My Town Friday Shoot-out / Menus

Over the nearly 3 years of blogging about Brasil and other places that we have visited, the topic of food has come up often. Camillo is Italian with the Italian attitude towards eating and I am an American who learned to cook back in grade school…. eeekkKKK… and enjoy it, so food is important to us. Along with the Friday shoot-out about food in April of 2009, I have written 12 other posts about Brazilian Food. I have also talked about how hard it was to relearn to cook when we moved here. (Teaching an old cook new tricks?) For example, I have always cooked using mostly fresh ingredients, but you can’t learn to cook in the USA without finding a call for a can of this or can of that in a recipe. And here a can of chicken broth cannot be found, so I make my own broth now and keep some frozen at all times for use soups/rosoto/and other dishes. Here baking soda is Bicarbonato de Sódio and baking powder is Ferment em Pó Quimico and it has taken me a long time to figure out these ingredients and to slowly add new dishes to my family's menu. Right now I am making a chicken soup and for the first time (here) am trying to make dinner biscuits for lunch. The soup will be delicious but the biscuits – I don’t know. Okay enough – this really is about MY Town's menus.

In the many place we have visited inside and outside of Brasil, I have notice that menus often have the same basic items. In Brasil food is divided by region but the same thing holds true. In Rio and in Friburgo upscale restaurants, which are often Italian or Portuguese-like foods, generally have menus that include Couver, appetizers, meats, fish and pastas and finally sobrmesa (deserts). Couver is almost always brought to the table without you asking for it, but you are charged and sometime by the person. Caution is advised – on the menu it is around R$8.00 but that can be per person – ouch! so always ask and be comfortable refusing if you want. Generally Camillo and I don’t take a couver – a meal by itself is too much food. Couver is usually any combination of olives, small bits of cheese, eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, trout pate (yummy), chicken liver or blue cheese pate (yummy!!), butter, and bread in varying degrees of freshness. It is the habit to eat dinner after 9pm here so I almost always eat off the appetizer menu, portions are smaller and it has things I really like – like Carpaccio. For me the perfect late night dinner item.

In the very popular Botequim ("bo-tech-kym"), Boteco ("bo-tech-ko") as they are usually called by the locals (very casual places to meet with friends and talk and eat) the menus are simple. Even though they are becoming more sophisticated these very Brasilian places have a menu that includes beer (s), of course, and then petiscos (little things) like shrimp or chicken with garlic, or shrimp on a skewer, batata frita (French Fries) or Portuguese (fresh fried potato chips), and pateis (empanadas filled with shrimp, cheese or beef). These menus will include fried lula (octopus) and fried sardines, heart of palm soup, and picanha on the grill. This is my favorite way to eat in Rio.

Little Places 2

Ages ago I wrote about a little place where we liked to eat lunch in Lumiar. Last weekend we drove over for our semiannual lunch beside the river, and Barra Vento was closed. Wire fences up, weeds growing, doors barred, CLOSED. The lasts time we drove over, the restaurant was packed with people, eating, picnicking, swimming, fishing, how did they close down?   I am digressing but before moving on, I will say that this happens way too often here – I imagine everywhere - the dream gets stomped by reality or some such poetic mumble jumble. On to this week’s story.

 

So last week, after finding our favorite place closed, we drove to the square and Camillo got out of the car and ask around. Word of mouth works best - make a right on the next street, bare to the right at the split and back from the corner on a one way street is a little place called Quintal (backyard). We were hungry. We’d driven for 35 minutes to have lunch. We love to try new places. We found a place to park and went in. [Owned and operated by Aline – Quintal is located on Rua Júlio Ambrósio Pamerim #80, central Lumiar – phone 22–9872-7909 email: lilacupello@hotmail.com] 

 

 

 

Inside was cool, clean and inviting. An old house converted, there were old wood plank floors, nice sized wooden tables in almost private spaces for dinning, and outdoor seating in back that said “kick back – relax! you’ll like it” and best of all - big smiles of welcome. We sat outdoors because our intention had been to eat out by the river and from our table we got a glimpse of the kitchen work area. The owner, with good humor, agreed to take a moment and pose for me. 

 

Lets not forget the menu. Two pages only. Not pages and pages of food prepared last month and frozen to use on a busy day. No, 4 main course items – two meat courses and two fish.

 

The couvert (served before the main course but not an appetizer per se) was fresh made eggplant, pate (spread) of blue cheese, chutney and freshly toasted torados, (toasted left-over bread) You have to be very familiar with food here to know how special this was, to know that you can buy these bits of bread – dry and tasteless - in the grocery stores and often get them in restaurants as well. To have really fresh toast for these fresh spreads was really good. If I hadn’t been driving (dry law) I would have just enjoyed the couvert with wine and been very happy.

