Eat Rio Blog - Page 49 of 106

Photo Post: Beach Acrobatics!

17/03/2013/10 Comments/in Musings

Ah, Saturday was another nice relaxing day on Copacabana beach! If I have a few drinks on Friday night then I find that nothing clears away the heavy head like a nice swim in the sea followed by a relaxing snooze. But not everyone is so lazy at the beach!

Last weekend I was taking pictures of the sea-spray caught in the late-afternoon sun when a rather outgoing individual approached me and told me to follow him and bring my camera. Here’s what he did:

Raoni doing this party-piece!

Afterwards he told me his name was Raoni – apparently an indigenous name meaning Jaguar, made famous by Chief Raoni Metuktire, a campaigner for indigenous rights and protection of the Amazon.

The Raoni I met in Copacabana appeared to be ~~a bit drunk~~ in high spirits and told me enthusiastically that he had been to Ipswich (in the UK) as part of a Brazilian youth gymnastic team. I wasn’t sure whether to believe him at first, but then I thought “Who’d make up a story about Ipswich?” – surely it’s too obscure to be a lie!

Anyway, he was a funny guy and his leap made for a pretty cool photo!

Portuguese Shorthand

15/03/2013/24 Comments/in Language

Despite my tendency to be a little grumpy at times, I have somehow managed to make some friends and acquaintances during my time in Brazil. This means that around 50% of the text on my Facebook time-line is in Portuguese.

This has proved to be rather a good learning aid. If I want to know why Maurício’s status update got 18 likes, I’m going to have to work out what he actually said! But deciphering text posted on Facebook, Twitter, emails and text messages is not just a matter of looking up words in a dictionary.

OMG Churchill! Didn’t you know that gesture is rude in Britain? Rofl lol…

Portuguese Text Speak

Text Speak has been around for longer than you might think. Winston Churchill received a letter containing an “OMG” way back in 1917!

But this character- and time-saving communication form really proliferated with the introduction of text messaging and the internet. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the common English examples such as lol, rofl, etc (that last one is Latin!), but how well do you know Portuguese shorthand?

Below is a list of the abbreviations I’ve come across – have I missed any out?

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An illicit beach treat

13/03/2013/9 Comments/in Food and drink

If you were to ask me about the beach vendors of Rio, I would tell you about good guys with cool-boxes full of icy cold beers slung over their shoulders and a sack of Biscoito Globo in hand. I would describe people dressed in Arab style clothes selling esfiha and kibe, and the vendors laden with beach-balls, bikinis and cangas. I’d tell you about the shouts of “Alô mate! Alô limão!” from the orange clad ice-tea sellers and the clanking of the ice cubes in their twin metal barrels.

Here’s another thing I’d mention: Queijo Coalho (sounds like: KAY-zho KWAH-lyo). “Queijo” is Portuguese for “cheese” and the word coalhado means something like curdled or clotted. The first time I tried this firm, white cheese I had no idea how best to eat it. I had bought it in a supermarket and when I got home I cut it into chunky slices and put it in a sandwich. The result was not good – it was very salty, dense and generally quite disappointing.

Some weeks later Mrs Eat Rio and I were at the beach and a guy wandered past with a small metal tripod suspended above a stout wooden handle. When I was told that he was selling grilled queijo coalho I decided it was time to give this cheese another chance.

Back in the good old days, queijo coalho na brasa (grilled queijo coalho) was a favourite beach treat!

When grilled over hot coals, this cheese is transformed! It is quite similar to halloumi – it has a salty bite and squeaks against your teeth as you eat it! Before getting started, the vendor asks if you’d like oregano which is optionally sprinkled over the cheese before the grilling. A block of cheese is then mounted on a skewer and turned slowly over the glowing coals until it is browned and crisp on all sides. The end result is perfect for the hunger that develops over the course of a day relaxing on the beach:

Photo Post: Lightning over Guanabara

12/03/2013/9 Comments/in Musings

Someone told me today that Brazil is hit by more lightning than any other country on earth. A little sceptical Googling suggests that Central Africa has more electrical storm activity, but let’s put weather fact pedantry to one side and agree that Rio has its fair share of spectacular lightning storms.

This is probably the most famous lightning shot taken in Rio – Cristo Redentor being struck full on the head (the photographer was Custódio Coimbra).

My offering from Saturday night isn’t quite so dramatic, but notice that I’ve got two lightning bolts in my shot, so you know… in a way my photo is twice as good! rs

Makes a change from photos of the sunrise doesn’t it?

Brazilian Brands: Balas Tamarindo Marllon

10/03/2013/12 Comments/in Food and drink

Brazilian Brands is back! Before we get going I should explain a little about the word bala. If you type this word into Google Translate, the first translation it returns is “bullet”. However, we aren’t going to be looking at some special brand of Brazilian ammunition! We’ll be looking at the other meaning of bala: “candy” (or “sweets” as we say in the UK).

I’m guessing that the ‘bullet’ meaning dates back to the days when ammunition was a spherical ball of lead that was pushed down into a musket. Then when candies became popular, they were similarly shaped and so took the same name. Or could it be the other way round? Does musket shot pre-date candy?

Regardless of how the word and its meaning originated, you should know that the term bala perdida means “lost bullet” (literally), but a better translation would be “stray bullet”. Sadly this term is in the news quite regularly in Rio (and many other Brazilian states), when people are hit by stray bullets.

The ‘lost bullet’ looks at a picture which says “You are here”.

Anyway, today we’re talking about the tasty, sugary balas, so let’s get on with it!

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Balas Tamarindo Marllon

Name: Balas Tamarindo Marllon.

Product: Balas de Tamarido (Tamarind flavoured candy).

Description: The manufacturer is called ‘Balas Marllon’ and is based on the other side of Guanabara bay in a town called São Gonçalo. They make a variety of other candies, but these Tamarind flavoured are the best known and most widely sold. Inside the colourful wrapper you will find a dark brown, slightly sticky ball.

Although the Tamarind tree is native to Africa, it was introduced into Central and South America in the 16th Century and has become a common ingredient in Brazilian cuisine, particularly in the north where it is made into a refreshing drink.