RECIPE - Duck with Sauerkraut (Pato com chucrute)

It's a safe bet that the majority of this blog's readers never expected to find a recipe that included sauerkraut in a blog dedicated to exploring Brazilian cuisine and gastronomy. However, the recipe below for duck served with sauerkraut is authentically Brazilian. Like many other recipes that come from the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, the recipe came to Brazil with the thousands of German immigrants who settled in Santa Catarina in the early 20th century and over the course of the next hundred years became thoroughly Brazilianized - without losing their Teutonic heritage. Santa Catarina has Brazil's highest percentage of population who can trace their roots to Germany, and in the interior of the state there are many cities where German is commonly spoken and understood, along with Portuguese.

The recipe was created by a more recent German immigrant to Brazil, Heiko Grabolle, who was born in Germany and trained in that country, but who now lives in Florianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina, where he teaches cooking and gastronomy.
_________________________________________________
RECIPE - Duck with Sauerkraut (Pato com chucrute)
Serves 4

1 whole duck
2 Tbsp butter
2 medium onions
1 Fuji apple
1 lb. prepared sauerkraut
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cooking the duck:
Preheat the oven to 325F (160C). Season the duck inside and outside with salt and pepper. Place the duck in a non-stick roasting pan and roast the duck for two hours, basting the pieces every fifteen minutes with the accumulated pan juices. Remove from the oven and cut the duck into four serving pieces - two breasts and two legs.

Cooking the sauerkraut:
While the duck is roasting, chop the onion and peel, core and cube the apple. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and when the butter is hot add the onion and the apple. Cook for about five minutes or until the onions and apples are softened and the onion is transparent. Drain and rinse the sauerkraut, the add it to the pan. Pour the chicken broth and wine over, mix thoroughly and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauerkraut is done (The sauerkraut should have the consistency of risotto, neither soupy nor dry. It should be moist and creamy. Add a small amount of water if necessary during cooking to keep the sauerkraut moist). When the sauerkraut is done, turn off the heat, cover the pan and let rest for at least a half an hour for the flavors to develop.

Preparing the dish:
When the duck is close to being done, reheat the sauerkraut. Put a quarter of the sauerkraut on each of four dinner plates, and top with one of the pieces of duck. Accompany the duck with mashed or boiled potatoes, or with white rice.

The Brazilianization of a German Cake - Kuchen into Cuca

The Portuguese word cuca (at least the culinary meaning of the word) is a direct derivation from the German word kuchen, meaning cake. The word is much used in the southern states of Brazil, where large numbers of German immigrants settled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and where German culture flourishes to this day. Among the most transportable of cultural elements, food traditions and recipes from Germany can be easily found in Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, the three states that constitute Brazil's southern region.

Cuca in Portuguese does not refer to all cakes - there's another word, bolo, to serve that purpose. A cuca is a specific kind of cake - the cake that North Americans call a coffee cake. Often containing fresh or preserved fruits, or alternatively, spices like cinnamon, ginger and cloves, cucas are not frosted. Instead they are topped by a crumbly mixture of flour, sugar and butter.

Cucas are most often flavored with apples and bananas, two fruits that grow particularly well in the climate of southern Brazil, though recipes for cuca exist that call for many other types of fruits - particularly fruits of the temperate zone, within which the south of Brazil lies.

Brazilians eat cuca as part of a breakfast buffet, or as a mid-morning or late-afternoon pick-me up with coffee. It's less likely to show up as a dessert, though that's not unheard of. For the millions of Brazilians who don't live in the south, a cuca is an entirely Brazilian conception and few of them would be able to spot its German origins. In areas where temperate zone fruits can't survive, apples or cherries are likely to be replaced by mangoes or cajus, making the treat more Brazilian and less German. But at heart, a cuca is still the same homey cake that is was in its European homeland, back it's still called a kuchen. In Germany a warm kuchen served with coffee at the kitchen table is a symbol of gemütlichkeit, in the USA or Canada a coffee cake served the same way symbolizes coziness, and in Brazil, a slice of cuca means aconchego. Whatever you call it, it still symbolizes the human warmth of the family kitchen and it still tastes just as great.

RECIPE - Mushy Peas (Purê de ervilhas)

At times it's easy to forget that not everything about Brazilian cuisine is strange or exotic from the European or North American point of view. Granted, a blog like Flavors of Brazil that deals with traditional regional and contemporary Brazilian gastronomy will have to talk about fruits that can only be found in the tropics, species of fish and shellfish that might seem unusual and bizarre in the cold-water world of the northern-hemisphere seas, or cooking techniques inherited from pre-literate Amerindian tribes or from African slaves. However, much of Brazilian cooking is very similar to cooking from the northern half of the world.

