Flavors of Brazil

RECIPE - Tangerine and Mango Mojito (Mojito de Tangerina e Manga)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

In Brazil, we're now well into February, normally the hottest month of the year in this very hot country. These are the dog days of summer in Brazil, when the mercury boils over and so do many Brazilians. Checking Climatempo, the Brazilian equivalent of the Weather Channel, today Rio de Janeiro is expecting a high temperature of 34C (93F) with lots of sun and the occasional shower. In São Paulo, it'll go up to 32C (90F) and be sunny, humid, with afternoon thundershowers. Fortaleza, where Flavors of Brazil comes from, should be a relatively pleasant 29C (88F) with lots of sun and a strong breeze. But in the interior of the state, where there are no trade winds to cool one off, the temperature is expected to reach 35C (92F). It seems that Brazil's hottest city tomorrow will be Cuiabá, the capital of the state of Mato Grosso and always one of the hottest spots in Brazil. There it's predicted to go up to 36F (96F).

With temperatures like these during the summer months, Brazilians are perennially desperate for a chilled drink . Icy beer is always an option, fruit juices are popular, and the traditional cooling cocktail, the caipirinha, remains a popular option. However, some Brazilians are now finding that the caipirinha, even though it has lots of ice cubes, doesn't have a lot of water and has a high level of alcohol which doesn't aid cooling. Because of this, when it's really hot many Brazilians are turning to variations of the Cuban drink, the mojito. It's becoming increasingly popular in bars, restaurants, nightclubs and at the beach because a mojito's CQ (cooling quotient) is inhanced by the addition of refreshing fresh mint and plenty of chilled soda water, and if only natural fruit juices are used, cooling isn't inhibited by an excess of sugar.

The following recipe is typical of one of the new generation Cubo-Brazilian mojitos. Or should that be Brazo-Cuban? However it's described, it's wonderfully refreshing, light and not overly-alcoholic, and absolutely delicious. Even if you have to wait until July or August for a really hot day to hit your northern hemisphere neighborhood, remember this drink and try it out then. It'll cool you right off.
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RECIPE - Tangerine and Mango Mojito (Mojito de Tangerina e Manga)
Makes one drink

1/2 small ripe mango, peeled and cubed
1/2 tangerine, peeled, seeded but left in segments
6 or 7 fresh mint leaves, thoroughly washed
1 oz (2 Tbsp) white rum
ice cubes
soda water or bubbly mineral water
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Process the mango cubes in a blender or food processor until you have a smooth pulp. Reserve.

Combine the tangerine segments and the mint leaves in a tall tumbler. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or a glass stirring rod, lightly mash them together. Do not over-mash. You want them to be bruised so that the flavors are released, but not completely mashed.

Add the rum, and then enough mango pulp to fill the glass no more than halfway. Add 3/4 cubes of ice, then fill with soda water. Stir gently to mix, being careful not to over-stir the soda water.

Let stand for a minute or two to chill, then serve.

Recipe translated and adapted from Gula magazine.

RECIPE - Diamantina Rice Cake (Bolo de Arroz)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Diamantina, in the state of Minas Gerais, is rightly known as a tourist "gem" - not just because of the vast quantity of diamonds and other gems that were extracted from the hills which surround it, but because of its well-preserved historical center and its relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Part of the town's charm comes as well from its gastronomic riches - Diamantina has preserved its culinary traditions as well as it has its architectural, musical and religious ones.

One of Diamantina's true gems is a woman named Zenília Rosália da Silva Rocha. Her story is told on the Brazilian gastronomic-tourism website Sabores de Minas, and although she isn't a professional cook, doesn't have a restaurant or even work in one, the one dish she is known for - a rice-flour cake - has made her famous, and beloved, in Diamantina and beyond.

Her is her story from the site, translated by Flavors of Brazil:

The ringing of church bells announces another religious festival in Diamantina. At the same hour, Zenília Rosália da Silva Rocha's oven advises her, "the rice cake is done." In Diamantina during the Festival of the Divine and the Festival of Our Lady of the Rosary, in July and October respectively, Dona Zenília has a mission: to make a thousand pieces of rice cake for each celebration. And to accomplish that, her marathon begins early. "I spend from 7 am to 8 pm making these treats", she says. And so, when the bells announce the beginning of the festival, she is ready to distribute her delicious sweets to all the festivals' celebrants. "It's a tradition. I've been doing it for 18 years. My grandparents did the same thing, and passed on the recipe to my mother, who taught me," she explains. The cake is a type of blessing she bestows on those who participate in the religious celebrations. "If there was no rice cake, the festivals just wouldn't be the same," she says. Golden in color due to the presence of squash, the pieces of cake she distributes are fluffy, moist and with a light flavor. This light goodness is real sustenance for the pilgrims, as during the festival they must climb the steep, narrow streets and staircases of the city. It doesn't do to lose one's breath, and Dona Zenília's cake is a guarantee of strength for the thousands who walk in procession during the festivities. Her cake is a blessing for the pilgrim as well as a treat for their palates.

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RECIPE - Diamantina Rice Cake (Bolo de Arroz)
Makes one tube-pan cake

3 cups raw long-grain white rice
3 cups cooked long-grain white rice, cooled
2 cups granulated white sugar
6 whole eggs
one medium acorn squash, or equivalent amount of any other winter squash, cooked and mashed
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup neutral vegetable oil
1/2 lb grated pizza-type mozzarella
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups (1/2 liter) milk
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Grease and dust with flour a tube-shaped cake pan. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

In a small saucepan, heat the butter in the oil. Only heat until the butter melts, then remove from heat, cool and reserve.

In a food processor, process the raw rice until it is finely ground. Reserve.

In the bowl of a KitchenAid-type mixer, beat together the ground rice, the cooked rice, the eggs, the mashed squash. Alternatively use a hand mixer and a large mixing bowl. When you have a homogenous mixture, slowly add the butter and oil mixture. Then slowly add the milk while continuing to beat the mixture until you reach a cake-batter consistency.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, place in the preheated oven and cook for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely on a cake rack, then unmold and cut into small single-serving pieces.

Diamantina - Brazil's Other Baroque Gem

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:33:00 +0000

Diamantina at twilight

The baroque goldrush town of Ouro Preto, located in the mountains of Minas Gerais state, is one of the most well-known and visited Brazilian cities of tourism. Ouro Preto is an almost obligatory stop for any tourist visiting Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state and one of Brazil's largest metropolitan areas. Ouro Preto is only about an hour or two from BH (as Belo Horizonte is familiarly nicknamed) and so it's easy to make a day trip from the capital or enjoy a quick overnight visit. Ouro Preto's worth as part of the world's cultural patrimony has been recognized by UNESCO which honored it with World Heritage Site status in 1980.

