Food and drink Archives - Page 13 of 39

Taioba

29/11/2013/19 Comments/in Food and drink

Yesterday I decided to set you guys a little test on the Eat Rio Facebook page. I wanted to know if anyone was familiar with these rather attractive leaves.

OK, sorry if I sound like a weirdo food nerd here, but they’re rather nice looking leaves aren’t they?

I’m not going to try and make out I’m some expert here. The fact is that I only discovered these leaves a few weeks ago and was wondering if everyone else knew about them but had been keeping quiet!

I was browsing Glória street market when I noticed this rather attractive bunch of leaves and asked the guy what they were called. He said something that sounded to me like ‘Tai-OPP-ah’. “Hmmm, interesting…” I thought. “I will remember to look this up when I get home”. In fact I forgot the name almost immediately and had to return about 3 times to the (thankfully) patient stall holder. When I got home and Googled it, I found that the proper name is Taioba.

There’s a new drink in town: The Caipimerda!

29/11/2013/1 Comment/in Food and drink

Merda! Sorry, but I needed to get that out of the way. The ‘M’ word is Portuguese for ‘shit’ – it isn’t the most common swear word you hear in Brazil, but it, ahem, pops out from time to time.

So why have I gone all scatological? Well, it all started when I walked into a delicatessen in Lagoa last weekend. It was a pretty fancy (read ‘extortionate’) place so I wasn’t really intending to buy anything, but I was enjoying browsing the fancy imported goods – they had everything from olive oil and pasta to beer, wine and whisky. Then I saw something in the wines and spirits section that stopped me in my tracks.

Licor de whaaaaat?

“No wonder it’s brown!” I thought…

Organic delivery in Rio

27/11/2013/9 Comments/in Food and drink

A little while ago I posted a photo on the Eat Rio Facebook page of a rather unusual avocado which appeared to be 8.5 months pregnant…

Yes, I felt that you guys needed to see this fascinating photo of an avocado. Ground-breaking stuff right? I’m pretty sure the blog equivalent of a Pulitzer prize is just around the corner…

The ‘Preg-ocado’ (Portuguese: Grávidabacate) came to me in something rather exciting – an organic grocery delivery!

I love to grow plants – my window-boxes and roof-terrace are currently home to chilli peppers, herbs and even a couple of fruit trees – but I don’t have the space or time for lettuces, avocados and green beans, etc. So when Mrs Eat Rio told me she had heard there was a guy delivering organic produce in Rio, I was keen to know more.

The only Mexican food in Rio

22/11/2013/24 Comments/in Food and drink

My introduction to Mexican food in South America was disappointing. I had been in Argentina for 3 weeks and was starting to feel that I should eat something other than those bife de chorizo wonder-steaks for which the Argentines are rightly famous. There was a nice looking Mexican restaurant nearby so we decided to go along and get some spice in our lives.

The waiter approached with a fearful look in his eye, nervously holding a plate of nachos as if they might explode at any moment. His eyes widened further as he warned us that the sauces were muy picante. We approached the sauces with caution – I put tiny morsel on the point of a nacho and touched it to my tongue and waited. …and waited. Nothing!

To cut a long story short, the entire meal was utterly bland. I went on to find out that the people of many (though not all) South American countries are not particularly enamoured with the spicy heat and strong flavours associated with Mexican cuisine.

The next time I had Mexican food I was in Mexico and it was a revelation!

Crossing the border into Mexico in 2010. Exciting times lay ahead.

I was blown away by the mind-blowing flavours – salt, spice and sour in almost every bite!

Real Mexican food – full of punchy flavours that brighten your day. Nothing like the bland imitations I had tasted in England and Argentina.

What to do with Jabuticaba

13/11/2013/26 Comments/in Food and drink

If you happen to stroll through a street market in Rio around now you will almost certainly see lots of these:

Jabuticaba (zha-bootchy-CAH-ba).

As fruits go, this one is pretty remarkable. First of all there is the tree. You may have seen these images before, but I think a fruit tree this unusual is worth a second look:

A heavily laden jabuticabeira. As you can see, the fruit grows directly out of the trunk and branches.

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