This is particularly true of regional recipes from the south of Brazil, where immigration patterns have resulted in large numbers of Brazilians who can claim ancestry from Europe. In Brazil's southern states, you can find Italian dishes, German ones, even recipes that hark back to Eastern Europe.

We were reminded of this recently when we were perusing one of the volumes in Abril Editora's 20-volume series Cozinha Regional Brazileira (Regional Brazilian Cuisine), now unfortunately out of print. The book in question concerned the gastronomy of the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, where there are large communities who can trace their family trees back to Italy or Germany. So seeing recipes for gnocchi (almost unrecognizable in its Portuguese spelling - nhoque) and sauerkraut in the cookbook was no surprise. But when we turned over page 110, there was one of our favorite "awful" dishes from the British Isles - mushy peas (called purê de ervilhas in its Portuguese translation). How this dish which is so widely execrated, but for which many people secretly carry a nostalgic torch, made its way from Oliver Twist-style English orphanages and boarding schools to southern Brazil is something we'll never know, as there has never been large-scale immigration from England to Brazil. But there it was large as life, and reading the recipe brought a nostalgic rush.

For those readers who might not be familiar with mushy peas or who just want to remember eating them as a child, here is the recipe from the Santa Catarina cookbook. Try it - it may turn out that for you mushy peas are one of those things, like creamed corn or rice pudding, that you'll love to eat alone and secretly. It's just too embarrassing to admit you really like the dish!
___________________________________________________
RECIPE - Mushy Peas (Purê de ervilhas)
Serves 8

2 lbs (1 kg) dried green split peas
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup crispy-fried bacon cubes (optional) for garnish.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Place the peas in a large heavy pan. Add enough water to bring the water level to two-fingers height above the level of the peas. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat to a slow boil and cook for 30-40 minutes or until the peas are very tender and beginning to fall apart. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peas to a blender. Add enough water from the pan to allow blender to liquidize the peas, but not so much as to make a soup. It's best to start with a small amount of water, adding more as needed until the peas reach the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Return the peas to a pan, season to taste with salt, and heat thoroughly. Serve immediately as a side dish, topped with bacon cubes if desired.

RECIPE - Warm German Potato Salad (Salada Morna Alemã de Batatas)

Admittedly, Flavors of Brazil has gone in heavily this week for the more exotic aspects of Brazilian cuisine with posts about flying ants and turtles. So we thought it might be appropriate at this point to feature some plain old Brazilian comfort food - simple to make and simple to eat. In fact this recipe was comfort food long before it even reached Brazil - it was comfort food back home in Europe, too.

The southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina is home to a large community of Brazilians who can look back to German ancestry. In the north and west of the state, those of German heritage are the largest enthic group, and German culture, language and cuisine still thrive even though it's been almost 200 years since the first German immigrants came to Santa Catarina in 1828. Along with Italian, Portuguese and Eastern Europeans, the German population in Santa Catarina helps to make the state the most European in Brazil, with over 86% of the population identifying themselves as Caucasian in the most recent census (in the country as a whole Caucasians are just under 50% of the population).

German food (and drink) are featured at many of the cultural festivals held annually in Santa Catarina, in particular the various encarnations of Oktoberfest held around the state. Sausages, beer, saurkraut, smoked pork chops - all these classic German dishes survived the journey to Brazil and are virtually identical to the original dishes "back home."

This recipe for warm potato salad is a perfect accompaniment for a plate of sausages or pork and in cool or cold weather provides the nourishment for body and soul that identifies a dish as comfort food. It can also be served at room temperature or even chilled, but to enjoy it at its best, serve it warm.

NB. Some versions of this dish contain chopped bacon, but this version is suitable for vegetarians.
___________________________________________________
RECIPE - Warm German Potato Salad (Salada Morna Alemã de Batatas)
Serves 4

2 Tbsp extravirgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6 Tbsp white wine or cider vinegar
6 medium boiling potatoes, cooked, peeled and cubed - at room temperature
1 tsp Dijon or German-style mustard
1 hard-cooked egg, cooled, peeled and finely chopped- at room temperature
2 Tbsp green onion, green parts only, chopped
1 Tbsp lime juice
salt to taste
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Place the cubed potatoes in a decorative heat-proof serving bowl.

Make the dressing: Combine the mustard, the chopped egg, the chopped green onion and the lime juice. Whisk to emulsify, season with salt to taste and reserve.

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and lightly fry the chopped onion, until it is transparent but not browned. Add the vinegar, bring to a boil, then pour over the cubed potatoes. Add the dressing and toss gently to mix thoroughly. Correct seasoning with salt if desired.

Serve immediately, or let stand to return to room temperature.

