Brazilian Standard

To anyone who is wondering what a typical Brazilian meal looks like...

This is pretty much it, you have your rice with beans on the side, some veggies (broccoli and fried yucca) and some meat (beef with some caramelized onions). The most common meat choices are beef, chicken and pork. We also eat pretty much all the same veggies as commonly found here in the United States. Black beans are also very commonly served, this one is kinda like a pinto bean.

On the Rare Occasion

On special occasions our group of divers sometimes go out of our way to make something extra special. This night was the going away dinner for our good friend Nilo. A wise old man he often enlightened us foolish youngsters with his knowledge and experience. Part of that experience was a habit of cooking good meals and part of that knowledge was this amazing recipe for what was know as the pineapple fish sauce for fettuccine pasta.

It was incredible!

The sauce was pretty bland and not overpowering, the pineapples gave some flare to the occasional bite. The fish was flaky and mixed with the pasta really well. With some shaved parmesan on top the salt was just right.
This was one of the best meals I had on the island, and it was all made in our humble little kitchen. Props to my man Nilo!

Grand Petit Gateau!

Why is chocolate cake called Petit Gateau? Well, I don't actually know and it doesn't really matter, what does matter is that it is delicious! That's all you need to know.

This was from a coffee shop in a mall in Santos, Brazil. The brownie was ok, could have been a little warmer, to give a melting in your mouth feeling that would have pushed this dessert out of this world. However I had to be content with the fact that it came with flocos ice cream (stracciatella), and big chunks of milk chocolate, which weren't too sweet (just like I like it). All in all this is one for the books!

The Sweet Pie!

Wow it has been a while since I last wrote. I was travelling and quite busy. But I am back now, and I have a lot of ground to cover.

What's a better starting point than pizza.

Will it ever disappoint? They come in all sizes and shapes, and can have just about anything as a topping. This particular pizza is a home-made banana and cinnamon sweet pie. My uncle Katsumi whipped this up for dinner one of my last nights visiting their home. Just by the picture I think you can see this was absolutely delicious, throw some condensed milk on top and it just about gives you a little taste of perfection.

Goiabada e Queijo

'O rei da goiabada' is what they called me, or 'the king of goiabada'. I want to estimate about 5 meals a week at least included goiabada while I was at the island. This is a typical dinner. Goiabada with queijo Prato (cheese).

Fresh Catch!

Working on an island, you sometimes come across some fresh fish. Sometimes you fry it, sometimes you make sushi, and other times you stuff it and grill it.

How do we stuff it? Well first we grill it, then we open remove all the spines and bones. Next we make 'vinagrete' which is a diced tomato, onion, salsa, olive oil, and vinegar. We layer the vinagrete on, and then put on a layer of cream cheese. Afterwards we bake the fish for a few minutes until the cream cheese has melted and sunk into the fish. Next it's chow time. It does not last long. Especially if everyone has a fork of their own.

Less is More!

There is something about pizza that is just too good to be explained. When I went visit my grandma, we went out for dinner, and to keep it simple, decided on a pizza place. Personally I am not a huge fan of too many toppings on a pizza. Take this mozzarella pizza for example.

Just mozarella, onions, some seasoning, parmesan cheese, and a little sauce and you have a perfectly delicious pizza. Good quality toppings is what makes the pizza. Everything food related is about quality not quantity! Though we want to enjoy everything of quality in great quantity!

X-Tudo

Something that is unique to Brazil is the X-burgers. Funny enough the reason they are called that is because the pronunciation of X is similar to that of 'cheese' so if a burger is called a X-something it means it will come with cheese. Learn something new everyday!

This monster looking burger is called the X-tudo or the everything burger. It has sausage, bacon, ham, eggs, cheese, and salad all in the burger. Does all that stuff really come together to make a great tasting heap of goodness? Surprisingly it's not bad. Usually this is a cheap meal made with cheap ingredients, thus the quality of the burger suffers a lot. Honestly it looks better than it tastes, however all the stuff mixed together tastes better than if eaten separately, so in a strange way I suppose they compliment each other. Who would have guessed?

So Fresh!

There is nothing quite like a fresh fruit from a street vendor to sate that sweet craving everyone gets now and then. Fruits make the best snacks, they are full of energy and relatively healthy. However, in The US (at least Texas...) it is very hard to find fresh fruits (maybe in California...). I will say, that you don't know what a mango is until you have eaten a fresh one from a sub-tropical to tropical climate like Brazil, or India. Nothing beats the sweet juices and soft consistency.

