Eat Rio Blog - Page 39 of 106

Batida

02/08/2013/2 Comments/in Food and drink

The Brazilian drinks menu, just like its food counterpart, can hold some surprises (and the odd chuckle) for people new to Brazil. Today I thought I’d take a quick look at a few of the things that might not be immediately obvious to newcomers.

Hi-Fi

The Hi-Fi is one of the first items listed under the heading Coquetéis (Cocktails) on many drinks menus. When I first asked about this I was told it was a vodka and orange. “Isn’t that called a screwdriver?” I asked. Well in my opinion the answer is basically “yes, it’s the same drink”, though cocktail purists will tell you that a Screwdriver is made with real orange juice, whereas a Hi-Fi is made with ‘orange drink‘.

Vodka + orange = Hi-Fi = Screwdriver

Blood Mary

Staying in the cocktail section, most menus list the classic vodka, tomato and Worcestershire sauce cocktail as “Blood Mary” (instead of Bloody Mary). At first I wondered what had happened to the “y”, but then I heard a Brazilian say “Blood Mary” out loud – it sounds like Bludgee Mary. No need for the “y”! In fact the letters K, W and Y aren’t used in real Portuguese and were only added to the official alphabet in 2009 in order to be used in foreign words.

Gim Tônica

You don’t get much more English than a good Gin and Tonic do you? And Brazil’s climate is perfectly suited for this most refreshing drink! Here in Brazil however you will usually see it written as “Gim Tônica”. Again, the rules of Portuguese language are behind this spelling.

The flag of Brazil

30/07/2013/15 Comments/in Musings

Not long after I arrived in Rio, the flag of Brazil got me into trouble with Mrs Eat Rio. To be more specific, it was the motto written across the flag that got me into trouble. And to be more accurate, it was I who got myself into trouble – the flag and its motto just happened to be there at the time.

We had been waiting for hours in a hot and crowded Cartório (notary office) while our marriage documents were being processed. As I waited (impatiently), I was surprised to see that almost everything was being done on paper – form after form was stamped, signed, copied and filed away in enormous filing cabinets.

Then I noticed the Brazilian flag on the wall and flippantly suggested there was some irony in the motto: Ordem e Progresso (Order and Progress). Let’s just say that Mrs Eat Rio wasn’t impressed! Since those early days I have learnt to show a little more respect towards the flag (and motto) of my adopted country.

As a national motto it is aspirational but also rather open to satire. This is from São Paulo’s Os Gemeos.

As flags go, it has to rank right up there as one of the best, don’t you think? Not everyone agrees with me but I like the colours, I like the shapes and I like the star map.

Now a farmer from the wonderfully named town of Parapanema in São Paulo has paid a massive tribute to this much-loved flag. Jacobus Derks planted it!

The Carne Seca Experiment

26/07/2013/21 Comments/in Food and drink

One ingredient that you’ll find on almost every Brazilian restaurant menu is Carne seca. When the menu includes English translations this is often translated literally as ‘dry meat’ – I can’t imagine many people would pick that from the menu! A better translation that you also see used is ‘Jerked Beef’. Before I got to Brazil I thought jerked beef was just beef jerky – dry, salty strips chewed by cowboys in the olden days.

Happily, since those early days I have been enlightened. Rather like that dubious story that Eskimos have 50 words for snow, so Brazilians have several terms for dried, salted meat. Not all the accounts I have found agree, but I will try to explain the differences between the main types.

Carne de Sol

Also known as Jabá, this is a speciality of Northeastern Brazil – a region that for most of the year is hot and very dry. Meat (usually beef) is salted and then dried over the space of a couple of days. Originally the drying process was carried out in the sun (hence then name ‘carne de sol’, which translates literally as ‘Sun Meat’), but today it is more commonly dried in a covered location as the drying process is driven mostly by exposure to wind and low humidity rather than sunshine.

The end result is meat with a dry, salty surface that protects the soft, succulent interior – the meat doesn’t require refrigeration and will keep for weeks. When it is ready to be used, the carne de sol is soaked in water for a few hours to reduce the levels of salt – then it is ready to be fried or stewed and used in a variety of classic Northeastern recipes.

Not to be confused with the peanut sweet of the same name, Paçoca (pa-SOCK-a) is a dish from the Northeast, made with shredded carne de sol, manioc flour and red onions and garlic.

Carne Seca

Carne Seca is common throughout South America where it goes by a variety of different names. Originally it was given the name charqui (sounds like ‘sharky’) by the Quechua people and referred to dried, salted llama meat. The word charqui is where the word ‘jerky’ comes from. Carne seca is more heavily salted than carne de sol and dried for longer.

The first time I saw carne seca I was in Bolivia and the meat was drying on a washing line next to laundry. As you can see on faces of my friends, we weren’t exactly filled with a desire to eat the stuff.

World Youth Day: Campus Fidei

25/07/2013/2 Comments/in Musings

Hi everyone! Today and tomorrow are public holidays in Rio because of the Pope’s visit, but some of us are still working (though working from home helps soften the blow). So far it’s looking like a great day to stay indoors.

Cold, dark and damp. A cold front is currently affecting much of southern Brazil.

Not much fun if you’re planning to visit the Pope’s Vigil and Final Mass in Campus Fidei (Latin for “Field of faith”) in Guaratiba (an area on the far western outskirts of Rio) this weekend. The sheer scale of this event is impressive. From the World Youth Day website:

The total area of Campus Fidei is 1.36 million m².
4,673 toilets will be provided for pilgrims, of which 270 are adapted for people with physical disabilities.
There will be 615 washbasins, 4,920 water fountains, and 2,016 urinals.
Campus Fidei will also have 33 LED video screens for the audience.
12 million gallons of water will be provided for the event, which will be spread over 177 locations. There will also be a station for wastewater treatment within the grounds of Campus Fidei, to treat water before it enters the sewer.

The Pope, Pilgrims, Protesters and Police.

23/07/2013/18 Comments/in Musings

Rio is a very strange place right now. For the last few days the city has been filling up with tens of thousands of Catholic pilgrims wearing bright yellow “World Youth Day” t-shirts and smiles. By yesterday morning the hordes were everywhere (including my bus to work…) and the feeling of growing excitement was palpable (not that I was sharing in the excitement you understand, but I could still sense it in these groups of frenzied visitors).

Hordes of happy pilgrims have been swarming across the city.

TV Globo broadcast live footage of the Pope’s arrival: nervous last minute preparations at the airport, his plane touching down and finally, after an interminable wait, the man himself. As he made his way down the red carpet he greeted people and everything seemed (to me at least) utterly unremarkable.

Then his car arrived.