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.