There is a substance that is incredibly popular in South America and especially in Brazil. For some people it seems to take over their life – when they talk about it their eyes light up with pleasure. “It’s amazing”, they tell you, “there’s nothing like it”. I hadn’t tried it in its pure form before I got to Brazil, but decided I had to try this white stuff that elicits such enthusiasm.
“Is this any good?” I asked the tough looking teenager as I handed over my cash. “Oh yeah”, he replied with an appreciative grin, “this is the good stuff. You’re going to love it!”. I stuffed it into my backpack and hurried home to find out if he was right. I’ll just dip my finger in and have a little taste, I told myself, just a little taste…
I expect you’ve already guessed what I’m talking about:
https://i0.wp.com/eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/cuscuz.jpg?fit=450%2C279&ssl=1279450tomlemeshttps://eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/eat-rio-logo.pngtomlemes2013-10-30 17:11:112024-03-09 13:42:28Brazil’s Great Addiction
One of the perks of having a blog is that you have all kinds of interesting encounters with people who share similar interests. I get a steady trickle of correspondence from people asking for advice on moving to Brazil or wanting a particular recommendation for their trip, but once in a while I hear from someone doing something completely different.
For instance, a few months ago I was contacted by Stacy, who lives in the US. Stacy has a pet capivara (capybara) and was visiting Southeast Brazil on a mission to see a wild capybara in its native habitat. Thus ensued a long and hilarious correspondence regarding the best places to spot the world’s largest rodent.
More recently I met someone doing something that made me green with envy. People who follow the Eat Rio Facebook page will have seen that last weekend I had a very late night and this was due to my latest fascinating encounter: a very Foodish Boy.
That’s not a typo – though I’m sure Alex himself would admit that he’s not beyond a little foolishness from time to time! Read on…
https://i0.wp.com/eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/alex-nitrogen.jpg?fit=550%2C412&ssl=1412550tomlemeshttps://eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/eat-rio-logo.pngtomlemes2013-10-25 13:06:372024-03-09 13:46:55A Very Foodish Boy
There’s a significant amount of irrationality in branding isn’t there? We consumers make choices based on colours and designs, often without even realising that we’re being influenced. If we stopped to think logically about it, I expect many of would concede that there’s probably no significant difference between product A and product B. All the same, for some reason we keep picking product A.
Today’s Brazilian Brand is one that I took to instantly, though I’m fairly sure it is in no way superior to other brands. I just like it.
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Sal Cisne
Name: Sal Cisne
Product: Table salt
Description: The Sal Cisne salt refinery was built in Cabo Frio (150km east of Rio de Janiero) in 1949. They have a range of products, from big bags of sal grosso (coarse salt, essential for the churrasco) to smaller containers of table salt. But of all their products, one (or should that be two?) stands out.
The official name for this chirpy couple is the rather dull saleiro ovo (egg salt cellar), l but I think that most of us know them better as Senhor e Senhora Sal. As you can see, Mr Salt wears a blue cap while Mrs Salt has a pretty red boater. When I first saw this pair in the supermarket, I wondered “Apart from the hats, what’s the difference between Mr and Mrs Salt?”. The answer? Absolutely nothing! They both contain perfectly normal table salt.
Verdict: I like them! What can I say? I’m an irrational consumer! I could try to justify my preference by saying that the egg shape fits in the hand nicely, that the little hats actually do a very good job of keeping the salt dry and free-flowing, but in reality I just like having a happy little salt man in the kitchen.
So after a wonderful fortnight in Australia, I find myself back in Rio. Apart from the sexy announcements, Galeão (Rio’s international airport) is a miserable place at the best of times, but when it’s 2am, you’ve just completed 20 hours of combined flights, all the cash machines are out of order and the taxi company is attempting to charge you R$80 to get into town, things hit a new low. A few days later we’ve settled back in and it feels good to be home!
After my recent trip to Lima and then Melbourne it feels about time I got back to writing about Rio. But if you think I’m going spend 2 weeks in a city like Melbourne and not tell you all about it then you’ve got another thing coming. Let’s start with the food shall we?
The Melbourne Food Scene
Hmmm, ‘food scene’ sounds a little pretentious doesn’t it? Oh well, call it what you like, when it comes to food and drink, there’s a lot going on in Melbourne. We were lucky enough to be taken out for a proper ‘Melbourne brekky’ (breakfast/brunch) a couple of times and what a treat!
Cafés are dotted all over Melbourne, serving up excellent coffee and delicious breakfasts such as Eggs Benedict (see previous post), baked egg pots and BRAT (Bacon, Rocket, Avocado and Tomato) on sourdough. Swoon!
From the Thomson Cafe Food Store in Northcote, this is the baked egg pot with house beans, bacon, pork sausage, spinach and eggs with house made chutney and organic sourdough.
What a nice time I’m having in Melbourne! One of the things I like most about travelling is that you get to enjoy all the novelties of a new destination whilst at the same time appreciating the things that your home location does better. Of course, whether we’re talking about coffee, beaches or weather, ‘better’ is a subjective term…
One thing has become apparent over the last week – if I were to move to Melbourne I would have to go on a strict diet or buy a whole new set of clothes – great food is everywhere! Street markets, supermarkets and restaurants all seem to be stuffed full of tempting treats and high quality produce. And like the proverbial kid in a sweet shop, I’ve been overindulging in everything from delicious wines and beers to oysters, cheese and other assorted goodies. Wanna see? OK then, here you go:
My breakfast few days: Eggs Benedict – English muffins, ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Delicious!
We recently paid the Tarrawarra Estate vineyard a visit for some wine tasting.
