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!