The grapes are just for extra show, in the US you can find pretty good usually imported grapes.

Sweet Party!

A while ago, me and my fellow diver co-workers decided to go to a local party, whose proceeds were going to provide new materials for the Island's school. Who had ever heard of a school charity event being held at a bar with loud electronic music? This was certainly my first. Also tucked away at the corner of the bar was this table (left).

I know! What kind of awesome party has a huge table full of fruits?! This party does! Now tell me... Do Brazilians know how to party or not? And you thought we only had super models and soccer players...

I suppose next time you are planning a party, consider serving up some fruit. To, you know, sweeten up your guests.

Eastern Feast!

For now lets skip the my makeshift meals from the island, and go into the Easter Feast!

Yesterday was Good Friday and we had quite a feast here at my Aunt's house (even though my uncle did the cooking...).

 This is a crazy mix of arborio rice with bell peppers, string bean, chicken, shrimp, sausage and chicken.

This was a great meal, even though it was a big mixture of what seems to be a random assortment of meats with rice. The liquid from the veggies and the meats kept everything moist. Also since it was all slow cooked together, the various flavors blended together, and all the meats were nice and soft. Needless to say it was delicious and I ate too much!

Great job uncle!

Don't Attempt at Home!

WELCOME TO PARADISE!

The Island of Fernando de Noronha is truly a hidden paradise. A beautiful tropical island hidden off of the Northeast coast of Brazil.

Unfortunately for us who live here the day to day food is far from paradisaical. Here, the cheapest quick lunch we eat. A simple pasta, with little thin sauce (the most expansive ingredient), and some sausages to give it a little more taste, better than nothing? maybe.

For most it's best to come for a week and live like a king, rather than live a few months and eat like a poor man. I for one, think that our daily exercise and conditioning allow us to still be somewhat healthy despite the garbage that we often times eat (more examples to come). Of course, as often as we can afford, we diverge from our poor man's food and spend a little more to keep our gastronomical sanity, and give our bodies a little more of that crucial nutrition that it needs.

Almost ironically, this is the type of thing you don't want to be eating on a daily basis!

Christmas!

Long overdue, due to the my internet hiatus. This is the Christmas Feast 2011!

This was a feast to remember, ranging from chicken salad and cold deli cuts to roasted tenderloin and chocolate cake. Even in the remote location of the island, and the simple lifestyle we lead as divers in this tropical paradise, we had a great feast this holiday season. I will post about our usual meals and you will see why this Christmas feast is so cherished here! Oh and I suppose it's also nice to get all your friends and family together for a party.

Bolo de Rolo!

Traditional to the northern regions of Brazil, this sweet treat is unique in appearance and taste. The idea is pretty simple. Make a large thin cake, spread some filling on top, and roll it all into a "bolo de rolo" literally meaning a rolled cake. This paticular one was also from O Camarada restaurant (twas my dessert...) called Delicia Pernambucana.

The filling is a type of guava jam, the ice cream is plain vanilla, and the sauce is also made from guava. This type of cake is usually pretty dense and not too airy. It is also pretty sweet due to the high proportion of filling to cake volume. It's very moist and not crumbly, but also spongy absorbing the ice cream and sauce. Thankfully you tend to burn a ton of calories during your day to day routine as a dive instructor, so this type of indulgence was allowed.

O Camarada!

On my way to the beautiful archipelago of Fernando de Noronha I had a brief stop-over in Recife. The night before my flight, I decided to treat myself to a delicious meal from a near-by restaurant (I stayed at the Cosmopolitan Hostel in Boa Viagem).

After talking about the several options available, I decided to go to the Camarada restaurant. They have various seafood dishes, mostly shrimp, and the servings are usually for 2 people. I inquired about what dishes were available for one person, and out of those I chose the 'Ao Carribe'

This dish is shrimp in a catupiry (It's a Brazilian cream cheese, but slightly different... One has to taste it) based pineapple sauce. With it comes rice with broccoli and fries. The shrimp comes served in a split pineapple which gives the plate a very cool presentation. Everything balanced out really well, the rice and fries were really light to offset the heaviness of the sauce. If I had to complain I'd say I could have done with some more shrimp, it was delicious!

ps. dessert here.

