On the Road - Rio de Janeiro (Pt. 3) - RECIPE Filé Osvaldo Aranha

The garlic-covered steak known in Rio de Janeiro as filé Osvaldo Aranha and served in bars, steakhouses and fine restaurants around the city is a delicious combination of good-quality beef, crunchy fried garlic, and generous helpings of three side dishes. Named in honor of Brazilian politician and diplomat Osvaldo Aranha. this dish packs a whallop of protein and carbs, and the usual practice is for a single order to be shared between two people. In an earlier age when people had time for a leisurely lunch and a nap afterwards it might have been possible for a diner to polish off an order of filé Osvaldo Aranha singlehandedly, but in todays more rushed and health-conscious society, one plate will nicely satisfy two people.

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RECIPE Filé Osvaldo Aranha
Serves 2

Steak
2  filé mignons, at least 1 inch (3 cm) thick, about 1/2 lb (225 gr) each

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Farofa
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup (125 ml) manioc flour (farinha) - available in Latin American markets
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. finely chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp. finely chopped green onion
salt and pepper to taste

Home-chipped potatoes
1 large potato, peeled and very thinly sliced
neutral vegetable oil for frying
salt to taste

Plain white rice
Made in your accustomed way

Prepare the farofa. In a large heavy frying pan, melt the butter, then add the chopped onions and fry until transparent Add the beaten egg. Let set slightly, then using a spoon break the eggs up into small pieces. Add the manioc flour and cook for approximately 3 minutes, or until the flour just begins to toast. Remove from heat, then salt to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and green onion and reserve, keeping warm.

Prepare the potatoes. In a deep heavy frying pan, or deep-fryer, heat sufficient quantity of oil until hot but not smoking. Add the potato slices, in batches if needed to avoid overcrowding. Fry until golden, then drain the potatoes on paper towels. Season to taste and reserve, keeping warm.

Prepare the steak. In a heavy frying pan, preferably cast iron, heat the 1 Tbsp. of the butter until it melts and begins to bubble. Season the steaks liberally with salt and pepper and grill them in the frying pan for about 4 minutes per side, depending on thickness of steak and desired degree of doneness. Meanwhile, heat the remaining Tbsp. of butter in another small fying pan, and fry the garlic slices until crispy and golden.

Serving the dish. On each of two plates, place on steak, then top it with half of the fried garlic, with some of the butter the garlic was cooked in. Accompany the steak with servings of farofa, potatoes and white rice, either separately served, or mixed together at the very last minute, as desired.

On the Road - Rio de Janeiro (Pt. 2) - Filé Osvaldo Aranha

When I'm doing research for posts here on Flavors of Brazil, I sometimes end up learning intriguing, but totally non-food-related, facts. You just never know where online research will lead you. For example, while doing some reading about an iconic dish from Rio de Janeiro called filé Osvaldo Aranha this morning, I learned not only that the first speech in each year's United Nations General Assembly is always given by a Brazilian, but also that the reason Brazil is accorded this honor is the same reason why a dish of beef filé covered with fried garlic is called filé Osvaldo Aranha in Rio de Janeiro.

Osvaldo Aranha (1894 - 1960) was a Brazilian politician, diplomat and statesman. In 1947, he was the head of Brazil's delegation to the newly-founded United Nations, and president of the General Assembly. He gave the first speech in that year's General Assemply and thus began the tradition of opening the meeting with a speech by a Brazilian. During his time at the United Nations, he lobbied intensely for the creation of the state of Israel, and today, various streets, squares and monuments in Israel are dedicated to his memory.

But what about the steak? Well, it has nothing to do with diplomacy or the United Nations. It turns out that Osvaldo Aranha was not only a diplomat but a bit of a gourmet. In an earlier stage of his career, when he served in the cabinet of Brazilian president Getulio Vargas, he was accustomed to eat in a restaurant in central Rio de Janeiro called Cosmopolita. This restaurant was so popular with politicians that it gained the nickname "Senadinho" meaning "Little Senate." Aranha loved beefsteak, and was very partial to fried garlic. He would often ask for his steak to be served with large amounts of fried garlic on top, and he liked to have it served with white rice, house-made chipped potatoes and farofa, a side-dish made with manioc flour. Soon waiters began to refer to this plate by his name, and eventually it became so popular and so closely linked to the famous politician that it was added to the menu with his name and in his honor. Today, the dish can still be found on the meno of Cosmopolita and thousands of other Rio de Janeiro restaurants, still bearing Aranha's name.

One of Aranha's idiosyncracies was that he liked to mush all the steak's accompaniments together - potato chips, rice and farofa. Some versions of filé Osvaldo Aranha continue this tradition, but in most restaurants, the side dishes are served unmixed, leaving it up to the diner's discretion whether to mix them all up.