 

 

We all chose trout with different toppings, fresh green salad with a homemade honey mustard dressing (UMMMMM!) and other sides to numerous to mention. Okay this is the Truth – we drove back over today to have the trout AGAIN! This is probably the best recommendation we can make for a place to have the same meal two weeks running. This week there was music. The restaurant was totally filled (last week rainy – this week a 3 day weekend with sunshine) Service was a little slow today because of the crowd, but tolerably so and the trout was once again absolutely super.

see recipe I found on line for a blue cheese pate.... I didn't ask for the recipe - but it was very good. http://www.musthavemenus.com/guide/recipes/appetizers/blue-cheese-pate.html

 

(Jan 2012 – no longer open – a great loss)

Traveling in Minas Gerais 2 – eating out

Camillo is Italian by birth and Brazilian by choice, so the food and the wine of anyplace we travel is of primary importance. ‘Comida Mineira’ can be found in  and around Rio but it tends to be in the most basic of restaurants, for example truck stops and small places attached to bars, and is often served buffet style. It is also what we call in the southern USA comfort food, high calorie, high carbs, and it has long lasting affects. In Tiradentes this same food is served as culinary art and you are charged accordingly. Yes Tiradentes is a tourist place, a tourist place for the more affluent Cariocas and Paulistas but their pricing is over the top for this very basic food; rice, beans, rice & beans combined, pork, couvie (collard greens), beef cooked in gravies (a sure sign of the cheapest cuts of meat) and roasted potatoes. Don’t get me wrong comfort food is well comforting and I ate every bite put in front of me, but it was way overpriced. Can’t complain about ambiance though – two of the restaurants we enjoyed were in excellent locations. Virada’s do Largo Restaurant de Beth is off the main street; is quiet and the food is good example of what comes from the local kitchens. The desert was a sampler of local sweets and cheeses.

Our second experience was at Leitão do Luiz in the villa PAOLUCCI. If you have read my blogs about food before, you know that Camillo and I have a secret formula  for saying a restaurant is priced well or is expensive. Villa Paolucci is a stunning location. It has large grounds, a house that you can browse through that is now set for large parties, even weddings, but enough remains of the original decorations to show you the elegance in which the Paolucci family lived in the past. The food was served (self service) buffet style with great pomp and circumstance, but then it was difficult to catch the eye of the waiter and the time between dinner and desert was a bit long and the coffee even longer.  The problem for us was that we were the smallest group and spent time waiting for the larger groups to be ready for desert and coffee.

Here is the problem with pricing, the meal (required to pay in advance with reservation) was R$100.00 per person plus the drinks were extra. A bottle of wine normally around R$60.00 was 100.00 and so on. If the meal had been served by the waiters, and if the service had been excellent, and if the side dishes more than rice and beans I could have dealt with about 130.00 per person that we ended up paying, but I would say that a total of 80.00 each would have been closer to reality of ambiance/food/service quotient.  If you want Leitão there are places in Rio just as good, including ambiance, for about R$60.00 per person.

more photos of the Villa Paolucci – click ‘view full album’ below

Tomorrow come again to see the art of Tiradentes.

Tiradentes - Villa Paolucci VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My Town Friday Shoot-out / Outdoor food

Over my three years with this blog I have talked many times about Brazilian food – food is a very serous topic for Camillo and I – we eat and drink as a priority, so to find another way of talking about food took some time and effort. 

You have to remember that we are in the southern hemisphere and it is winter.  Winter in the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is very moderate, some cool rainy days (in the 60-70) and the rest of the year is – well - hotter than moderate. (75-100)  This subtropical weather points all Brazilians outdoors all year around when it is time to eat.  

Gotten this far with the story of outdoor food and it still hard for me to pinpoint outdoor food. 

What foods are eaten outside versus inside?  The answer is - whatever you can find on a menu indoors, your can find on the menu outside.   Many of the best restaurants have sit-outside areas, and if you want to really eat in the sun there are bars and street seating almost everywhere on the streets in Rio.  To tell the truth this is the limit to my knowledge, I have never eaten at a soccer game or out on the beach.  I know there is beer sold, coconut water, ice cream bars, potato chips in very small bags, and boiled corn and chocolate covered peanuts.  I have never taken a picture or bought any of these foods outdoors.  (well the beer and potato chips maybe) so what else is there to say. 

I am going to say that given Camillo’s love of getting out on a beautiful Sunday and drive in a new direction, always following his stomach to a new eating opportunity, and given the nature of eating out on the sidewalks here, then all foods in Brazil are possible outdoor food.   Our delicious fresh vegetables ready to be gazpacho on a hot summer day, and beef on the hoof watching you hike on by, and a  Churrasco – all you can eat beef      for every occasion, fresh fish and vegetable at the market make it easy to eat well outdoors here every day. 

 

 

festa junina

  Last Saturday night, already over a week ago!, we had a festa Junina party. Ours wasn’t as good as some; we didn’t have a bonfire - living in the forest and is dry season; we didn’t have a wedding…. maybe more explanation than I can make…., but we did have good food brought by all.  I made caldo verde (green soup – is actually delicious potato soup with greens and sausage) and received rave reviews.  Camillo made a drink with some (very) cheap red wine seeped with ginger root and cinnamon sticks and then heated short of a boil.  I drank one small glass to be polite because he ate a lot of my soup. I didn’t take any photos of the food…. sorry I was having too much fun.  We did have live music, one man band playing Forró and we did a square dance with my favorite fitness trainer EDGAR doing the calling.  See photos for additional information.