Less well known, but equally worthy of its World Heritage Site status (granted in 1999) is another small town which owes its origins to the 18th century goldrush in Minas Gerais, Diamantina. Less accessible than Ouro Preto at 300 km. from Belo Horizonte, Diamantina doesn't receive the hordes of tourists that can sometimes lessen the pleasure of a visit to Ouro Preto. For some connaisseurs of baroque city planning and architecture Diamantina is more beautiful than Ouro Preto, but the friendly controversy over which city is lovelier will probably never be settled. Its mineral wealth was not limited to gold - the area around Diamantina was mined as well for diamonds (hence the city's name). The gems and metals of the mountains surrounding Diamantina meant that it was extraordinarily wealthy during its 18th century heyday. The artistic riches that remain are proof of that wealth, and testify to the labor of the millions of slaves who were forcibly brought from Africa to work in the mines of Minas Gerais.

Diamantina is also famous among Brazilians for being the hometown of one of Brazil's most-loved presidents, Juscelino Kubitschek, born in Diamantina in 1902 and the man whose vision was responsible for the creation and construction of Brasília, Brazil's new capital city.

Diamantina is a center for religious observances and pilgrimages in Minas Gerais. Some of the annual religious celebrations bring thousands of devotees to the city, as does the city's very traditional but very popular Carnaval. Tourism, whether during a festival season or not, plays a large role in Diamantina's economy, and the city is full of small inns and pousadas, traditional restaurants and bars and food shops selling traditional local snacks, preserves, pastries and sweets.

In our next post, we'll tell you all about Zenília Rosália da Silva Rocha, a local cook, and explain just why she's so famous in Diamantina.

Minas Gerais - Gastronomic Routes

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Even though Italian cooking includes such well-known regional styles of cooking as Neapolitan, Sicilian, Venetian, even Sardinian, most gastronomic historians consider the region of Emilia-Romagna to be the true heartland of traditional Italian gastronomy. Containing such gastronomic hot spots as Parma (with its ham and its cheese), Modena (home of balsamic vinegar) and Italy's food capital, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna is at the same time the cradle of traditional cooking and the location of some of the most daring and avant-garde 21st century Italian gastronomy.

In Brazil, which resembles Italy in the number and variation of its regional cuisines, the interior state of Minas Gerais, located in the south-eastern part of Brazil, holds an analogous position in Brazilian gastronomy to that of Emilia-Romagna in Italian. Not as unique as Bahian cooking with its bold mixture of African and European styles and techniques, nor as strictly-European as the cuisines of the south of Brazil, mineiro (meaning from Minas Gerais) gastronomy is to many people the true essence of Brazilian cooking.

The influences that went into the creation of mineiro cooking are those which define all Brazilian cuisine - European, particularly Portuguese, African and native Indian. In the lush highlands of mountainous Minas Gerais these influences were blended, mashed and mixed into something uniquely new and Brazilian - Minas Gerais was the crucible in which Brazilian cooking was forged.

Even today, Minas Gerais is one of the places in Brazil where food and cooking matters most. From the modern capital Belo Horizonte, through exquisitely beautiful baroque cities like Ouro Preto, Tiradentes and Diamantina, and on to the small villages and farms that dot the landscape, people care about what they eat and they honor the foods that have been a part of their diet for years, even centuries. Local cheeses, long-cooked stews, sweets and desserts whose recipes date back to the convents of medieval Portugal - they all play a part in mineiro gastronomy.

Because so much of what makes mineiro cooking such a marvel comes from small towns and villages throughout the state, we at Flavors of Brazil were thrilled to recently come across a website called Sabores de Minas (Flavors of Minas Gerais) and its 69 different gastronomic routes through the state. Each route concentrates on a particular region or a particular speciality of this enormous state (slightly larger than France). For example, route number 32 concentrates of the baroque cities of the 17th Century mineiro gold rush, number 22 is focused on the relatively-unpopulated north of the state, and number 44 on coffee and sweets. For each route, the website publishes a map and a list of 15-18 suggested stops. A stop might be a farm that produces cheese, it might be a long-established local restaurant, or it might even be the home of a cook whose fame has spread beyond her family to include her whole village. Each stop is described in detail, with personal stories of the cooks and producers involved and each includes a recipe.

The site is a treasure-trove for anyone interested in traditional Brazilian gastronomy, and a powerful inducement to book a flight to Belo Horizonte, grab a rental car and head for the hills in search of the soul of mineiro cooking. And the 700+ recipes are enough to keep any amateur cook happy for months in the kitchen at home.

For most non-Brazilians there is one significant problem with the website - it's in Portuguese only. Although Google will offer to translate the page in most browsers, its translator is not yet sufficiently sophisticated to correctly translate this site. Because of that language difficulty, and because of the importance of mineiro cooking to Brazilian gastronomy, tomorrow Flavors of Brazil will publish the first of s series of occasional reviews/translations of some of the best of Sabores de Minas. We hope it will open some eyes to the beauty of the state and the quality of its food products and cooking.

RECIPE - Panelada

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:24:00 +0000

Should you decide that you want to make the traditional Brazilian stew called panelada, you're likely to run into two obstacles en route to a culinary home run at the dinner table. First, if you live in North America or metropolitan areas of Europe you're likely to have problems finding sources for some of the ingredients that the dish demands. Things like cow stomach (including but not limited to tripe) and cow intestines. The other problem (at least if you consider honesty a virtue) is convincing family members, dinner guests or amyone else to whom you serve the dish to try panelada with an open mind. (If you don't consider honesty a virtue and try to lie your way into general acceptance of panelada the shape and form of the stomach and intestines will probably give your game away.)

But there are always those culinary pioneers who boldly go where no cook has gone before, and for them we offer this recipe for panelada from the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceará, where panelada is considered an iconic dish.
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RECIPE - Panelada
Serves 4

1/2 lb (250 gr) cow stomach (tripe may be substituted)
1/2 lb (250 gr ) cow intestine
juice of 3 limes
1/2 Tbsp salt
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 Tbsp annatto powder (sweet paprika may be substituted)
2 bay leaves
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup chopped cilantro
fresh-ground black pepper to taste
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno or serrano chili
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Using kitchen scissors, cut the stomach (or tripe) into small squares and the intestine into 1/2 in (1 cm) rings. Wash them very well in several changes of water. Put them in a heavy saucepan, cover with cold water, add the lime juice and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Let boil for one minute, then drain them in a sieve. When cool, wash again in several changes of fresh water.

In a large pan, combine the washed stomach or tripe and intestine, the salt, the chopped tomato and onions, the annatto or paprika and the bay leaves. Heat over medium heat, partially covered. Stir from time to time to mix ingredients and to help the tomato to break down. When liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 40 minutes, adding a small amount of water from time to time if the dish appears to be drying out.

Stir in the bell peppers, the garlic and chilis. Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the meats can be easily pierced with a fork and are tender.

Remove from heat, pour into a deep serving bowl and mix in the chopped cilantro. Serve immediately accompanied by white rice.

Panelada - A Polarizing Dish

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:20:00 +0000

Some foods, and some prepared dishes, evoke strongly opposing reactions among those who try or sample them. Call them the "love 'em or hate 'em" items of the food world. In a recent article in Huffington Post, ten foods were listed as being among the most polarizing - no one seems to be neutral about them. The ten were, in no special order, cilantro, blue cheese, Vegamite/Marmite, celery, coconut, liver, mayonnaise, marzipan, green pepper and licorice.

