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Published: August 13th 2008
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Oranges
At the farmers market in Campinas. These about a dollar per pound. FOOD: after much ado, here is the food entry, for all of you who have been asking me.
Brazil is a big country - there is food in some places you can't get elsewhere in the country. Since I am only in two states this time, there is obviously a lot of exciting and interesting food that I am not tasting on this trip.
Since I am in Mato Grosso right now, I'll start with the meat. There is a lot of it. It is good and rediculously cheap. Filet Mingon comes on pizza here (which by the way, is really tasty). Its something like like 3 dollars a pound here (I think - don't quote me on that, but its crazy cheap nonetheless). The other big cut of meat here is called Picanha - I really don't know much about meat, so im not sure what cut it corresponds to in English, but it also comes from the back part of the cow I think.
Brazil is famous for its churrasco, which people make at home at big barbeques, or you can eat it in restaurants, rodizio style, which means that waiters bring it around on big
skewers and cut you off a piece of whatever you want. This is all you can eat, and normal churrascarias cost about 20 reais, or 13 dollars per person. This includes meat and a salad bar with lots of pickled things, rice and beans, manioc cooked about a dozen ways, and typically some sort of lasagna.
Other restaurants are by the kilo, usually with very similar food to churrascaria, but less meat, and more lasagna/baked meat/fried fish offerings, and you have to choose all the food you want, even meat, before you weigh your plate and eat.
The other major option is the casal, or a meal for two, which comes with a big hunk of meat of your choice, rice, beans, manioc, salad, and french fries for a very reasonable price at family restaurants.
Pizza is also very popular here, served rodizio style or ordered by the pie. Brazilians don't typically order a pizza covered in 45 different ingredients like Americans do - usually 3 or 4, or less will suffice. I already mentioned the filet toping, other topings might include corn, catipury (some kind of creamed chese), and whole olives, in addition to the kinds
Vegetables
Vegetables at the market in Campinas of toppings you find at any American pizzaria.
Brazilians LOVE desert. Dessert is typically served after every meal, difficult for me since I'm not accustomed to eating desert. And when they mean dessert, they mean dessert. The desserts here are SUPER sweet. Lots of confeccions of condenced milk, sugar, and chocolate.
When not eating this
comida , Brazilians are happy to eat less healthy things, known as salgados and lanche. Salgados are deep fried salty dough creations, filled with cheese, meat, chicken, catipury, or probably other things I am forgetting. Lanche is basically a hamburger and fries, or at home, white bread, ham, and mozzerella cheese. White breat, ham, and mozzerella cheese (along with cake) is incidentally a typical brazilian breakfast. Oh, and my favorite, there is requejao, a soft creamed chese substance that is different than catipury. I LOVE requeijao. Also, sometimes there is fruit.
When there is fruit, it is good, of course. Bananas, papaya, oranges, limas (which are not limes) and pumpkin are popular. Juices made at home or bought in restaurants are delicious - avocado, orange, lime, abacate(i dont think this traslates to anything we have), pineapple, cashew fruit - and about
Bon Bon stand
These are the bon bons being sold at the market. all hand made, for sale every week. a million other kinds. I can't even keep up with it all. basically you put the fruit and some water and some sugar in a blender, then strain it and you have something super tasty. A special fruit they have here is Acai, a small dark berr from the Amazon, which is somehow easier to get on the coast than here in Amazonia, but my friend Jana managed to find me some in Cuiaba. mmmm.
Bascially all that is left is the beverages - beer, coffee, and cachaca, in particular. These are all plentiful and cheap. Coffee (very strong) is served from press pots in miniscule little cups at every office and business place. Beer comes in big bottles to share in small cups at your table, or as
chopp , or draft beer. It is light, weak, and tasty. Cachaca is - cheap as can be. Like 3 dollars a bottle in the grocery store, cheap. Good for making caipirinhas, or drinking with breakfast. Well, I only did that a few times, and its actually not that good with breakfast.
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Nicole
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Pasteos!
What about the pasteos!? Sooooo yummy!