So there you have it. Osvaldo Aranha is probably the only politician in history to be honored by a United Nations tradition, streets and squares in Israel, and a famous steak from Rio de Janeiro. To my mind, that's quite a legacy.

In the next post on Flavors of Brazil, I'll provide a recipe for filé Osvaldo Aranha.

On the Road - Rio de Janeiro (Pt. 1) - The Cuisine of Rio (Comida Carioca)

Flavors of Brazil spent the New Year's holiday in Rio de Janeiro, celebrating New Year's Eve (Reveillon in Portuguese) along with millions of others on Rio's famous Copacabana beach - attending a free concert by some of Brazil's most famous musical talents, and being astounded by the amazing 20 minute firework show that kicked off 2011 in Brazil.

I took advantage of this trip to Brazil's most famous city and tourist destination to learn more about the carioca food culture. (Carioca is a Portuguese word that means a person from Rio de Janeiro, or any object connect to that city). Of all Brazilian cities, Rio  is the city that most retains a Lusitanian, or Portuguese, quality. For much of Brazil's colonial and post-colonial history - up to the construction of a new capital, Brasília, in the 1960s - Rio was Brazil's largesst city and capital. For a time in the 19th century, Rio was the capital not only of Brazil, but of the entire Portuguese empire - Portugal, Brazil, Guinea, Angola, Mozambique, Goa, Macau and others. So it's entirely natural that many dishes that come from Portugal are now considered part of carioca cuisine, often little changed from their Portuguese roots.

Cariocas inherited a love of salt cod (bacalhau) in all its forms from the Portuguese. A New Year's Eve party would not be complete without at least one dish of bacalhau, often the well-known Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá. When the weather turns chilly in Rio, during the winter months of July and August, cariocas yearn for a hot, satisfying bowl of the Portuguese soup known as caldo verde. Rio is also known for it's pastries and sweets, and many of the best-loved of these originated in the convents of Portugual.

Rio de Janeiro is a city with a strong and vibrant black culture, but interestingly, unlike Salvador, Bahia, it hasn't developed an african-based food culture. It is also home to many immigrant communities, and as an internationally known destination city, fittingly, it is home to restaurants from all the cuisines of the world. But true carioca cuisine is strongly based on those original colonial ties to the Portuguese motherland.

A Survey of Brazilians' Eating Habits - 2010

According to a recent article on the excellent BBC Portuguese-language news site, BBC Brasil, a survey of national eating habits in 6 countries revealed some interesting changes in the eating habits of Brazilians. The survey, conducted by The Oxford Research Agency, questioned 1543 persons in Brazil, China, the USA, the UK, France and Germany about how and what they ate.

The results would seem to show some of the effects of the recent Brazilian economic boom and the increasing size of the Brazilian middle class. Of the Brazilians surveyed 33% indicated they were spending more on food than they had six months ago. This percentage was second only to China's where 48% of respondents said their expenses for food had risen. By way of contrast, in the other four countries, the amount spent on food was reduced - by 48% of respondents in the USA, 45% in the UK, 28% in France and 21% in Germany.

More than 33% of the Brazilian interviewed said they had gained weight in the past year - the highest percentage among all respondents.

When questioned about eating fast-food, 25% of Brazilians replied that they ate it frequently. This percentage is similar to the fast-food habits of Americans, 28% of whom ate fast-food regularly. Surprisingly (to me at least) it was the French who were the most avid consumers of fast-food. 36% of them regularly eat Quarter-Pounders (or, for Pulp Fiction fans, Royal Cheese) or other fast food on a regular basis.

It is in the two countries surveyed which are members of the so-called BRIC group, Brazil and China, where the dining out habit is most firmly ingrained. 33% of Chinese and 19% of Brazilians said they dined at least two times a week in restaurants. The corresponding figures for Europeans are much lower - only 2% of Britons, 3% of Germans and 5% of the French said they ate out with such frequency. This is probably due at least in part to the fact that dining out tends to be very expensive in Europe due to high labor costs, and much more reasonable in the developing countries, where there is a large supply of inexpensive labor.

In general the survey would seem to indicate that as the population of the newly-developing countries like Brazil and China becomes wealthier and more economically secure their eating habits will change as well to more closely mirror the habits found in the developed world.

RECIPE - Soursop Ice Cream (Sorvete de Graviola)

One of the most popular, and delicious, ways to enjoy the aromatic and complex flavor of the fruit called soursop (graviola in Portuguese) is in the form of ice cream. It's the perfect refresher on a hot, tropical day and in most ice cream shops (sorvetarias) here in Brazil graviola is one of the best-selling flavors.