Chocottone!

As far as I know, chocottone is a Brazilian invention, taken from the Italian panettone. It replaces the traditional crystallized or dried fruits with chocolate nuggets. It is a sweeter more appealing to kids version of the old traditional sweet bread. Both are suave, airy, light, and to me absolutely delicious. My first post about it was about panettone and nutella. This time I had it for dessert after lunch and decided to accompanied it with some 'carioca' ice cream (chocolate and vanilla). Results below.

Now that Easter is rolling around, Panettone is a traditional eastern treat. Now you can add to it, and make your eastern all the merrier!

Martín Fierro!

Martín Fierro's Restaurant in Sao Paulo is a higher end restaurant with a very simple and common feel. The area is not big, with some tables inside, and some more in the veranda out front. Most of the plates feed more then one person, the idea is for you to pick a couple to share between your party. They also have a variety of appetizers and Argentinian empanadas. To start we got a couple of empanadas (pictured left). I choose the heart of palm and meat fillings, and they were both very good. The filling is moist and full of flavor, and the crust crumbles as you bite down, and yet is soft to chew. One could come to this restaurant to only eat the empanadas...

For the main course (pictured right) we got a peice of picanha (tri-tip steak), roasted potatoes and a salad (You can see the corner of the bowl on the top right corner). The salad could be a meal on its own with a variety of leaves, prosciutto slices, small blue-cheese crumbles, big pieces of tomatoes and heart of palm. The potatoes were roasted golden with garlic and rosemary seasoning. In the traditional way, the picanha was lightly seasoned with rock salt, and came medium rare (for some reason the picture came out looking a lot more rare than it actually was). The prime meat was tender and juicy.

This is a great restaurant where you can enjoy high quality specialized food without having to go to a gourmet restaurant. For the outstanding quality of the food it is fairly reasonably priced. I definitely look forward to coming back and enjoying this Argentinian's culinary abilities.

Start the Morning Right!

People say that breakfast is the most important meal. However in today's busy lifestyle it is hard to sit down and enjoy a good nutritional breakfast. That is why when we can, we should take full advantage of the opportunity handed to us. In my vacation time in Sao Paulo I often times get opportunities like that. This is such an example.

A mixed fruit and veggie juice, a bowl of granola and milk, with a mini baguette with mozzarella and strawberry jam. When you start a day like this, things are bound to go well!

Yogurt Fad, It's Everywhere!

The Brazilian summer heat is good on the beach, but bad on your daily schedule. Lucky for us the frozen yogurt fad has come here as well. Frozen yogurt by the pound is dangerous for the wallet, but so so good on the tongue.

Ok so here we have some cream and chocolate flavored frozen yogurt as a base, some granola and strawberries to complement and a little chocolate syrup to finish it off. I don't think I need to say it, but I will... It was delicious.

At the Club!

Sao Paulo. Countless restaurants to choose from, and we go eat at the club restaurant. What's a better incentive to go work out then to know you can enjoy delicious food, guilt free!

This particular day I didn't work out, or do any physical activity, but I ate all the same (that's why I went healthy). A simple salad and some pan fried chicken breast to start, followed up by some pasta with a beef filet (not pictured) and for dessert some pineapple and chocolate mouse (not pictured). Yes, this is the good life!

Consulado da Bahia

São Paulo has every type of restaurant you can think of. Any type of food you might want to eat, you can find somewhere in the sprawling metropolis. Consulado da Bahia is a restaurant that offers traditional foods from the northern regions of Brazil.

This is a portion of the moqueca de abadejo, its a fish stew made in clay pots. It comes with rice, farofa (a specific type of fried flour), and pirão (a very thick sauce made from fish). The sauces blend into the rice to make a moist mouthful of deliciousness. The farofa can be mixed in to give it a drier heavier consistency. This is a great place to get a taste of the northern Brazilian cuisine without leaving the big commercial capital of Brazil.

Titia Re!

São Paulo is a big city with many culinary options. Lucky for me I also have the option to eat at my aunt Regina's house. This time we went simple with some salad with balsamic dressing, and a fresh pasta made with ham, garlic and cheese.

The best things in life are the simple things!

Welcome to Brazil

WELCOME TO BRAZIL!

My next few posts will be from Sao Paulo, after which will come the homely Fernando de Noronha cusine.

