Tuesday, March 22, 2011

From the Rivers of the Rain Forest - Aviú

The Amazon, the world's largest river by all counts, is in fact not a river but instead a system of rivers. For most of its length, the main stream - one of literally thousands of rivers in the basin - isn't even called the Amazon in Portuguese, it's the Rio Solimões. Only when the Rio Solimões merges with the Rio Negro just below Manaus at the famous Meeting of the Waters is the name Amazon (Amazonas in Portuguese) applied to the river.

Some of the rivers that are tributaries of the main stream are among the greatest rivers on the planet in their own right. The Rio Negro, which flows into the Amazon from the north, is by volume the second largest river on Earth, superceded only by the Amazon itself. Its length exceeds 1500 miles. The longest tributary, the Tocantins, is more than 2250 miles long and it only enters the Amazon when that river has almost reached the sea.

One of the major Amazon tributaries, called the Tapajós - a relatively small tributary at only 1200 miles long - is home to one of the most exotic and interesting ingredients in the Brazilian culinary larder. It's a freshwater micro-shrimp called aviú whose natural habitat is in the shallow quiet reaches of the Tapajós River. The miniscule aviú's size ranges from 1/2 inch (1 cm) to about 1 inch (2 cm) and it has long been a favorite food of local Indian tribes. When caught aviú may be eaten fresh or dried for storage and later consumption. One of the most common ways to eat aviú is in an omelet, and it can be added to rice to provide flavor and protein to that dish.

Clearly, aviú is an ingredient that can only be described as exotic - it's impossible to find outside its geographical boundaries, and the territory which in inhabits is near the South American pole of inaccessability - that is, the geographical point on the entire continent that most challenging to reach due to its remoteness and lack of accessibility.

Needless to say, here at Flavors of Brazil we haven't yet had the opportunity to taste aviú. Though it's on our to-be-tried list, I think it'll be quite some time before I make my way to the headwaters of the Tapajós in search of an elusive aviú omelet.

17 comments:

  1. Nice post i like it and excellent words can be used in this custom scholarship essays writing

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is really great to know the flavours around the globe and what could better be if we are able to touch, feel and have a taste on them.

    mary g (kitchen remodeling)

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you are a law student or seeking legal internships, you will need to do a significant amount of legal writing. But if you have no time to do it, you can contact this writing service https://order-essays.com/buy-case-brief-writing/ and order a paper from expert writers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey there! If you see that you have no time for writing your papers then it's better use additional help. I found professional help at the writing service/ For example, I found there descriptive writing format

    ReplyDelete
  5. That’s a very romantic topic and everything related to a very calm environment has mentioned here so it was an amazing topic for me. Dissertation Writing Service

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think Some of the rivers which might be tributaries of the main circulation are a number of the greatest rivers in the world in their own right. The Rio Negro, which flows into the Amazon from the north, is via volume the second one largest river on Earth,Some of the rivers which are tributaries of the principle stream are a number of the greatest rivers in the world of their own proper. The Rio Negro, which flows best finance essay writing service into the Amazon from the north, is by means of quantity the second one biggest river on Earth.

    ReplyDelete
  7. For getting unlimited best job opportunities in Saudi Arabia hire our CV Writing Services In KSA at a very cheap and reasonable price.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! Loved the post. You are a skilled writer. Keep up sharing such wonderful posts. See an example of literature review/.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd say that the more you read, the better you are at writing. But if you have no time, you can just ask help from history essay writer when you need to complete a writing assignment. Welcome to the premier essays online source of custom written papers, professional proofreading, and editing services.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Do you need to submit an essay soon? You don't have anything ready yet and you don't know where to start? I think you should take advantage of this https://primeessay.org/example-of-a-dissertation-hypothesis.html and pass your work perfectly!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Such an interesting article. To visit Amazon is my biggest dream. I want to come to Brazil one day. I know more information about it. Cause I made a research about nature of Amazon and Buy Custom Essay https://qualityessay.com/buy-custom-essays.html service helped me with a perfect essay about this.

    ReplyDelete
  12. My life is going perfect! I wanted to write a dissertation on something unique and I think I have found one idea. I will surely follow your this secret Ireland knowledge to be explored more. I will then take the dissertation methodology writing service for my methodology of dissertation. This will help me in preparing something worth introducing a subject or a field to explore.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Choosing the right plywood manufacturers can make a significant impact on the overall aesthetic appeal and functionality of your furniture or interior design projects.

    ReplyDelete