Gluttony & H(eat)
Our week started with a trip to the vaccination clinic to get the Yellow Fever vaccine that is required for entry into Thailand (only because we are in Brazil prior to arriving in Thailand). Despite my strong aversion to needles and shots, the experience was saved by the 60+ year old doctor’s extreme display of style via protruding white chest hair (seriously 3-4 buttons were undone)–if only we had a picture! I guess with the 90+ degree heat even doc has to cut loose.
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Tuesday we spent the day with Marcelo’s aunt exploring the old part of the city: Centro. I liked this area very much as it has more character and charm than the other more metropolitan parts of Sao Paulo. I think we walked about 8 miles and although I was exhausted by the end of the day it was worth the effort.
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Who says sunsets aren’t pretty in the city?
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So there’s been a lot of hype about Acai in the US lately and although I may fall into the “Granola Snob” category I have not really paid much attention. The other night before we went to the futebol game we stopped by a restaurant called Acai for dinner. Naturally we proceeded to eat huge bowls (over 1 pound) of this frozen wonder-fruit (with granola) as our final meal of the day. Neither Marcelo nor his Mom could tell me what this fruit looks like because apparently it is harvested in the Amazon, sent to the NE for processing, and shipped to this part of the country as a frozen pulp. So it was basically like eating ice cream for dinner (except healthy)!
It seems that there would not be much better than that, but there is: Avocado puree. I could eat this every day (possibly several times) if allowed. Put avocado (the size of your head) in a blender with some ice cubes, add a little sugar and lime juice, and wahla–
Clearly, eating has remained in the forefront of our daily activities. We must have tried a dozen different fruit juices by now, most of them, many of them of fruits that can’t be named in English (caja‘, cupuassu‘, and the delicious graviola). We also indulged in a deep-fried breakfast the other day at a street market near Marcelo’s parents’ apartment, eating pastel (we actually had 3 pasteis to be accurate), basically thin dough pockets larger than your hands, lightly stuffed with pretty much whatever you’d like (we have cheese, “pizza” – tomato, cheese, and oregano – and palmito, or palm tree stalk, which is amazing in its every incarnation), accompanied with fresh sugar cane juice (caldo de cana).
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The other day my dad told us about a scientific study that indicated the existence of a gene that explains why some people are repulsed by… cilantro. Apparently, if you have this gene and your food has cilantro, you will think somebody seasoned your dinner with soap (at least that has been his experience).
Luckily, I did not inherit such gene, which allowed me to sample some delicious, cilantro-heavy comida nordestina (Northeastern Brazilian Food). A deep cast-iron pan full of rice, beans, cheese, and pork topped with cilantro, plus a side of super tasty manioc fries and another of carne-de-sol, red meat that was salted and sundried in order to withstand lack of refrigeration; it ends up as little cubes of tough, salty meat that is surprisingly tasteful (though it has the texture of overcooked meat, it actually retained all its flavor during the drying process). There were also pieces of torresmo, which as I understand it are cubes of deep-fried fat on the hard side of crunchy, and are as delicious as they are terrible for your health. My mom explained that the food is purposedly heavy, as the Brazilian Northeast has long struggled economically and people often have a single meal per day. The result is that we stumbled out of the restaurant feeling rather close to drunk, making a nap all but inevitable. Zzz
My aunt took us a nice French eatery, with much more delicate fare:
Last but not least, we made it to a soccer game! SPFC (Sao Paulo Futebol Clube) debuted on Copa Libertadores da America (basically the continental equivalent of the UEFA Champions’ League) against Monterrey of Mexico. Norika deemed game as somewhat anticlimactic, as SPFC did not play particularly well but scored early on, making the game a bit too bureaucratic for her taste. They did score another goal on the second half, but I don’t think she enjoyed getting her foot stepped on by a tall excited fan to her left. You see, soccer fans can hardly control themselves. Though it was far from a thriller, I was happy that goals were scored and that they won. I’ve been trying to upload a short video of SPFC’s goalie Rogerio Ceni, a living legend who has played as a starter for them since I was about 12, and who holds the world record for most goals scored by a goalie (I think his current total is 86, by free kicks and some penalty kicks). Naturally, I am currently failing, so for now here’s a picture of us with my friend Christian:
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