Hello everyone! Remember me? Afraid my whirlwind trip to England didn’t leave any time for blogging – just eating, drinking and catching up with old friends. For those of you suffering the heat in Rio right now, I won’t torture you with detailed descriptions of the English winter weather – let’s just say that the mornings were deliciously frosty.
Back in 40 degree Rio, we are all looking for ways to cool off. The beaches of Zona Sul are packed, especially on the weekends, and although I enjoy the social nature of Rio’s beaches, I think we all dream from time to time of having the whole beach to ourselves.
Well I have the answer! But you’re going to need a car, an appetite for exercise and plenty of water.
https://i0.wp.com/eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DSC_1888.jpg?fit=600%2C442&ssl=1442600tomlemeshttps://eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/eat-rio-logo.pngtomlemes2014-01-23 14:49:082021-12-23 19:30:48Praia do Perigoso
When we were kids, my sister and I would look forward to Christmas for months. When the first of December finally came around we would be besides ourselves with excitement as the time came for us to open the first window on our advent calendars.
When the big day (25th December) finally came and all our family traditions were in full flow, we were supercharged with excitement. Decorations, presents, food – all things to push a small child to near-hyperactive levels of happiness. Everything was great… except for the one Christmas tradition that filled us with dread.
Brussels Sprouts
Yeauch! Every year we would protest and every year they would form part of the Christmas meal. The bitter, cabbagey flavour seemed almost bizarrely disgusting – why would our otherwise loving parents make us eat these awful green nuggets of noxious vegetable matter?
Mercifully, Brazilian children are spared the trauma of Brussels sprouts, but instead they are tormented by another green scourge.
https://i0.wp.com/eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DSC_2267.jpg?fit=500%2C336&ssl=1336500tomlemeshttps://eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/eat-rio-logo.pngtomlemes2014-01-17 13:28:422024-10-21 13:21:12What to do with: Jiló
We did a day trip to Mercado São Pedro in Niterói this weekend. It’s a fish market that I had heard about and I have to say I was pretty excited about going. I heard that you can buy your seafood on the ground floor, then take it upstairs to the restaurants where they’ll cook it.
Well I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t that impressed with the market – the prices were high and the produce was pretty standard. As for the restaurants upstairs, they seemed to have one basic treatment for all seafood – dust in flour and then deep-fry until dry and crispy.
Although the food was disappointing, we did discover a memorable cocktail of cachaça, honey and several sticks of cinnamon (not for the faint of heart!). Once we got back to Rio (still a bit wobbly from those cocktails!) we had a nice walk along Ipanema beach as the sun sank below the waves. Here are my top 2 snaps of the day.
Guanabara Bay is a very busy waterway and has good views of the bridge.
Well it’s that time of year again – carnival lovers start planning their fantasias while carnival haters start looking for a quiet country pousada where they can escape the mayhem.
This will be my fourth carnival and I’m really looking forward to it. Contrary to what you might expect, I have enjoyed each carnival more than the one before. This has been due to knowing what to expect, better planning, and getting to know the marchinhas (traditional carnival songs).
That last point might sound strange, but imagine yourself surrounded by thousands of people who are having the time of their lives, all singing their hearts out to what sounds like a really catchy song. Only problem is you don’t even know the tune, let alone the words. Sure there are worse things that can happen to you, but still, it’s more fun when you know the songs.
With that in mind, I’m adding another classic marchinha to my list of classic Carnival Songs that everyone should know. Mamãe Eu Quero, written by Vicente Paiva in 1936, is one of the most popular marchinhas of all time. Paiva was born in 1908 in São Paulo and sadly I could only find one picture of him.
Vicente Paiva may not have left a lot of photos, but his music is still going strong.
As well as being a composer, Paiva was also a pianist, singer and arranger. Mamãe Eu Quero is probably the song he is best known for, though he was no one-hit wonder – he also wrote O Cordão da Bola Preta and Voltei Pro Morro.
But let’s get to his greatest success. Mamãe Eu Quero (Mummy I want it) was recorded in December 1936 by friends and collaborators, Jararaca and Almirante. Released in early 1937, the song was a huge hit in that year’s carnival. Here is that original version:
Back in May 2012 I wrote about the despicable Roseana Sarney, governor of Maranhão, (home to 32 of Brazil’s 50 poorest cities). Back then there was an article which highlighted the incredible amounts of public money she was spending on luxury food.
Roseana Sarney, governor of Maranhão, one of Brazil’s poorest states.
As well as the ongoing poverty, the state is currently having a prison crisis. Recent investigations uncovered shocking reports of organised rape of female visitors in the state’s main prison, Complexo Penitenciário de Pedrinhas in state capital, São Luís.
https://i0.wp.com/eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bus.jpg?fit=450%2C337&ssl=1337450tomlemeshttps://eatrio.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/eat-rio-logo.pngtomlemes2014-01-08 18:14:502024-03-10 11:28:27Roseana Sarney – at it again
