a slave's meal - made from all the left over bits of the pig (that's why the tail and ears are traditionally included) - they would stew the pig bits with black beans for a hearty meal, and serve it with rice. It has now become much more chic with smoked ribs and fab pork sausage and chunks of pork. Mmmmmmmm. Soooooooooo good.

You usually find Feijoada in restaurants on a Friday or on the weekend - we ate this one last Sunday at a restaurant - all of us sitting outside at tables - the restaurant only opens on weekends! And oh my goodness, it was just as I remembered it - dark, smokey, muddy in the mouth, with that zing of Kale and orange...DIVINEEEEEEEEE.

Brazil 1 - SONHOS

BRAZILLLLLLL!!!!

Chegei!!! (I arrived!!)

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. I arrived. Sigh. Back in the land of all food wonderful, all people friendly, and all desserts outstanding! Sit back team and enjoy the food tour of Brazil!

Well I couldn´t have gotten off to a better start.

After tearful arrival scenes at Curitiba airport (from me, not them!) my host parents, knowing my perspective on life, informed me we would be stopping off at the Padaria (bakery) on the way home to pick up some supplies for dinner, and not just any supplies mind you - among the spoils was going to be.....SONHOS!!!!! Oh sonhos, a sweet sweet song of all things soft and gooey in your mouth....sigh....soooo good, like little cushions of heaven.

The literal translation of sonho is "dream", and in my book it is very aptly named. For the uninitiated, it's simply a donut. But for Brazilians, and those lucky enough to have eaten good ones, they are more than "dreams", they are simply heaven. Light and fluffy, made with a light yeast, deep fried and tossed in sugar, but when you bite into them...oh my...a wonderful sweet guava paste called goibada oozes into your mouth. Sighhhhhhhhhh.

And this, team, is what you see above, lots and lots of these sonhos, all lined up and ready to go. I still remember my first ever sonho - back in 1988, at the beach with this same family, we went past a lady's house, stood out the front and clapped our hands, and she came out to ask how many we wanted. I just watched the whole thing wondering what on earth could be worth this pilgrimage. We got back to the beach house and I was initiated into this most wonderful of Brazilian gourment secrets..the sonho. And let me tell you it took all the willpower I had, and the fact it was the first day back with my family, not to jump the counter and stuff my gob with this precious treasure!

Chile 5 - Yellow Squid Heads???

Yes well. I´m very uncomfortable ever criticising a culture for its food. Very uncomfortable. Yet, as a blooger, one must present the loves as well as the not-so-loves. And this is one of those - a not-so-loved.

Hmmmm....what do you think this is a picture of? To me it looks exactly like yellow squid heads swimming in yellowish water. It wasn´t exactly what I had in mind when I ordered Papaya from the dessert menu. Yes, Papaya. Hmmmm again.

But I´m not one to judge a book by it´s cover, and since pretty much everything I ate in Chile was really really good (except for a totally crap Caesar salad one night), I knew I had to give it the benefit of the doubt, keep an open mind, and delve on in.

I ordered this as my afternoon snack after wandering around Los Dominocos - the last stop on the red metro line in Santiago where a little tourist market exists, quite cute really, little huts with local art and craft. I ended up buying a few bits of jewellery and a small piece of art that took my eye - something for the Red Room. Anwyway, back to the food.

So, after an afternoon of wandering, I sat downn for refreshment, and after 3 wonderful fried cheese empanadas (little cheese stuffed pastries, sort of like samosas), I decided on ordering some refreshing fruit - and I love PAYAYA!!!!

And it arrived. As above.

I poked and prodded with my spoon, then went in for the kill...perhaps it tastes good? Well, no it doesn´t. It tastes slimey and sweet - I ate one whole squid head (there were originally 3) but chose not to down any more. A small disappointment in an otherwise wonderful afternoon, but I did learn something - always ask for the Spanish menu (that is, if you can even read a little of it) rather than rely on the English one!!

To me, this dessert will always go down in history as Yellow Squid Heads.

Chile 4 - Como Agua Para Chocolate - Like Water For Chocolate

Now this was indeed unexpected.

While drinking pineapple juice and fervently discussing food with the Swedes on Easter Islands - it came to my attention that there exists in Santiago a sacred place. A place so incredible, I couldn't imagine it would ever exist.

Como Agua Para Chocolate restaurant. Oh my. Now if you don't know what I'm talking about...SHAME ON YOU. Like Water For Chocolate is an amazing book, combining two passions - food and love - set in Mexico early 1900s I think (also became a movie). Written by Laura Esquivel in the 80s, this book became like a bible for me - we even had my Mum read a part of it at our wedding! And there's a restaurant dedicated to this sacred book. And we went. Last night. Me and the Swedes. My fellow foodies. All frocked up and somewhere fab to go!