Quitanda!!!! YES.
This is one of my favorite places to eat in SP. It is relatively cheap and absolutely delicious. Their Saturday brunch might be one of the best buffets in existence. Their lunch service is a salad buffet plus an optional meat, or plate.

This is my beautiful salad buffet plate. Then I got a chicken breast and more salad. But for now appreciate this fresh awesome selection. This place always has the freshest stuff, which is one of the reasons I love it! Also (not pictured) they have juices made on order from the freshest fruits. If you want a semi-quick delicious non-expensive dinner look no furter. QUITANDA, I love it.

Moonstruck!

Moonstruck dinner will strike quite a blow to your appetite. The menu offers up a great variety of options, from a great on paper breakfast menu to full sized entrees. The portions are BIG. A sandwich here easily goes for two meals, unless you are really hungry. Don't believe me, look down just a little.

Grilled chicken, caramelized onions, covered in melted mozzarella cheese on a french baguette. With crispy on the outside and soft on the inside fries... If it wasn't for its monstrous size you wouldn't be able to stop until it was all but gone.

This is the last post from NYC. Stay tuned for delicacies from down south as I write about my gastronomic ventures in São Paulo, Brazil.

Obao!

Obao is an all Asian dinner. Walking through the door is like teleporting to some Asian country. The decoration, the servers, and the food is all Asian. All the dishes in our party looked quite good. However I can only write about the one I ate till the very last rice grain.

I don't remember the exact name of the plate I got, and their online menu isn't up yet for me to double check. In any case it was very good, but spicy as any real Thai food is. I drank quite a few cups of water. It was a bed of rice with chicken and an assortment of veggies. The sauce was a "brown" sauce, which was very liquid. The rice absorbed the sauce to give every bite an intense dose of flavor, but was cooked so it didn't become a soggy mess. This is a small place for a big dose of great Asian cuisine.

Shake Shack!

WOW! This place is awesome!
It's in a park and there is no indoor sitting. This gives it a unique setting, however this is not so agreeable in freezing temperatures. Despite the cold we ventured out in our coats to feast on greasy unhealthy deliciousness!

I believe this is called a double stack or something of the sort. It is a normal burger with their version of the vegetarian patty added onto the mixture. This veggie patty consist of portobello mushrooms on top of a fried cheese patty of a unmatched cheesiness deliciousness. This place also serves up a great chocolate and vanilla shake, which your biggest complaint will be that it eventually ends. The fries are ok, but I imagine the cheese fries are great. I have already made plans to go back and to order these... Oh and yes don't go here if you don't agree with the blog title.

Into the Rabbit Hole

The only place showing the Texans game in mid December in NYC was a bar going down some shady stairs, through a dark hallway and into a basement bar. Then again NY is known for having interesting (for lack of a better word) locations for some of their bars.

I have to go back to find out the name of the bar, but it was pretty darn good. I got a bacon and egg cheese burger. Above average fare for a basement bar in my opinion. The fries were surprisingly good and very crisp. The internet is getting better, so I think the post will start rolling in daily again.

Frank Sinatra's Pizza

Grimaldi's Pizza. Supposedly where Frank Sinatra ordered his pizzas. Though I am not sure exactly what pizza he ordered, from my experience I can tell you it must have been good.

We got a white pizza with ham ricotta and garlic. The crust is really thin in the New York style, and the pizza is loaded with cheese. The ingredients are top notch and that's what makes this pizza good. I will say though that the 1 hour wait in line was a bit too much for the pizza itself. It is a cool experience to eat here near the Brooklyn Bridge, but it isn't the best pizza I have eaten. Would I recommend it, yes, but don't expect to be completely blow away by it.

No Words Can Describe

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

                                                           I am going to skip some of the New York posts and go ahead and write about my New Years. I went to the Ze Maria party in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil. No words can quite describe this party which rolls from 8pm of the 31st to 8 am of the 1st, only so you can find yourself going to the beach after for the after party. Oh and yes they serve food there (there were over 300kg of salmon to be served...).





I helped myself to some sushi first and then I complimented my dinner with an all inclusive risotto that was absolutely stunning, some spoonfuls of two types of creamy shrimp sauce, some baked fish and 3 pieces of fried coconut covered shrimp. Again I don't really know what to say, because honestly no words can describe. If you find yourself wanting to have an unforgetable new years on a paradisical island look no further then here, just don't ask the price.