Just like those foods, there are some prepared dishes that get some folks' mouths watering and others trying to stifle a gag reaction. Scottish haggis, Norwegian lutefisk, Dutch raw herring, Chinese Dim Sum chicken feet, even sushi. Those who love these dishes don't just love them, they adore them. And those who don't - well, they can't abide them.

In Brazil, even though it contains such potential troublesome pig parts such as salted ears, salted tail and salted belly fat, almost everybody loves the dish often considered Brazil's national dish - feijoada. Or at least no one will admit they don't like it. But another widely loved traditional stew, called panelada, evokes a strong pro or con reaction even among Brazilians. For some Brazilians, panelada is the ultimate comfort food - something to eat on a cold rainy day, or the best cure for a wicked hangover. For others, even the smell of panelada cooking is enough to send them flying out of the kitchen with their hand over their mouths.

Panelada is just one of the many Brazilian variants of a stew - meat and vegetables cooked in a thick broth, all served together. Writer Roberto Da Matta, in his book "O Que Faz o Brasil, Brasil?" (What makes Brazil Brazil?), talks about the general Brazilian preference for stew-type dishes, from feijoada to peixada, to dobradinha, and of course, to panelada, "It appears we (Brazilians) have a prediliction for food that is neither liquid nor solid but halfway between the two."

panelada

So it's not the fact that it's a stew that makes panelada a "problematic" dish. It's what that stew contains. A proper panelada contains a wide variety of those parts of an animal collectively known as offal. One recipe, for example, calls for 2 lbs (1 kg) each of tripe, intestines, nerves and feet. another calls for hoof instead of foot. Most recipes will call for, at minimum, tripe, intestines and foot. It's these ingredients that make panelada, to coin a phrase, one man's meat and another man's poison.

Although panelada is made, and loved or hated, all around Brazil, it is particularly associated in most Brazilians' minds with the northeastern region of the country. Tomorrow we'll publish a recipe for a northeastern panelada, one from the state of Ceará.

RECIPE - Coconut Blancmange for Yemanjá (Manjar Branco para Yemanjá)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:23:00 +0000

Yemanjá painted by Carybé

In yesterday's post here on Flavors of Brazil, we promised to post a recipe today for one of the ceremonial dishes associated with the goddess Yemanjá in the Afro-Brazilian religious tradition of Candomblé. Each of the many gods and goddesses of Candomblé has specific foods with which they are associated - foods that they are said to enjoy - and these foods are offered to the deity during Candomblé ceremonies (and subsequently eaten by devotees during the post-ceremonial feast).

Because Yemanjá is the goddess of the sea, the essence of motherhood and protector of children, and because she is identified with the Virgin Mary, her colors are blue and white. The foods that are offered to her are consequently white or light in color.

Manjar branco

This recipe, which comes from a Brazilian webpage called Comida do Orixá Iemanja (Food of the Goddess Yemanjá) is for one of the dishes most commonly associated with Yemanjá. Simple, light, sweet and most importantly, white, the milk pudding known as blancmange in English and manjar branco in Portuguese is perfectly suited to this loving, motherly, beautiful and vain goddess.

It's also perfectly suited to non-ceremonial roles, such as a simple dessert to end a rich meal. It can be topped with almost any fruit compote or coulis if you wish a more complex dish, but when it's served to Yemanjá it's presented in its simplest and purest form.
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RECIPE - Coconut Blancmange for Yemanjá (Manjar Branco para Yemanjá)

4 cups (1 liter) hot whole milk - just at the boiling point
1 cup grated unsweetened coconut
4 Tbsp cornstarch
a small amount cold whole milk
1 cup (250 ml) granulated white sugar
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In a medium saucepan, pour the hot milk over the grated coconut. Let soak for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, dissolve the cornstarch in a small quantity of cold milk. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the liquid in the saucepan, then add the white sugar.

Heat the saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is complete dissolved. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is very hot and has thickened, usually about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not let come to a full boil.

When the mixture has thickened, remove from the heat, pour into a ceramic bowl or a decorative mold and let cool completely. When cool, refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

February Second - The Festival of Yemanjá

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:22:00 +0000

Yemanjá

Every year on February Second, some million or more people in the Brazilian city of Salvador, Bahia, walk in procession through the streets of the Rio Vermelho district of that city, all dressed in white, making their way down to the seashore and the small house that's said to be the home of Yemanjá, a powerful goddess (Orixá) in the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé. Yemanjá is the essence of motherhood, the protector of children, fishermen and sailors, and most importantly, she is the sea itself. When the celebrants reach the shore Yemanjá's they pass their baskets laden with gifts for the goddess to fishermen to take out to sea and leave them on the waters as offerings to the Orixá. Gifts for Yemanjá often include images of the goddess, flowers and objects of female vanity (perfume, jewelry, combs, lipsticks, mirrors). Later in the day, the festival of Yemanjá becomes a massive street party which carries on into the night.

In the synchristic tradition that blends the Orixás who traveled to Brazil with African slaves with the saints and holy figures of Christianity who arrived with the Portuguese, Yemanjá is identified with certain aspects of the Virgin Mary, and February Second in the Roman Catholic calendar is the day of Our Lady of Navigators (Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes). The celebrants at Salvador's festival honor one divinity in two personages, the African Yemanjá and the Christian Our Lady, without thoughts of separation or difference between the two.

Gifts for Yemanjá

As with all the gods and goddess of the Candomblé tradition, Yemanjá is associated with certain foods, and these foods are offered to her on her special day as well as eaten by her devotees at the street festival that follows the ceremonical activities of the day. Yemanjá's colors, like the Virgin Mary's, are white and blue - obvious choices for a Rainha do Mar (Queen of the Sea). An Orixá's favorite foods are often visually connected with his or her image and chosen colors, Yemanjá's special food are white, or very light in color (there are very few foods that are truly blue). Yemanjá prefers sweet foods, making such dishes as honeyed rice and sweet corn puddings essential parts of her festival. She is said to be particularly fond of a sweet coconut-flavored milk jelly called manjar branco (the word is a cognate of the French-English word blancmange). She also enjoys puffed rice, and this snack is everywhere at her festival.

The following YouTube video was filmed in Salvador on February 02, 2011 during the festival of Yemanjá. The soundtrack is Brazilian singer Baden Powell singing his composition Canto de Yemanjá.

Tomorrow, Flavors of Brazil will publish a recipe for Yemanjá's manjar branco.

RECIPE - Spicy Peacock Bass (Tucunaré na Pimenta)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +0000

This recipe comes from Brazil's unbelievably massive Amazonian rain forest, where the fish known as tucunaré is a favorite with sports fishermen and with cooks of all sorts. Its flesh is white, firm and meaty and it's not strongly flavored. Nor is it full of bones, as many other fresh-water fish tend to be. Because tucunaré is a relatively large fish, somewhere between 1 and 3 feet in length it is suited to being filleted, being stuffed and baked whole, or being grilled or fried.

This recipe calls for tucunaré fillets. The fillets are fried and then served with a spicy sauce containing chunks of green bell peppers and cubed potatoes. Served with rice and a green salad, it makes a substantial meal.

