Brasil, meu Brasil brasileiro...

vou cantar-te nos teus versos!

This last week I was in a nostalgic period. To celebrate our wedding’s birthday we went to Aix-les-Bains for De Palmas concert! We had to wait about an hour to get in, and it was in that moment that I started dreaming about being in Brazil…

Pop corn scent came out of my mind and I wished so much I could have such half sweet, half salted one. I used to buy it in Belo Horizonte streets. Oh yes, I couldn’t walk around the downtown without eating one. And to avoid nickel back, I used to get such caramelized coconut pieces…

I miss Brazilian food very much. Some times I get myself dreaming about a sunny Saturday afternoon beside the swimming pool, all friends together, a great barbecue grilling not so far, some vinaigrette (red, yellow and green sweet pepper, tomatoes and onions all thinly cut out, in a bath of vinegar) and white rice. Or just to buy a small “cat barbecue”! hihi that’s the way we call the barbecue sold on the streets!

As good as Saturday’s barbecue are Sunday’s lunches in family...

My mom could prepare a pork meat cooked in ananas sauce. To accompany, some “farofa”, sort of mix prepared with manioc flour, a little bit of olive oil, spices, bacon, smoked sausage, corn, green sweet pepper and all you creativity allows you to invent. Some curly kale well thinly cut out and quickly cooked in the butter could also please me… Some boiled corn, or some cooked and fried manioc! Oh Gee, I love it.

I miss biscoito de polvilho and the cheese bread, the famous “pão de queijo”. The first one is a sort of biscuit prepared with some manioc flour, eggs and a very hot water. It’s so light and not so flavorful that I am able to eat hundreds! The second one is also prepared with some manioc flour, and the best Brazilian cheese, which comes from my state, Minas Gerais. The name means “general mines” and it’s due to all the gold that found there about 18th century. Well, as we are talking about food, there is another dish originate during this period which merits to be mentioned: it’s called “feijão tropeiro”. It’s a mixture of cooked red beans with some smoked sausage and bacon cut out in little pieces, mixed eggs, curled kale, onions, manioc flour and a bit of olive oil. It was invented by the explorers who went into the country to discover new lands. They traveled long distances by horse and their food supply, all in the same recipient, was mixing together during the trip and at the end they were eating something their called “explorer’ beans”.

Hey, I was about to forget the delicious desserts: milk candy, coconut candy, peanut candy, rice candy, corn candy and all the fruit jams: guava, fig, orange, quince… Even potato candy and this is very delicious with some cinnamon over it!

Well, Brazil is so huge that I couldn’t talk about all the variety of dishes we can I prepare. I can talk about the specialties of my region, which by the way are the best ones ;) but I am sure each Brazilian from each different region could present you something completely different, completely new, even for a Brazilian like me. Maybe we all agree about “feijoada”, the national dish! Prepared with some red beans, pork meat (this time, all parts of the pork that you could imagine: ears, feet, even the curly tail!) and a lot of spice, feijoada can be accompanied by white rice, curly kale and orange slices! It was invented by the slaves, who recuperated the rest of their patrons to eat. They prepared it in a so good way that it became the most famous of the Brazilian specialties.

Well, I hope you’re not dribbling a lot! ;) And Now I need to go to prepare my dinner! It could be a good idea if my Brazilian friends could come and tell us which their favorite dishes are as well, even if it's rice and beans! ;)

See you all!