RECIPE - Chocolate Salami (Salame de Chocolate)

Seeing that there's less than 48 hours before the Easter Bunny is due to make his rounds, and since yesterday's post here at Flavors of Brazil concerned wild Brazilian cacau, it somehow seems appropriate to feature a chocolate recipe today - one from the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.

Santa Catarina is largely populated by descendents of European immigrants to Brazil - from Italy, from Germany, Poland, Austria and other Eastern European countries. They have brought central European traditions with them, including culinary traditions involving preserving meat through smoking, brining and sausage making. This recipe for a popular Catarinense treat turns a fudge-like chocolate preparation into a fake salami look-alike. Shaped into sausage-shaped rolls, and sliced into rounds just like a real sausage, the resemblance is startling. Flecked with bits of Brazil nut, this salami even imitates the bits of fat that fleck port sausage.
___________________________________________________
RECIPE - Chocolate Salami (Salame de Chocolate)
20 portions

12 ounces (30 grams) semi-sweet baking chocolate, in pieces
1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter
2 Tbsp rolled oat flakes
1 cup crushed arrowroot cookies
1/2 cup (125 ml) finely chopped Brazil nuts
3 ounces (85 grams) white baking chocolate, chopped
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a double boiler, melt the semi-sweet chocolate and butter together over medium heat. Remove from heat once melted and let cool. Stir in the oats, the crumbled cookies and the Brazil nuts. Finally, stir in the white chocolate.

Spread the mixture out on a large piece of wax paper. Shape the mass into a roll about 12 inches (30 cm) long, using the wax paper to help form a sausage-shaped piece. Once the roll is formed inside the wax paper, fold the ends of the wax paper tightly, and place the roll in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to chill thoroughly.

When ready to serve, remove from the refrigerator, unwrap the roll and slice into thick slices. Let rest for approximately 15 minutes to warm slightly, then serve.

Recipe translated and adapted from Cozinha Regional Brazileira by Abril Editora.

Brazilian Bottarga - Tainha Roe is Golden

In the winter months of May and June, the waters off the coast of Brazil's southern state of Santa Catarina teem with enormous schools of tainha, or mullet as it's known in English. They migrate to these waters to escape the colder waters further south and to spawn. They are excellent eating fish, and the fishermen of that state, mostly descendents of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese immigrants, depend on the tainha for a large portion of their income.

Traditionally in Brazil tainha was eaten fried, grilled, baked or in a sauce, and it was the flesh of the fish that was consumed. However, the fact that many of the fish that were caught were gravid with roe meant that a local market grew for the roe, also eaten fresh - primarily fried in oil. The roe (called ova in Portuguese) is exceptionally delicious and delicate, and for descendents of Europeans not an uncommon dish.

Mullet roe happens to be something that's long been eaten in Italy, since Roman times in fact. When this roe is salt-cured and dried it turns to gold - both literally and economically. This product is known in Italy, and increasingly throughout the gastronomic universe, as bottarga. Eaten throughout the Mediterranean world, the hard, salty roe is thinly sliced and served as an appetizer, or grated over pasta dishes. It is considered a luxury item, and good quality bottarga is very expensive indeed.

Historically, the Mediterranean Sea was the source of the mullet roe that was processed into bottarga, but these waters have been extensively fished, and there are insufficient stocks of mullets left for a commercially viable mullet fishery. Consequently, although bottarga is associated in almost everyone's mind with Italy, and Italy consumes the major share of this product, today most bottarga doesn't come from Italy. It comes, instead, from those tainha spawning off the shores of southern Brazil. Just as most Dijon mustard originates from Canadian mustard seed, and the durum sheat for most Italian pasta also arrives in Italy direct from the wheat-fields of the Canadian prairie, Italian bottarga is much more likely to be Brazilian than Italian.

Back in the late 1950s a family of Brazilian of European origin with the (somewhat unfortunate) name of Fuck - I'm not making this up - began working in the fish industry in Santa Catarina, and their company grew to become a large producer of fresh and processed fish products. Realizing the commercial potential of their huge harvest of mullet roe, the company's current commercial director, Bernardo Fuck, decided to produce bottarga for export, and to develop a domestic market in Brazil for bottarga. In their plant in Itajaí, Santa Catarina, they currently produce up to 50 kgs. monthly of the delicacy, salting and drying it in their own facilities. They commercialize the product under the name Bottarga Gold, and have developed markets for the product both in Brazil and overseas. Their market slogan is "Bottarga Gold - Brazil's Own True Caviar."

Bottarga will likely always be a luxury product, and will always be expensive. Fortunately, a little goes a very long way, and under refrigeration, bottarga has a shelf-life of nearly a year. Should you find some in your local gourmet store or high-end fish shop, look to see where it comes from - it could very well be Brazilian.

