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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Brazil

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I have been living outside of Brazil since 1998 when I went to work overseas.  Luckily I have always been able to visit my home country at least once every year since then. Going to Brazil on a regular basis is something very important to me. Not only because I miss my family and friends and I am always looking forward to our next time together, but also because it really brings me back to my roots and reminds me of where I come from and who I am. It puts a lot of things in perspective.

This trip was specially exciting for me because it was Andrew's  first time in Brazil. Having him around gave me the opportunity  to see my country trough a foreigner's eyes. It was interesting to see what kind of things caught his attention  like the public displays of affection not seen here in North America.

When it comes to food and cooking, I feel that being born and raised in Brazil is definitely a good thing. Today things are very different, but when I was growing up, we didn't have Mc Donald's and Coca Cola was served on special occasions only. Snacks normally consisted of fresh tropical fruits like mangoes, watermelons, tangerines, pineapple.

We spent a week the beach town of Maceio. It is common in Brazil to have beach restaurants and bars right on the sand. This was our favourite onefavourite beach hangout

 

You could find us there pretty much everyday between 11am and 4pm enjoying dishes like grilled sausages...

sausage on the beach

fried cassava (an alternative to fries)...

cassava

sauteed chicken with mustard dip...

cashews...

cashews

 

kiwi caipirinhas...

 

Not bad, huh?

Coconut is often used in dishes and desserts in Brazil, specially in this area where  there are loads of coconut farms like this one

coconut farm

 

These are typical coconut sweet treats called cocadas . Those were made with different fruit flavours like  passion fruit and pineapple. They are really good!

cocada

 

Brazilian coconut milk is sold in bottles, not cans, and it is slightly thicker than the ones I find here. This chandelier was made using empty bottles of coconut milk. I loved it, beautiful and green!

bottle chandelier 2

 

And speaking of green, take a look at this solar-powered lighthouse. I had never seen it before. Pretty smart, no?

solar powered lighthouse

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little taste of Brazil. I sure came back with some fresh ideas to try out at the kitchen, and I'll be happy to share them with you.

For now, I'll leave you with some of my favourite pics from this trip.

 

 

5 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Epitome of paradise.

Lori said...

I loved your recap of the Brazil trip. Thanks! Many of the Brazilians I now call friends are not that into food and of course that is what I am most interested in. It was interesting to read your explanations and perspective.

Yes, the public displays of affection take some getting used to. :)

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Oh wow! Look at that water. And the bottle chandelier is too cool. Love fried cassava. Looks like you had a great time.

Unknown said...

oh gosh....missing brazil...hope to be back there another time ^_^

Rita said...

Lori - you must make some foodie friends there! maybe Maringa is a bit small, not exactly a food meca...

WC - I would trade fried cassava for french fries anytime...

Rita - hope you do get to go back there....soon!!!

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