Although fresh graviola is extremely perishable and isn't available fresh outside the tropics, in many areas of North America and Europe you can find frozen pulp in Latin American and Asian markets.

This recipe for soursop ice cream was created with frozen pulp in mind and is easy to make in home ice cream makers. Try serving it to guests without telling them what the flavor is. They'll never be able to guess it I would imagine, but the rich flavor will turn them all soursop ice cream fanatics.

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RECIPE - Soursop Ice Cream (Sorvete de Graviola)

1 lb (400 gr) frozen natural soursop pulp, unthawed
1/2 cup (125 ml) cold water
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups whole-fat unflavored yogurt
1 cup demerara sugar
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Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water, then heat in a saucepan over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Pour the cornstarch/water mixture into a blender, then add all the remaining ingredients. Blend at medium-high speed until the mixture is completely homogenous.

Pour the blender mixture into any type of ice-cream maker and process according to directions. Keep frozen until ready to serve.

For a more flavorful ice cream, remove from the freezer about 15 minutes before serving.


Recipe translated and adapted from Vila do Artesão.

FRUITS OF BRAZIL - Graviola (Soursop)

This large, green and spiny fruit belies its somewhat ungainly and unappetizing appearance with a highly perfumed creamy-textured, complexly-flavored flesh that is adored in tropical regions around the world. Although originally from Central America and the valleys of Peru the soursop (aka graviola in Portuguese, guanabana in Spanish, corossol in French, etc. etc. etc) was one of the first fruits to spread from its New World origins to the tropics of the Old World in the Columbian Exchange and today is eaten not only in Brazil and the rest of Latin America but also in Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

Graviola (Annona muricata) is truly a fruit of the tropics, and temperatures of 5C (40F) can be sufficient to kill a tree. In the USA it is only in the Keys of Florida, in the Caribbean Islands and Hawaii where cultivation of the graviola is possible. In Brazil, the tropical northeastern region of the country is the center of graviola cultivation and commercialization.

In contrast to the forbidding appearance of its exterior, the white or cream-colored flesh of the graviola, with its embedded shiny dark seeds hints at its rich flavor profile with a silky or custard-like texture. The aroma of this fruit carries hints of pineapple, and the taste might best be described as reminiscent of musky tutti-frutti or bubblegum. The mouthfeel is luxurious and rich.

Graviola can be eaten as-is, though pulling apart the flesh, extracting the seeds and eating the flesh tends to be a very messy business. It is more often eaten after some sort of processing - as frozen fruit pulp, as a freshly-made fruit juice, or as a flavor for mousses, ice creams, or yogurt.

Because the fruit is heavy (it can weigh up to 15 lb - 7 kg) very quick-ripening and fragile there is little market for export of the fresh fruit to areas outside the tropics. The juice can be canned or concentrated and frozen and these products can often be found in Latin American or Asian grocery stores in Europe and North America.

Just as nothing compares to a ripe, juicy strawberry that has just been picked and is still warm from the sun, the true luxuriousness of graviola can only be experienced by opening a ripe fruit, using one's hands to pry apart the creamy sacs of flesh to remove the seeds then popping the flesh into one's mouth and rolling it around with one's tongue before swallowing. For that, you'll have to come to Brazil, or go somewhere else in the tropics. And during this season of bitter cold and heavy snows in the Northern Hemisphere is that a bad thing?

Happy New Year - Feliz Ano Novo

Best wishes for the new year to everyone who visits Flavors of Brazil,on this first day of 2011, or at any other time during the coming 12 months. 2010 was a great year for the blog, with rapidly growing readership numbers, and with increased interest in the blog from many corners of the globe. We've had well over 60,000 page views during the year, and the number of individual visitors is approaching 24,000. Thanks for all your interest and support. We hope that you'll find 2011 to be interesting, informative, and perhaps even a bit provocative on Flavors of Brazil. Happy New Year to you all.

Melhores desejos para o ano novo para todos que visitam Flavors of Brazil/Sabores do Brasil neste primeiro dia de 2011, ou em qualquer outro momento durante os próximos 12 meses. 2010 foi um ano maravilhoso para o blog, com um número crescente de leitores, e com um aumento de interesse no blog a partir de vários cantos do globo. Nós tivemos mais de 60.000 páginas visitadas durante o ano, e o número de visitantes individuais se aproxima de 24.000. Obrigado por todo o seu interesse e apoio. Desejamos que você vai achar 2011 interessante, informativo e talvez até um pouco provocativo aqui em Flavors of Brazil/Sabores do Brasil. Feliz Ano Novo para todos vocês.