You can, and probably will have to, substitute any other similar white-fleshed fish for the tucunaré. Unless you live in the Amazon, that is. Grouper and snapper make excellent substitutes - just make sure you don't try to substitute a fish that is too delicate, or which flakes too easily, such as sole or cod.
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RECIPE - Spicy Peacock Bass (Tucunaré na Pimenta)
Serves 2

2 white-fish fillets, tucunaré or similar, about 1/2 lb (200 gr) each
juice of 2 limes, fresh-squeezed
4 Tbsp white-wine vinegar
2 Tsp salt
1/2 cup all-purpose wheat flour
4 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil
4 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and quartered
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cooked, quartered
1 small chili pepper, jalapeno or serrano or similar, seeded and finely minced
1 cup water
handful finely chopped cilantro
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Season the fish fillets with lime juice, vinegar and the salt. Let stand for three minutes, then pat dry with paper towel. Spread the flour out on a working surface and dredge the fillets in the flour, making sure they are completely covered. Reserve.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan, and cook the fillets, one at a time, until the coating is nicely browned. Remove from the oil, drain on paper towels, and reserve, keeping warm.

In a large saucepan melt the butter and when it's hot add the garlic, onion, tomato, green pepper and potatoes. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, or until the tomato begins to break down. Stir to mix, then add the water and the cilantro. Bring to a boil and cook for a few more minutes until the sauce slightly reduces.

Put the reserved fillets on a deep serving platter. Top with the vegetables from the sauce, then pour the sauce over. Serve immediately.

Recipe translated and adapted from Cozinha Regional Brasileira by Abril Editora.

FISH OF BRAZIL - Tucunaré (Peacock Bass)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:26:00 +0000

You can call the tucunaré, a Brazilian fish native to the fresh waters of the Amazon basin, a peacock bass if you wish, but according to Wikipedia, although the fish IS known in English as the peacock bass, it isn't a bass at all, rather it's a chiclid. Since the first humans to baptize the fish and give it a name were the native indian tribes of the Amazon, the fish's original name is clearly tucunaré, which means "friend of the trees" in Tupi-Guarani. Only at some later date was the fish given a name in English, and then it was given the wrong one, though admittedly the name peacock bass has a nicer ring to it than peacock chiclid, which sounds more like the name for a baby peacock.

Looking at a photo of a tucunaré it's easy to see where the peacock part of the English name comes from. It's not from the color, for the fish isn't blue or green. It's from a large eye-like circle on the tail of the fish which looks rather like the similar forms on a peacock tail.

In Brazil, the tucunaré is known in both the culinary and sports-fishing worlds. The fish is a predatory carnivorous hunter in its native waters, and a fierce fighter when caught on a hook. Sports fisherman travel miles up the tributaries of the Amazon to reach tucunaré fishing grounds, and there are luxurious fishing lodges in some remote backwaters of the region catering to wealthy fishing enthusiasts from all around the world. (Click here for one lodge's website).

Because of their value as a sport-fishing species, tucunaré have been introduced into other tropical waters in Brazil, in the Caribbean and in Florida. Because, they don't have their own predators in these new waters, however, and because of their agressive behavior, the introduction of tucunaré has sometimes resulted in the decimation of local species. And once they've killed off all the native species in new waters, tucunaré have been known to resort to cannibalism, reducing their own stock levels precipitiously.

Fortunately, tucunaré, fierce though they are, are not large enough to dine on humans, and in the human-tucunaré relationship, it's humans who are the predators. Tucunaré are very good eating fish, with firm white flesh and without many bones. They have been an important food source for millennia in the Amazon, and today are served not only in the simple riverside homes of native populations, but in sophisticated restaurants in the large cities of the rain forest, like Manaus or Belém, and further afield in places like Rio de Janeiro or Brasília. The flavor of has been likened to that of grouper or snapper, and because grows to somewhere between 1-3 feet (30 - 100 cm) in length, it can be cooked in any way suitable to either of those species.

In upcoming posts, Flavors of Brazil will feature recipes for tucunaré.

RECIPE - Watermelon and Guava Sundae (Sundae de Goiaba e Melancia)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:13:00 +0000

To honor the victorious Brazilian team, who brought home two first-place trophies from the recent Ice Cream World Cup in Rimini, Italy, here is a easy-to-make Brazilian recipe for a composed ice cream dessert - what we (and the Brazilians) call a sundae.

A sundae is a dish of ice cream (usually but not always vanilla-flavored) topped with one or more sweet sauces and possibly finished off with nuts, chocolate sprinkles, small candies or other treats. The word sundae, most dictionaries agree, is a variant spelling of Sunday, but exactly how the name came to be applied to a dessert and why the spelling was changed seems to be an unsolvable conundrum among linguists and etymology nerds.

This dish adds chopped fresh guava to the basic sundae ingredients, and layers the dish like a parfait. The sauce is a fresh watermelon coulis, laced with the strong flavor of fresh ginger. The resulting sundae is tropical, vibrantly-flavored and light - well-suited to Brazil's tropical climate. The only ingredient that might be difficult to source outside Brazil is fresh guava, but in areas where there is a Latin-American or Asian community ethnics markets often sell fresh guavas. Try to choose guavas that yield just slightly to the touch - if they don't give at all, the fruit isn't yet ripe, and if they are very soft, it's a sure sign of spoilage.
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RECIPE - Watermelon and Guava Sundae (Sundae de Goiaba e Melancia)
Makes 6 sundaes

1 cup chopped and de-seeded watermelon
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger (use rasp-type grater for best results)
3 Tbsp potato starch
4 Tbsp granulated white sugar
5/6 guavas, peeled and cubed
good-quality vanilla ice cream
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Use a blender or food processor to liquidize the watermelon. Transfer the watermelon puree to a medium saucepan, add the ginger, potato starch and sugar, stir thoroughly to mix, then heat over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is hot and has thickened. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Using transparent parfait or sundae glasses, fill each about halfway up with guava cubes. Add one or two scoops of ice-cream, then top with a few spoonfuls of watermelon sauce. Garnish, if desired, with a small wedge of watermelon with peel and serve immediately.

Recipe translated and adapted from Gastronomia & Negocios UOL

Brazil Scores at the Ice Cream World Cup

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:43:00 +0000

At the recent Ice Cream World Cup, held in Rimini, Italy, as part of SIGEP, the 33rd International Exhibition for the Artisan Production of Gelato, Pastry, Confectionary and Baking, Brazil's five-man team walked home with two major prizes.

The team included a chief ice-cream chef, Frederico Samora, vice-president of ABRACES (Associação Brasileira dos Confeiteiros e Sorveteiros ), the Brazilian Association of Pastry and Ice Cream Chefs, a chief pastry chef, Philippe Soffieti, chef de cuisine Sandro Mota and two master pastry chefs, Marcelo Magaldi and Eduardo Beltrame.

The Brazilian team

To win gold in Italy, the home of ice cream gastronomy, is a significant achievement, and although the Brazilian team did not win first place overall, they did win two first prize trophies - for the best ice-cream cone and the best artisanal ice cream.