Well. I wish I could post like a million pics, the restaurant is done up all early Mexican, but still quite chic, and the food was divine. We started with Suspiro de Amor (Love's Breath) which was light crispy pastry layers with cubes of tomato, avocado and every imaginable seafood in between with a tangy super sauce...we all shared....ohhhhhhhhhhhh so lovely.

But the highlight - and I hate to say it but the main was even better than dessert (and dessert was gooooooooooooooood)- was Diego and Frida's Love Stew...and that's what you can see above...oh myyyyyy...if you read the previous post you would know I had a stew for lunch and it was amazing...well this one was even better. It was a huge pot of smokey salty broth with smoked pork ribs, chorizo, all sorts of seafood, chicken and veges...bloody hell, I wish I could have bathed in it. Imagine a whole warm bath of this stew and just lying in it, soaking up those wonderful smokey aromas...wonderful...who needs a herb bath when you could have a Diego and Frida's Love Stew Bath???? You could have a loaf of bread as your sponge and instead of washing yourself with it, just dip it in and eat it...mmmmmm.

The pot of stew you see is for two people, and we shared it between 3, and there was still half left! Enough for a foot bath anyway.

We ate all this food with a Chilean chardonnay - but you know me, I don't take much notice of wine, so I'm afraid I can't comment, other than saying it was nice.

But dessert is something I do take notice of. And being in the sharing mood, we all shared dessert - we chose two. The first was your usual chocolate fondue (Chocolate Caliente) with fruits including cactus fruit, the second was something quite special, Torta de Tres Leches (Cake of three milks). Now this is something to behold, and if you follow me on Twitter you would see a pic there (and I don't know how to post two pics on the one post, so go there and check it out).

This dessert is about four layers of wonderful cake, with different creams in between sandwiching it together - but the best part was that the whole cake was covered in gooey marshmallow....you know that raw meringue stuff, just a little baked in the oven....with strawberries on top. Oh there was silence at that table as three frenzied foodies tucked into their Torta de Tres Leches! Silence followed by Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Then more silence. It was really really good. Oh and I almost forgot the wonderful burnt toffee chip sticking out of it. I offered to devour that.

Chile Part 3 - Santiago and Cazuela de Vacuno

Wow - check this out. A real Chilean dish, like a peasant dish. And omg - soooooooooooo good. Cazuela de Vacuno. I ate it in a very cool bar yesterday for lunch, called Liguria, I wanted something light! Dear me! It's like a super broth, so wonderfully salty with sliced veges in it and rice, then one huge chunk of meat - in my case beef (but you can get it in chicken or fish, or other meats) and it has one huge potato whole, and one huge chunk of pumpkin, and one big chilli!! Oh myyyyyyyyyy it was good. It was a serve for one, and I ate about one third of it!

In Chile, food always starts with bread and this wonderful salsa type thing. Diced tomato, capsicum and onion with vinegar, garlic, salt, and often a lot of coriander....I haven't had a bad one yet - and the one at Liguria was FANTASTIC - hotter than I have had before and so tangy and coriandery! Mmmmmmmmmmm. You wack it on your bread and shove it in your gob (well, that's what I do anyway).

I sat at the window of the bar and watched the world go by for about an hour and a half. Oh this travelling thing is bliss. Sigh.

Chile Part 2 - Easter Island and Pineapple Juice

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Easter Island. Oh wonderful Easter Island. Those amazing statues - or Moias (as they're called by the locals) - and that BLOODY AMAZING PINEAPPLE JUICE. Oh my god, the pineapple juice - made from those really small pineapples, like baby pineapples, so so so so sweet and so so so so good. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh I have dreams about that pineapple juice, deep sigh as I think about it's wonderous pineappleness. Sigh.

I ate like billions of fish on Easter Island, not one piece of meat, no I lie, I had a Churrasco Sandwiche, which is like a Chilean steak sandwich for lunch one day.

So, fish. I'm not a big fish eater, but here it was really really good. One night, my wacky hotel owner, Raul, made fish in tahitian vanilla (which is cool as Tahiti is actually pretty close to Easter Island and not a tosser made up thing by cool people) which was so yummmmmmmmm. Unfortunately, after dinner (and the Easter Island polynesian cultural show) I hit the local nightlife with one very nice Irish girl, one very out of control american, and in the end, one very tall German girl - and of course I didn't take my note to self seriously (see previous post), and downed two Pisco Sours! Hmmmmmm. Then, encouraged by afore-mentioned international new mates of mine, had even more alcohol. Hmmmmmmmm. Note to self: no more drinking, ever. I am too old to drink and act like a backpacker.

I digress. Fish.

Yes, lots of fish. Good fish. And yummmmmmm sweet potato mash stuff. Mmmmmmm. Oh, and amazing chocolate mousse one night. The island itself is very basic, quite primitive actually, which is wonderfulllllllllllllll, yet the restaurants are sooooooooo yum...the food great.

