Cock on the Moutain Top

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Well, as usual for Saturdays in November/December, it rained again today. This made it impossible, once again, for me to do a job I’ve been meaning to do for ages (putting up a trellis since you ask). After glowering at the rain for an hour or so, I decided to go and do something else that I’ve been meaning to do for a while – a food mission! 


One of the things I really miss about London is the great variety of world food available. In particular I miss the zingy flavours and spice of Thai, Vietnamese and Indian food. The few Southeast Asian restaurants I’ve seen are either mediocre or expensive (or both!) and the supermarkets don’t stock the ingredients essential to these cuisines, so until today I have had to go without.


Then, a couple of months ago, we were riding on the bus through the neighbourhood of Flamengo when we spotted this:

Although I pass this place everyday on my way to work, I'm always late and so never have time to stop in. Today I made it my mission to go and check it out.


And so, with the weather alternating between light drizzle and heavy downpour, I set off to check out what, as far as I know, is the only Asian market in Zona Sul. I had no idea I was going to find cock on the mountain top…


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What do Pelé, Senna and Happy Birthday have in common?

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For anyone who has been living on the moon for the last 60 years I should explain, Pelé was Brazilian footballer – people generally agree that he was rather good. Ayrton Senna is widely regarded as the greatest Formula One driver of all time. But these two have more in common than their status as Brazilian sporting icons. Despite being born 20 years apart (Pele 1940, Senna 1960) they both dated the same girl.

Xuxa da Graça Meneghel, better known as just Xuxa. Her name is pronounced Shoosha.

 

And yet Xuxa is known in Brazil as a personality in her own right. As you can probably guess, looking at her picture above, she started out as a model.

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7 Tips for Supermarket Survival

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Supermarkets eh? My mum remembers when supermarkets were first introduced – what a novelty it was to be able to pick up and choose the items yourself without having to ask a guy in the brown overalls behind a counter to fetch you a dozen eggs or a pound of sugar. 

 

Nowadays many people see supermarkets as a necessary evil. ‘Necessary’ because, by human nature, we want the convenience of buying all our things in one place and we want to pay low prices. ‘Evil’ because they tend to promote harmful/unsustainable farming techniques, they squeeze small suppliers and competitors out of the market and ultimately lead towards monopolies which are not in the interests of the consumer (phew!).


Still, if you live in a city then you have to be either very rich or very dedicated to the cause to avoid supermarkets altogether. And although I love traditional markets (and use one near my home once a week), I do most of my shopping in a supermarket near work. The following are my top 7 supermarket survival tips:

A traditional shopkeeper (and his long-suffering assistant).

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Sexy times at the airport

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I know. Airports aren’t generally thought of as sexy places. I guess there must be a few ‘aerophiles’ out there, a few lonely people who sit for hours on end identifying passenger jets and writing down aircraft registration numbers in books. But for the rest of us, visiting an airport is a fairly unexciting experience of waiting for people or planes.


Well here in Rio there is another, infinitely more tedious experience waiting for you at the airport: the offices of the Polícia Federal (PF). The Federal Police are responsible for dealing with visa applications and other issues related to estrangeiros (foreigners) and my wife and I have spent many, many hours sitting, waiting, pleading and complaining in their offices. Maybe I will bore you another day with a more detailed account of my experiences at the PF, but for now let’s just say that it’s a painful experience and usually leads to stress, exasperation and arguments.


‘So where does the sexy part come in?’ I hear you demand with libidinous impatience. Well that’s where this smoky-voiced lady comes in…

This was Íris Lettieri back in 1974. She has a sexy voice.

 

 

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Acarajé

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Last weekend we had a friend from London to stay. This was fun, not just because our guest was nice and not only because she brought us all kinds of yummy goodies from home, but also because her presence pushed us into doing a whole bunch of sight-seeing things that we probably wouldn’t have bothered with otherwise. We wandered around a favela, we went to see some samba and spent a fair bit of time eating and drinking in Santa Teresa. 


One of the places we ended up was Armazém São Thiago, a really nice old bar that dates back to 1919. The bar itself does pretty yummy food, but even better than that, on Sundays there is a lady just outside the bar cooking Acarajé. 

A delicious bundle of spicy goodness. I am designating acarajé as an essential food – see the others in the list by clicking the ‘essential food’ label on the right (Photo: Leonardo Martins).

 

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