Brazilians love ice cream, and Brazilian ice cream can be very good indeed. Much of the credit for this tradition goes to the numerous Italian immigrants to Brazil and to their descendents. Combining Italian techniques, good-quality dairy products and the best of Brazil's cornucopia of tropical fruits, ice cream from Brazil can stand with the best in the world. And the prizes that Brazil's team is bringing home from the World Cup is proof of the pudding (or of the ice cream).

RECIPE - Shrimp São Paulo Style (Camarão à Paulista)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:35:00 +0000

Although São Paulo is not a maritime city, its situation on a 2500 ft (760 m) high plateau is only 50 miles (72 km) inland from Santos, Brazil and South America's largest port. The Atlantic coast of São Paulo state is lined with beach resorts and Santos has a significant commercial fishing industry.

Because of the maritime links between metropolis and port, seafood is an important part of São Paulo's diet, and many fish and shellfish dishes have pride of place in São Paulo's gastronomy. This recipe, which is part of Flavors of Brazil's week-long celebration of São Paulo's 458th birthday, is a favorite appetizer or first course in simple, neighborhood bars and restaurants. It's so closely connected with the city that it is known as São Paulo style shrimp.

The recipe itself is very easy and quick. The only important thing to note is that it requires best-quality shrimp, as fresh as possible. As the shrimp are fried in their shells and seasoned only with garlic, parsley and lime, the briny flavors of the crustacean itself predominate in the dish. If you prefer, you can cut the shells open along the back of the shrimp to remove the vein. But don't remove the shell (nor the head) - if you do it won't be Camarão à Paulista.

Serve very hot with a large bowl for the shells and finger bowls with warm water. You'll need them.
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RECIPE - Shrimp São Paulo Style (Camarão à Paulista)
Serves 4

2 lbs (1 kg) large whole shrimp - with heads and unpeeled
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
1/3 cup neutral vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
2 limes, washed and cut into wedges
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In a large mixing bowl combine the shrimps, salt and pepper to taste and the lime juice. Toss the shrimps to cover with juice and let marinate in the refrigerator for one hour.

Drain the shrimp and pat dry. Reserve.

In a large heavy-duty frying pan heat the vegetable oil until it's very hot but not smoking. Add the shrimp and fry, stirring from time to time, until the shrimp have turned pink and are cooked through, about three minutes. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon, and drain them on paper towels, keeping warm.

Meanwhile, add the sliced garlic to the oil the shrimp was fried in. Fry until the slices just turn light brown. Do not overcook. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Put the shrimp in a large deep serving bowl. Sprinkle the sliced garlic over all, then sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Add the lime wedges around the edges of the bowl and serve immediately.

Recipe translated and adapted from Cozinha Regional Brasileira by Abril Editora.

A Round-up of Paulista Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:36:00 +0000

Avenida Paulista and MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo

Among the nearly 700 posts on Flavors of Brazil, there are lots which are concerned with Brazil's largest city, São Paulo. We've reported about the various ethnic traditions of Paulista gastronomy - Italian, Portuguese, Syrian and Japanese among others. We've discussing the boom in high-style, high-price contemporary gastronomy - restaurants that are ranked among the best in the world, and prices which are ranked among the highest in the world. And we've talked about how the São Paulo food scene is only just beginning to value the traditional regional cuisines of other parts of Brazil.

We've also printed a number of the most well-known and well-loved recipes from São Paulo. As part of São Paulo's birthday week, we've decided to revisit some of these recipes and to highlight some new ones. Today, we'll provide links to recipes from São Paulo that have previously been published on Flavors of Brazil and for the rest of the week, we'll add a few more to our "São Paulo collection."

Simply click the links below to be directed to some of São Paulo's most famous recipes:

Cuzcuz Paulista

Fresh Ham Sandwich

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Virado à Paulista

Fried Fish, São Paulo style

São Paulo - 458 Years Young

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:03:00 +0000

Today, January 25, is a day of celebration in Brazil's largest city (and one of the largest cities in the world) São Paulo. It was 458 years ago today, in 1554, that Jesuit fathers Manuel de Nóbrega and José de Anchieta founded a village on a plateau 42 miles inland from the port city of São Vicente and baptized it São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga. Fortunately, that cumbersome name has since been shortened to São Paulo, just as another mission farther north in the Americas, Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula, has had its name shortened to Los Angeles, or even to just plain LA.

São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga

Affectionately nicknamed A Cidade de Garoa by Brazilians, a nickname which means "The City of Drizzle" and which refers to a frequent climate condition on São Paulo's plateau, the city has grown to be one of the ten-largest metropolitan agglomerations in the world (some sources place it as high as third place, others in fifth, sixth or seventh).

São Paulo isn't an easy city to love, and it doesn't have the picture-postcard appeal that Rio de Janeiro luxuriates in. It's noisy, hectic and overcrowded. Traffic is terrible, and the subway system would better suit a city one quarter of the size. (Nonetheless, São Paulo's subway has more that 750 million riders annually). It's the economic and political powerhouse of Brazil, and the capital of Brazil's most populous state, also called São Paulo. As far as we know though, no one has written a hymn to São Paulo entitled "São Paulo, São Paulo" along the lines of "New York, New York." But São Paulo does have its own peculiar charm, and many Paulistanos swear they wouldn't live anywhere else on Earth.

São Paulo today

São Paulo is without contest the gastronomic center of Brazil. Clearly it leads the country in the sheer number of restaurants, food suppliers, meat and produce wholesale markets. But it also at the forefront of Brazil's new gastronomy - one São Paulo restaurant was recently voted the seventh best restaurant in the world, and every week a new and avant-garde restaurant is lauded in the food sections of local papers and in food and wine magazines. Because São Paulo is home to a number of large immigrant communities, the largest being Italian, Portuguese and Japanese, and also home to communities of internal migrants from other regions of Brazil, you can find almost any type of cuisine in São Paulo - whether international cuisines or regional Brazilian cuisines.

In the next few days, Flavors of Brazil will feature some typical Paulistano recipes and link back to some we've published earlier. Today, we'll just join the chorus of those wishing all 20 million or so residents of São Paulo a very happy municipal birthday.

Queijo do Serro - Brazil's First Protected Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Yesterday's post on Flavors of Brazil was concerned with the complicated nomenclature of artisanal cheeses coming from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, and detailed the recent inclusion of some cheeses from Minas Gerais in the government's IG (indicação geográfica ) program, which grants protected status and naming rights to locally produced food products. In 2011, the governmental body responsible for administering the IG program granted IG status to Queijo do Serro cheese from the Serro region of Minas Gerais. Queijo do Serro is the first cheese in Brazil, and the 14th food product overall, to receive this status and to have its name protected and prodution restrited to a specific region.

Currently there are 80 small chese producers scattered among 11 municipalities whose cheeses meet the geographical and technical standards required by the IG program. Only the cheeses made by these 80 producers are now entitled to call their cheese Queijo do Serro. (Queijo is the Portuguese word for cheese).

