Eat Rio Blog - Page 73 of 106

Stripes in the sky

11/06/2012/10 Comments/in Musings

When I first came to Brazil it was by crossing over the border with Colombia in the Northwest (deep in the Amazon). A friend and I spent a few days exploring the river and the jungle – of course, in such a short time we could only scratch the surface, but nevertheless we saw all kinds of amazing sights.

The Amazon.

We spent one memorable day with a guide in a small canoe, paddling upstream and then stopping off to trek through the forest, seeing some very cool animals and meeting some indigenous people who lived along the river.

Brazil’s sweet Brigadier

07/06/2012/6 Comments/in Food and drink

In my last post I showed you a selection of the seriously sweet goodies that you see at Brazilian weddings and parties. One or two of you may have noticed that one particular delicacy was glaringly missing from the list. To those of you who aren’t familiar with it yet, this is Brigadeiro:

Another one of my photos from the sumptuous wedding of last weekend. This is the probably the most common form of Brigadeiro. To the untrained eye these may appear like everyday truffles, but as you pop one of these into your mouth you'll realise they're quite different.

These little balls of sweetness are one of the most beloved of Brazilian confectioneries. First created in the 1940s, they were named after this rather unprepossessing character:

The unbearable sweetness of wedding

05/06/2012/12 Comments/in Food and drink

We went to a really lovely (and very fancy) wedding last weekend. I don’t think either of them are regular readers, but on the off-chance, I’ll quickly say a HUGE thanks and congratulations to Fernanda and Sandro. To give you a little taste of just how fancy it was, check this out:

This is Confeitaria Colombo, an incredibly grand and elegant space which first opened in 1894. The huge mirrors and ornate decoration bring to mind images of Paris and La Belle Époque.

I won’t give you a blow-by-blow account, but hopefully this gives a good impression of the levels of opulence I am talking about. If you’re ever in town then you should definitely pop in for afternoon tea to take in the surroundings (and a delectable little cake or two).

Whilst we were chatting about the wedding the next day, I said something that left my wife in shock! In fact she looked almost grief-stricken on my behalf as she asked in a disbelieving voice “You mean you don’t do that in England?”.

The Mountain Burger in Botafogo

01/06/2012/4 Comments/in Food and drink

Next to the Metro station in Botafogo, I have recently noticed a little line of stalls selling burgers and hotdogs. Not especially interesting in itself – Rio is full snack bars and street stalls. But this sign caught my eye.

As the burgers get bigger, so the names get more impressive. "Big" (2 patties), "Tri" (3), "Mega" (4) and "Montanha" (5!). "Montanha" means Mountain in case you hadn't worked it out. Also notice the rather excellent signs behind saying "Fala Comigo!!!" (Speak to me!) and "Parada Obrigatoria!" (Stopping Required!).

Ipanema Flash Dance

31/05/2012/2 Comments/in Art and culture

The things I see on my way to work! Nowadays my route takes me through Praça General Osorio in Ipanema. This large square is located close to the border with Copacabana and is the last stop on the Metro. At this point I transfer from the Metro onto a bus and on most mornings I’m in a big rush.

This morning was typical – I was walking double-fast speed, weaving in and out of my fellow travellers who were casually strolling along as if it were Sunday morning. As I came out of the Metro system and into the open square, a girl seemed to nearly fall over, right in front of me, then throw her arms up in a rather dramatic gesture. “Weirdo…” I muttered to myself and kept walking.

I hurried along to my bus and managed to secure myself a seat. I glanced out of the window and noticed the crazy girl again. Then I saw this!