Now photos...hmmmm....I just looked back, and again all the food ones are on the iPhone, so you'll just have to cope with one of my mug at dinner at a French restaurant right on the water on Easter Island - I had dinner with the Irish gal, and it was soooooooo yum curry coconut prawns with rice and this absolute delish banana and coconut accompaniment - sort of like having dessert on your plate with your main! I had chockie mousse again for dessert here, but I'm afraid it wasn't as good as the one the night before!!!

Now there is just one more thing about Easter Island - other than the fact it is one of the coolest places I've ever been - and that is I met a couple of very special people. The Swedes. Yes, I was fortunate enough to hook up with these two on one of the tour days, and it didn't take long for us to find out we were kindred foodie spirits.....they take photos of their food too. So good to find family on the other side of the world! So, of course, we talked food! We hired a car on our free day and travelled all over the island, talked more food, went to the beach, talked more food, and then of course ate and drank pineapple juice and talked more food! I suspect the Swedes will become lifelong food buddies. They're sort of like me a bit - laugh a lot and dream about food.

Ok...looks like the pic thing doesn't work...will work on it!

Accommodation - OMG stayed in the wackiest little hotel, really a B&B, Hotel Orongo - run by the wackiest guy ever, Raul, who is a great cook. Very very basic, but I´d stay here again at the drop of a hat. It´s in the main drag of the town, so can´t get a better location. Skip the more expensive places and stay here. Sooooo relaxed, very clean, and the most gorgeous tropical gardens, with lots of other quirky guests. Almost twilight-zonish! (only negative - no wifi, but had an internet cafe 3 mins up the road)

Chile Part 1 - Santiago

All right, all right, I know I have been a complete slack butt with the food blog, but this is a basic problem I suppose with us foodies - we're so busy eating the bloody food, we can't be bothered writing about it!

So, tonight I am alone - no wild disco parties or dinners out at flash restaurants, so I thought I'd better pay my blog some attention - especially as the food here is BLOODY UNREAL!!

Where to begin?????

I'll start by skipping the first night in Santiago - even though I did have a divine dinner of a huge chunk of meat with prawns and some creamy sauce all over the top of it, followed by the Chilean version of Creme Caramel - the highlight of the meal was the 2 bloody Pisco Sours I drank. Dear lord. These things are lethal. They are made from the local alcohol, Pisco, and mixed with lemon juice, sugar and egg white. OMG, taste fantastic, but what a punch! Two of those, and I thanked god for the two yanks who walked me back home to the guest house! TOTALLY PLASTERED. Note to self: no more Pisco Sours.

I think I will add a pic of the steak, I took one for you all, and it will give me a chance to try all this technology out. Here goes....oh crap, that pic is on the iPhone and I haven't worked out how to save those ones yet! Sorry team.

Now breakfast here is sort of basic. A few bits of this white flat bread roll type thing, a bit of yum butter and fruity jam, some fresh juice and a piece of fruit. I gave up on it 2 days ago - preferring to go out and try more and more stuff out in the real world. And I can't do any more of that white flattish bread stuff. The guava juice, though is spectacular, as is the wonderful sweet and wacky papaya. Mmmmmmm.

The most fun in all this restaurant stuff is smilingly telling the waiters I don't speak Spanish! We always end up friends for life even though we don't really understand one word the other is saying!! Food always arrives, but I'm not convinced it's always what I've ordered!

Accommodation: Spending the whole Santiago visit at Casa Newen, a B&B in Provedencia - good location, 15 mins walk to the fab metro system, loads of bars, restaurants and cafes nearby. I´d stay there again, but see if you can get the room out the back.

Welcome

Wow. I'm a blogger! A food blogger at that! I would have to be the biggest techno-dufus in the world, and yet, here I am, on a blogger thingy, ready to report on the food delights of my upcoming Round the World adventure.

My man is to blame for it all. He set up this blog thing for me. He gave me the ticket. He has set Tweets to match Blogs to match Tweetpics to match emails...dear lord. It's all his fault. Thank you my love.

So, to make the most of this incredible 40th birthday gift, I am going to mix my two great passions - food and travel. I am hoping to thrill fellow foodies, as well as family and friends (who may or not be foodies), with obscene details of all the great food I encounter on this trip of trips.

The adventure begins 11th March as I leave Sydney, bound for Chile. Only 3 more sleeps. I have spent this evening in a stressful packing frenzy...never fear, I have included some pants with elastic waists to allow the adventure to be everything it can be!

And now for the food part - I had my man's famous goulash tonight (leftover from Saturday's farewell gathering)...omg....my man's goulash is just like him....just gets better and better with age! Mmmmmmmmmm.