According to the leader of the Seroo region cheese producers' association, the granting of IG status is important for his group because it means that the name is protected nationally and that cheese manufacturers from other states will not be entitled to use the name Queijo do Serro for their products. If a cheese bears that name, it will mean that it was produced in the Serro region and nowhere else.

This is all very good news for cheese producers, but it does mean that for many Brazilians they will not have access to Queijo do Serro at all. Interstate shipping of raw-milk cheeses is currently prohibited in Brazil (a situation we've covered before), and so at the momento Queijo do Serro, the true one, can only be sold in Minas Gerais. Now that these dairy farmers have successfully convinced the government to protect their right to be the sole producers of Queijo do Serro, perhaps now they can persuade the government to let them sell it in other parts of the country!

A Cheese Map of Minas Gerais

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000

Charles de Gaulle once quipped when asked how he enjoyed governing France, "Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays où il existe 246 variétés de fromage?" ("How would you like to govern a country which has 246 types of cheese?") Well, if there are 246 types of French cheese, there are probably an equal number of different types of cheese come from the interior Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Which stands to good reason because that state is just about the same size, only slightly larger, than France.

Just as the sheer number of French cheeses can overwhelm all but the professional turophile (look it up here), the nomenclature of cheeses from Minas Gerais is equally confusing. Some of the best artisanal cheeses are produced only in small quantities and remain virtually unknown outside their area of production. And to complicate matters, many of the cheeses have similar sounding names, or identical names.

In an effort to relieve some of this confusion and to create a systematic naming and cataloguing of the many mineiro (from Minas Gerais) cheeses, the central market of Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, has produced a cheese map of the state, indicating the four principal areas of cheese production in Minas Gerais and detailing within those four areas the names of the municipalities that make cheese. The four main areas of production are called Cerrado, Araxá, Canastra and Serro. Each of these areas gives its name to cheeses produced locally, but each is also split into small units which can further define a cheese's origins. The map is below. (Note that the map is high resolution - if you wish to read the detail, simply click on the map).

In order to systematize the geographical names for these cheeses, the Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial of Brazil has begun to grant indicação geográfica status (geographical indication) to mineiro cheeses, starting with artisanal cheese from the Serro region. This IG status, as its known, is similar to European schemes to preserve and protect the geographical integrity of a number of food products, such as cheese, processed meats and wines. France has had a system called AOC in place to safeguard wines for many years, and Italy grants DOC status to many food products. Brazil's IG status is intended to serve the same purpose. Combining protected name status with promotional activities and products like the cheese map will, it is hoped, preserve and protect those artisanal cheeses which are an important part of the gastronomic heritage of Minas Gerais.

RECIPE - Jackfruit Conserve (Doce de Jaca)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Here at Flavors of Brazil, we're well aware that our loyal readers in Europe, North America, and other corners of the globe don't have access to fresh jackfruit. For obvious reasons - the fruit is gigantic and heavy, so transport costs would be astronomical, once ripe the fruit is only good for a few days and then begins to rot, there's no local cultural tradition of eating jackfruit. However, there are readers of this blog, many of them, who live in Brazil and probably in other tropical regions of the world. So this recipe, for a conserve of fresh jackfruit, is for them.

For the rest of you, come to Brazil and we'll serve you a dish. It's utterly delicious.
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RECIPE - Jackfruit Conserve (Doce de Jaca)
serves 4

1 cup cold water
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 cups fresh jackfruit segments, separated and with pits removed
1/4 tsp ground cloves
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Put the water and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, and then add the jackfruit segments and the ground cloves. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook the fruit for 45 minutes. Remove the fruit with a slotted spoon and reserve in a mixing bowl. Bring the remaining water back to a boil and reduce by one-third. The syrup should be slightly thickened, but don't let it become overly thick. Pour the syrup over the fruit and let cool completely.

Once cool, place the bowl in the refrigerator and chill for at least four hours. Serve chilled.

The cooked fruit can be stored for up to one week in the refrigerator.

FRUITS OF BRAZIL - Jackfruit (Jaca)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:12:00 +0000

The world's largest edible fruit, the jackfruit (jaca in Portuguese), although not native to Brazil, is one of Brazil's most characteristic fruits, and is cultivated throughout the tropical regions of the country. This gigantic fruit has been known to reach a length of up to 3 feet (90 cm) weighing 80 lbs (36 kgs) or more. There are some vegetables which grow larger, notably members of the pumpkin family, but no other fruit reaches these dimensions.

The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) originated in South or Southeast Asia, and archeological evidence shows that it has been cultivated in India for more than 3000 years. It is still widely cultivated in Asia, and is closely associated with the cuisines of India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. From Asia it was introduced by the Portuguese to Africa (it's grown extensively in Uganda and Mauritius) and to the New World (Brazil and the Caribbean).

Although the jackfruit tree was deliberately introduced to Brazil, its introduction has had negative effects environmentally and outside of jackfruit plantations it is considered an invasive species. In forest reserves and in native rain forests it has been subject to culling to minimize the damage it can cause to native species. In Rio de Janeiro's urban Tijuca rain forest, where its spread has been aided by marmoset monkeys, more than 55,000 seedlings have been uprooted in an attempt to stop its spread.

A jaca tree is an impressive sight, even more so when it is bearing its massive fruits. The tree can grow up to 80 feet (25m) high with a canopy spread of 22 feet (7m). The wood of the jackfruit tree is a beautiful orange-brown in color and is used in the manufacture of wood furniture. The fruits either hang from the branches of the tree, or startlingly sprout directly from the trunk of the tree. The fruits look like large rounded, spiky sacs and are usually a yellowish-green in color.

The fruits can be eaten when immature or when they have matured. Immature jackfruit is savory in flavor rather than sweet, and in India and Sri Lanka it often substitutes for meat in curry dishes. Brazilians normally only eat mature, or sweet, jackfruit. In Brazil, three varieties are widely cultivated. Jaca-dura (hard jackfruit) has firm flesh and is the variety that reaches the largest size. Jaca-mole (soft jackfruit) is a smaller variety and it is noticeably sweeter as well as softer. Midway between these two in terms of sweetness and consistency is the third variety, jaca-manteiga (butter jackfruit). The fruit is sweet, starchy and good source of dietary fiber. The flesh of an opened jackfruit can be pulled apart into bright creamy-yellow segments, each of which contains a seed. The fruit is highly aromatic, almost flowery, and the taste has been described as a cross between a tart banana and bubble-gum.

Buying a whole jackfruit is something that only the largest family might consider, as the fruit ripens and spoils rapidly in Brazil's hot climate. For this reason, in Brazilian markets and road-side fruit stands it's common to see a jaca already cut open. Customers can specify whatever weight they want, and the vendor will cut off a chunk with a machete.

Most of the jackfruit consumed by Brazilians is eaten fresh and natural as a snack or dessert. There are some desserts and conserves made from jackfruit, and in the next posts, we'll feature some. In North America fresh jackfruit can often be found in Asian (particularly Philippine) markets, and most Asian markets will sell canned jackfruit - be careful as both immature and mature jackfruits are canned, so make sure to buy the one you want. Also be careful not to buy a jackfruit based on looks - the very similar looking but unrelated durian has some characteristics (e.g. smell) that might just have an unwanted effect on your family!

