Eat Rio Blog - Page 29 of 106

A day at the beach

06/01/2014/4 Comments/in Musings

With temperatures in Rio getting over 40°C (104°F) in recent days, I’ve been spending as much time as possible at the beach. As a kid, I always felt that empty beaches were good – the emptier the better! However, during my time in Rio my attitude has changed a bit. I do still enjoy a nice deserted beach (more on this soon), but when I’m in the centre of Rio, I actually enjoy being around lots of people at the beach.

I always take my camera to the beach because there is almost always something photo-worthy going on. It might be some kids kicking a ball around, a vendor selling something interesting or someone just plain showing off!

I know that some of you in the northern hemisphere are suffering from extreme weather of a different kind right now, so I hope you take the following as a reminder of the sun, rather than gloating! Here’s to warmer times…

Copacabana on a hot, sunny, Saturday afternoon. Don’t expect to have a lot of space to yourself!

Hot, hot, hot…

04/01/2014/0 Comments/in Musings

Wow, it’s another scorcher in Rio today. Easily 40°C (>104F) in the shade. My advice? Find a friend with a pool or find yourself a spot on the beach. If you can’t manage either of those options, find a comfortable spot and stay still. My friend here is showing you how…

“Please don’t bother me – it’s too hot to move…”

Jeitinho, Gambiarra and Bacalhau

03/01/2014/9 Comments/in Musings

If you spend any amount of time in Brazil, you will soon become familiar with the word jeitinho (sounds like zhay-CHEEN-yo).

Image source

Here’s what former President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC to his friends) has to say on the matter:

Jeitinho has a double meaning. One meaning is good – that you try to solve problems rather than to put up obstacles… It’s an attitude, “Let’s try to solve this, let’s try to help you.” That’s positive. But there is another meaning, which is to disregard the law, the rules.

From an interview with Catherine Pees Scott

The word “jeito” means “way”, as in “I think there’s a way we can do this”. When we use the diminutive (jeitinho) we move into the realms of improvisation and rule bending.

Ran out of gas? A little jeitinho should fix this up!

It’s a divisive word because people seem to give it the meaning they want. For some it is about being resourceful and solving problems under difficult conditions; for others it is about not doing things properly, rule breaking and corruption.

Last weekend, Mrs Eat Rio and I were walking down our street when we got to a patch of pavement/sidewalk when had been repaired. The normal sections looked like this:

My favourite neighbourhood in Rio

27/12/2013/8 Comments/in Musings, Things to do

Well people – 2013 is finally drawing to a close and things at Eat Rio have been slowing down a bit too. Running food tours, cooking for Christmas, catching up with friends and family and holding down a full time job – these things take time!

Still, I found a moment in my lunch hour to write a little something. Earlier today I posted a photo of what I think is a lovely little building in Lapa.

This building is on Rua Riacheulo, just a short walk from the Arcos da Lapa.

Looking at this photo got me thinking about how much I like Lapa. As a neighbourhood it is strongly associated with nightlife and although it certainly does get very lively on the weekends, there are also some great things to see and do during the day. Last weekend we went wandering through the market on Rua do Lavradio, doing some last minute Christmas shopping.

What to do with Jatobá – stinking toe!

23/12/2013/5 Comments/in Food and drink

While browsing in Hortifruti recently, I came across something interesting in the Weird Fruit section (the unofficial name for my favourite part of the store). These heavy, brown pods were labelled Jatobá and I was intrigued.

Jatobá – heavy, brown pods, but what’s inside?

When I got them home I did some research. The pods come from a tree known to Brazilians as a Jatobazeiro, but in other parts of its range (it is found from Brazil in the south, to the Caribbean in the north) it is called West Indian locust or Stinking Toe!

I think the ‘toe’ part of the name is clear – I discovered the ‘stinking’ part when I took the jatobás out of their packaging!