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)!!