RECIPE - Salmon with Sorrel Sauce (Salmão ao Molho de Azedinha)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:30:00 +0000

As mentioned in our most recent post, the sharp acidic bite of sorrel (azedinha in Portuguese) perfectly complements fatty proteins, as the acid cuts into the richness of the protein and prevents the dish from seeming over-rich. This recipe, from São Paulo chef Fred Frank, is a perfect example. Salmon is a fish that is high in fat (but remember - it's the good kind of fat, Omega 3) and is often served with acidic sauces to reduce the sensation of fattiness. Citrus juices and sour berries are common sources of acid in salmon dishes - here the acid is provided instead by sorrel leaves.

Sorrel can often be found in better quality supermarkets and natural food stores, and it can easily be grown in most areas of Europe and North America.

The recipe calls for fish stock and includes instructions on making the stock. If you have access to fish stock or have some in the freezer, omit the portion of the recipe for making fish stock and substitute an equivalent quantity of your own.

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RECIPE - Salmon with Sorrel Sauce (Salmão ao Molho de Azedinha)
Serves 4

For the fish stock:
8 cups ( 2L) water
2 lbs (1 kg) fish bones, from firm-fleshed white fish (NOT from salmon), well rinsed
1/2 cup thin slices of carrot
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup sliced leeks (white part only)
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the sorrel sauce:
1 cup (250 ml) fish stock (save extra for another use - best to freeze)
1 cup (250 ml) creme fraiche or sour cream
1 large bunch sorrel, stems removed, leaves shredded finely
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
salt and white pepper to taste

For the salmon:
4 pieces salmon, steaks or 3" slices from fillet
salt and white pepper to taste
extra-virgin olive oil to taste
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In a stock pot or large sauce pan, heat the oil, then add the carrots, celery, onion and leeks and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Add the water and fish bones, bring to a boil, and cook at a slow boil for 20 minutes, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, then drain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve, pressing down on vegetables and bones to extract the flavors. Reserve,

In a medium sauce pan combine the creme fraiche or sour cream and 1 cup of the fish stock. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes to reduce the sauce by about 1/3. Meantime melt the butter in a small fying pan, then add the sorrel and cook for a few minutes, until the leaves wilt and take on a bright color. Mix the sorrel into the sauce, add salt and white pepper to taste and reserve, keeping warm.

Season the salmon with salt and pepper, then grill or broil just until done and nicely browned.

Serve the salmon, dressed with the sorrel sauce immediately. May be accompanied by mashed potatoes, a potato gratin, noodles, or soft polenta.

Recipe translated and adapted from Nossa Panela Brasil.

INGREDIENTS - Azedinha (Sorrel)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:06:00 +0000

The European herb sorrel, which came to Brazil with Portuguese colonists and which has been enthusiastically adopted by Brazil cooks, is very appropriately named in Portuguese. It's known as azedinha, which can be translated literally as "the little sour one." Anyone who's familiar with the taste of sorrel will know how well that name describes the plant - sorrel's primary taste is a sharp, tangy sourness. (Incidentally, the English name refers to the same characteristic - sorrel derives from an old French word surele, meaning "sour.")

The sour taste of sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is due to the presence of oxalic acid in the plant. In high concentrations, oxalic acid is toxic and can be fatally poisonous, although it would almost be impossible to eat enough sorrel to receive a toxic dose. Spinach also contains oxalic acid, though in a lesser quantity than sorrel. The only food plant that has dangerously high concentrations of this acid is rhubarb and in rhubarb oxalic acid is only found in the leaves of the plant, which are not normally eaten. Rhubarb stalks do not contain the acid. Black tea also has oxalic acid in low concentrations.

Sorrel grows well in most regions of Brazil with the exception of the tropical rain forest zone in the the country's north. It's used most frequently in parts of Brazil where there is a population whose ancestries can be traced back to Europe - to Portugal, Spain or Italy in particular. Sorrel is used to flavor soups stews and sauces, dishes whose flavor can be lifted and freshened by a hint of acid. Adding sorrel to a dish has the same effect as adding a squeeze of lemon or lime juice - it cuts fatty richness and perks up the flavor of the dish's protein component.

In the next post, Flavors of Brazil will publish a Brazilian recipe for grilled salmon with a sorrel sauce.

RECIPE - Chocolate Bread Pudding (Pudim de pão ao chocolate)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Bread pudding - love it or hate it? Most people seem to fall into one or the other of those two extremes. As with the related rice pudding, people are either attracted to the dish's sweet, eggy, creamy taste and texture or repelled by it.

Part of the problem, in our opinion, is that for many people both desserts are in memory forever linked with school cafeteria, summer camp, or, God knows, even prison. Maybe it's the institutionality of bread pudding and rice pudding that puts people off.

Certainly, a badly-made example of either one can be quite nasty stuff. Pasty and glutinous, ghastly white, jiggly, a plastic dish of either to top off an already dreadful meal can be the straw that broke the camel's back.

But if these dishes are prepared with quality ingredients and with attention paid to detail and to presentation, they can be heavenly. Still eggy and creamy, but with just the right amount of sugar and a minimum of starchiness, they can be worthy of a place alongside flan, egg custard and crème brûlée in the pantheon of milk-and-egg desserts.

Most bread puddings contain rough-torn pieces of stale bread, still recognizable as such in the final products. And spicing is restricted to cinnamon, with perhaps a touch of ginger or nutmeg. The bread pudding in this recipe, which comes from São Paulo restaurant Casa da Li, uses a blender to homogenize all the ingredients prior to baking, and adds chocolate to give the dish a whole new flavor profile. It's practically unrecognizable as bread pudding, and it's delicious.

If you are serving dinner to bread pudding haters and are feeling sneaky, don't tell them what the dish is (just tell them it's Pudim de pão from Brazil). After they've eaten it and lavished you with praise, it's then up to you whether to spill the beans about it being bread pudding or not.
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RECIPE - Chocolate Bread Pudding (Pudim de pão ao chocolate)

3 day-old French rolls, torn into small pieces
2 cups (500 ml) whole milk
1 tsp powdered cinnamon
2 cups granulated white sugar
1/2 cup seedless raisins, soaked for 15 minutes in hot water
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of clove
pinch of nutmeg
1/3 cup creme de cacao chocolate liqueur
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In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Bring slowly to a boil over medium-low heat. When the liquid reaches a boil, stir in the pieces of bread. Remove the pan from the heat and let the bread soak in the liquid for 20 minutes.

Pour the ingredients from the saucepan into a blender and blend until completely homogenized. Let cool.

When the custard liquid is cool, separate the egg and beat the white until it forms soft peaks. Lightly beat the yolk. Stir the beaten yolk into the custard, then gently fold in the egg white. Do not overmix. Finally stir in the raisins and the chocolate liqueur.

Pour the custard into a non-stick tube or bundt pan, place the pan in a baking dish and pour boiling water into the dish to the level of the custard. Place in a pre-heated 350F (180C) oven and cook for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire cake rack and let cool completely.