 

 

   

 

sorry I chopped off Paulista’s head and Tatiana’s feet – you have to just imagine….

  

 

 I would rate this party as one of the best I have ever been to or given…. nothing like costumes (and drinks of cheap red wine) to set the right tone going in.

Listen to Forro here

Friday Shoot-out: my town’s food and drink

Because Camillo and I enjoy our food and drink, and whenever we have friends or family visit or we travel; what we do is eat and drink.  I have written in ‘flowers’ many times on the topic of eating and drinking so if you have seen any of these photos before or heard the same story, forgive my duplications. This week’s topic was described as “native foods, restaurants and bars in your town”.  I took a few photos specifically for this topic and I also pulled from my photo files from past times (parties).   I, of course, ended up with too many photos and have a hard time eliminating marginal ones, so be patient as you look through them. Some of the photos are from Rio, some are Friburgo, some from parties at our home and there might even be some from Bahia but in all these places you can usually find the same (similar) foods AND I couldn’t eat my way through a year’s worth of eating just to give you a sample of food here, so I cheated a bit.

I started out little confused by what might be considered native foods in Friburgo or Rio.  Brazil was colonized and the food, like in North America, is a composite of all the countries that participated in the (over) populating of this country.  Here in Friburgo and in most of Brazil by varying degrees, there are large sections of descendants of Swiss, German, Italian, and Portuguese immigrants. There are smaller groups of Indian, Japanese, and African and there are smatterings of many other groups too numerous to mention that might have had an influence on and/or might be considered ‘native’. All of these groups brought a food culture and dish preparation with them and all of their foods have merged or converged into what we might call Brazilian food.  

There is a trend now to more sophisticated dining but the majority of Brazilians still love to go out or entertain friends at home with two basic meals, Churrasco or Feijoada. Churrasco or what could be translated to a Barbeque but really isn’t, is a variety of meats cooked on skewers, turned slowly over hot coals and the meal includes rice, cooked fresh vegetables in season, served cold with light vinaigrette, and farofa. The meats range from chicken wings and hearts to picanha, ribs, and sausages. Large restaurants have more variety and serve rodizio (as long as your eating they bring more) but these would be the basics of any churrasco you might be served.

Feijoada is a black bean lunch served every Saturday in most restaurants. It has as much variation as the number of restaurants that serve it. This dish originated with the slaves in the northern part of Brazil and has worked its way south and become one of the most popular meals to enjoy. The story goes that as the ‘masters’ finished their elaborate meals, the slaves took the leftover meats and unused parts of the animals and kept adding it to the pot of beans and on Saturday they would feast. The animal parts like pig ears are mostly not used any longer, but salt pork, dried beef, sausage, ribs and such, fill the soup and add the flavor to the beans. The beans and meat are customarily served with rice, couve (collard greens sautéed in bacon grease and topped with bacon bits) and farofa. For Brazilians it is not about the big and somewhat heavy meals but about eating in large groups of friends and family. This is really their specialty in all things, the ability to ENJOY.    Both of these meals require at least one Caipirinha and a nap after.

 

I ask Camillo for his list of favorite dishes. The list included Bobô de camerão, Rabada (ox tail), dobradinha (tripe), feijoada, Bolinhos de bacalhau (Cod fish and potato croquets), Casquinha de siri ,“a Brazilian dish made with crab meat, …. is prepared with coconut milk, palm oil, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs”, leitao (pork), crema de Maracujá and last but not least – Acarajé. I am not going to tell you what all of these are or I would be writing a dissertation on food here.   If something is of special interest ask…. better yet come and let us take you around. We would need about 3 weeks for a proper eating tour.

 For a list of Brazilian dishes and recipes try this hyperlink.

So far this has been about special occasion foods, when we go out for a regular lunch in Friburgo or Rio we generally eat ‘by the kilo’. These are well stocked buffets that you pay for the number of grams on you plate. Our favorite place in Friburgo is Excalibur. (esh cal E brrr) The pictures speak for themselves -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  My meal was 9.62 and Camillo’s 8.96.

For now I added photos only of other restaurants and bars by way of the photo album. I know I have talked about at least two of these places and maybe some day soon, I will talk more about our other experiences here in Nova Friburgo and area, and in Rio de Janeiro.

Friends and food VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The baby birds

On Friday, Camillo and I went to the fish market west of Centro Nova Friburgo and bought a Namorado (just like boyfriend). It was a good sized fish and rumored to be good for MUQUECA. On Saturday, Terazinha our neighbor from Bahia cooked lunch for us….

Fish/ red and yellow peppers/cherry tomatoes / onion/ lete de coco and a touch of dende oil and a pinch of salsa, Served with rice and forofa, caipirinhas and smiling faces.

While sitting in the dining room at Terazinha’s, a bird kept flying onto the patio and zooming back out. She (they including the father) had built a nest just outside the window and they were feeding the babies. I got some photos – not exceptional – but I was thrilled and totally entertained throughout the complete meal.