Chill the pudding in the refrigerator for at least three hours. Unmould onto a decorative serving platter and serve immediately.

Recipe translated and adapted from Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.

That's No Baloney! Brazilian Mortadela

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:47:00 +0000

A gastronomic passion that's shared by Brazil and Italy is the large, often shockingly-pink cold cut known as either mortadella or mortadela. The number of l's in the word differentiates Italian spelling (two l's) from Portuguese (only one). A noble sausage with a long pedigree, the image of mortadella has been tarnished in North America by cheap and sometimes nasty versions sold as Bologna sausage or baloney. No one is sure how Bologna came to be pronounced baloney in the USA, but it did. And somehow baloney's meaning was expanded to mean not only an Italian sausage but also foolishness or nonsense. Some theorize that this meaning came from the popular conception that bologna was made from the odds and ends of the slaughtering process, but no one has been able to prove the word's etymology.

In Brazil, mortadela is not looked down upon in the same way as baloney is in the USA. Nor is it worshipped and treated as a national treasure as it sometimes is in Italy. It's considered one of the basic cold cuts, and mortadela can be found in almost every butcher shop, delicatessen and supermarket in the country. Brazilian mortadela normally comes in the form of large round sausages, weighing up to 14 lbs (6 kgs). In Italy, by contrast, some mortadelle reach the stupendous size of 28 lbs (12 kgs). Other differences between the Italian and Brazilian versions is that the classic Italian version is made from 100% pork and the Brazilian with a mixture of pork and beef. The manufacture of mortadela in Brazil begins with the grinding together of the meats to be used, then adding spices and cubes of pure pork fat to the mixture (optional). Then the mixture is used to fill either an artificial or natural sausage casing. The sausage is then very lightly smoked and finally steamed for 18 hours at a temperature of 175F (80F). Once the steaming is completed the sausage is cooled by being sprayed with cold water and then hung for at least 24 hours to dry. Although mortadela is ready to eat as soon as it is dry, most butchers suggest that it be allowed to age for one week or more at cellar temperature to allow the flavor to develop.

Most Brazilian mortadela is consumed as part of a tray of cold cuts, or more likely as a filling for a sandwich made from a French roll. The mortadela sandwich is particularly associated with the city of São Paulo, with its large Italian community, though it's eaten everywhere in the country. Previously, Flavors of Brazil published an article about the famous mortadela sandwich of the Bar do Mané in São Paulo's municipal market.

As with all processed meats, the range of quality of Brazilian mortadela is enormous, and it's important to buy a high-quality product from a respected producer. The Brazilian Agriculture Department has established four mortadela categories and set out minimum standards for each one. The lowest standard is called simply mortadela, and higher quality ones are called mortadela tipo bologna, mortadela italiana and mortadela bologna, in ascending order of quality. The standards for plain mortadela as very low - "meat from any variety of animal, with up to 60% of meat mechanically separated, organs and offal (stomach, heart, tongue, liver, kidney), skin and tendon (limit 10%) and fat." The best quality, mortadela bologna, is restricted to sausages made from "muscular cuts of pork and beef, ham, in a rounded form, without addition of starch."

I guess the next time we at Flavors of Brazil run into mortadela on a tray of cold cuts, we're going to ask it it's plain ole' mortadela or mortadela bologna!

RECIPE - Pumpkin Pudding (Curau de Abóbora)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:40:00 +0000

Pumpkin pie is unknown in Brazil, or it seems to be from what we've discovered researching Brazilian cookbooks, websites and blogs. Nonetheless, Brazilians cook frequently with pumpkins - in fact, with all the hard winter squashes - and they are familiar with pumpkin's ability to shine in sweet dishes as well as savory ones.

In this easy dessert dish, which comes from the northeastern state of Ceará, pureed pumpkin is combined with coconut milk and whole milk, then cooked down to create a thickened pudding. The use of coconut milk adds a distinctly Brazilian touch and the addition of powdered cinnamon at the end of the cooking process recalls the way pumpkin is spiced in North American sweet dishes.

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RECIPE - Pumpkin Pudding (Curau de Abóbora)
Serves 4

1 lb peeled and cubed pumpkin or winter squash
1 cup (250 ml) coconut milk
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
powdered cinnamon
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Cook the cubed pumpkin in boiling water until it is very soft. Drain thoroughly. When slightly cool, place the pumpkin in a blender or food processor with the coconut milk, the milk, the sugar, salt, cornstarch and butter. Blend until completely homogenous.

Put the blended mixture in a double boiler and cook over boiling water, stirring constantly, for thirty minutes, or until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat.

Pour the mixture into four ramekins or custard cups. Sprinkle the surface with powdered cinnamon. Place the cups in the refrigerator for at least three hours and serve cold.

This Week in Unnecessary Local Food Trends

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

As regular readers of Flavors of Brazil know, the blog is a firm believer in the benefits of eating locally - that is eating food produced in relatively close proximity to where it is eaten. For many reasons, it's generally a good thing - the food is fresher, tends to be less expensive because of reduced transportation costs, and it's more authentic, among other good reasons.

However, last night at a party we were introduced to a product that certainly must be described as local, as it is manufactured here in Flavors of Brazil's hometown, Fortaleza. But we're not sure that it's really all that relevant that this drink, called Forró Power, qualifies as being part of our "100 Mile Diet". We did find it kind of fascinating nonetheless, and worthy of an article in the blog.

Forró Power is an energy drink - that is, it's a locally-produced variation or imitation of Red Bull. Sweet and sugary, it carries a potent stimulating kick. It's "power" comes from caffeine, guaraná and assorted other herbs. Energy drinks typically have three or four times the stimulating effect of coffee or Coca-cola. In flavor and effect, Forró Power is no different than any of the other energy drinks on the market.

What makes Forró Power interesting, though, is not the fact that it's made locally in Ceará, but more the way the manufacturers have decided to market it with a distinctly local name and advertising campaign.

The name Forró Power was chosen to appeal to fans of an energetic style of music and dance that originated in this region of Brazil and which is the most popular music style locally even in this day of international music stars like Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Adele. The word forró itself (pronounced foh-HO) has a unidentifiable etymology (click here for more) but the music has been popular in northeastern Brazil for close to eighty years. Forró dances, held in large halls similar to country music venues in the USA, draw thousands of fans weekly. Dance floors hold hundreds of couples at a time, and Forró events carry on all night, ending only when the sun comes up.

To give the blog's readers who might not be familiar with forró some idea of what it's all about (and why dancers might need an energy boost at 4 am!) here are two videos from YouTube. The first one shows the more traditional style of forró, which is referred to as the Pé de Serra style. Pé de Serra means "foothill" and refers to the rural origins of the dance in the mountainous interior of Brazil's northeast. The second shows modern pop forró, electrified and sexed up. The intended market for Forró Power is definitely the fans of this genre. Dancing all night at this speed requires a lot of stamina, which is maybe why Forró Power doesn't come in small 6 oz cans like Red Bull does - it delivers a full liter (about a quart) of caffeine-induced stimulation.

Pé de Serra forró

Pop forró