In the next post here on Flavors of Brazil I'll include a typical Italian recipe for bottarga on pasta.

RECIPE - Mullet with beans (Tainha cozida no feijão)

This recipe from the state of Santa Catarina features tainha (mullet) which abounds in the waters off that state during the winter months of May and June. It's an easy recipe, although it does take some time because it uses dried beans. As with many other fish recipes, it can easily be adapted to whatever species of fish is available in your region. Just pick a firm-fleshed fish that can be bought in steaks (postas in Portuguese). This is not a dish for fillets of fish, nor for fish that flake easily, like cod or sole. Halibut isn't available here in Brazil, but I think that halibut steaks would make an admirable substitute for the Brazilian tainha. If you live near tropical or temperate waters, for example in Florida, you should be able to find mullet in your local fish markets.
________________________________________________________
RECIPE - Mullet with beans (Tainha cozida no feijão)
Serves 4

1 1/2 cup dried beans - white navy, pinto or black
2 Tbsp. neutral vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
8 cups (2l) water
2 lbs (1 kg) mullet or other white fish, cut into steaks
1/3 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The night before soak the beans in plenty of water, at room temperature, for 12 hours.

The next day, in a large heavy saucepan, heat the oil, then add the onion and garlic and sauté until they are transparent by not browned. Add the beans and 4 cups (1l) water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until the water is absorbed. Add the remaining 4 cups (1l) water and continue to cook the beans over low heat for approximately 40 minutes, or until the beans are tender.

Season the fish steaks with salt, carefully add the steaks to the cooked beans, mix in the parsley and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked but not falling apart.

Serve immediately accompanied by white rice.


Translated and adapted from Cozinha Regional Brasileira by Abril Editora

FISH OF BRAZIL - Tainha (Mullet)

Tainha is the Brazilian Portuguese name for the fish known in English as the mullet. Fortunately, confusion has been avoided here because the word tainha in Portuguese only refers to a species of fish and not to a haircut as well. The mullet haircut has become the butt of so many jokes in the English-speaking world that I'm sure mullets (the fish) would be quite happy if they were allowed to change their name to something that hasn't become a catchphrase for a hideous hairdo.

Mullets are found in temperate and tropical ocean waters around the world. One of the world's largest populations is in the Atlantic waters off the coast of the southern Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. For most of the year enormous shoals of mullets live off the coast of Rio Grando do Sul, but in the months of May and June they migrate north to Santa Catarina in search of warmer water and suitable spawning grounds. The most important commercial fishery for tainha is during this season, and the ports of Santa Catarina receive the bulk of the fish for processing.

Traditionally there was a large Mediterranean fishery for mullets, in fact since Roman times, particularly in the seas off of Italy where the fish is known as triglia. In recent years this fishery has diminished due to the disappearance of mullet stocks. Overfishing is the suspected cause. Many Italian immigrants to Brazil settled in Santa Catarina in the late 19th and early 20th century, and already being familiar with the fish made the tainha an important part of local cuisine. Today tainha is the fish that is most appreciated in Santa Catarina and the species that is most associated with the cooking of that state, in particular with the cooking of its Italo-Brazilian community.

Guaraná Pureza - A "Micro-Brewed" Soft Drink

In previous posts Flavors of Brazil has focused its eye and its palate on a Brazilian soft-drink called guaraná. Almost unknown outside Brazil outside the immigrant communities of the Brazilian diaspora, guaraná is hugely popular within the country. The market for this drink, which takes its name from and is flavored by a fruit from the Amazonian rain forest, is dominated on the national scene by two major brands - Antartica, owned by the world's largest brewing company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Kuat, owned by Coca-Cola Brasil.

Along side these two giants exist regional brands of guaraná, which are often extremely popular within their own geographical territory, but which are unknown elsewhere in the country. Probably the most popular of these regional brands is Guaraná Jesus, from the state of Maranhão, which was the subject of this article on Flavors of Brazil. It, of course, is dwarfed even in its home state by the two major brands.

Interestingly, I have recently discovered, thanks to an article in the most recent edition of Gula, a Brazilian culinary magazine, that there is a brewery in the southern state of Santa Catarina which is so small that it makes Guaraná Jesus seem like a multinational producer. It's continued existence and its continued success after 105 years of production show the power that a local brand can have within a limited territory, and makes a heartwarming story in the way that a product from a consortium with the unwieldy name of Anheuser-Busch InBev could never have.

This drink is aptly called Guaraná Pureza, which translates into English as Purity Guaraná. The drink was developed by brewer Alfredo Sell in the small German-immigrant village of Rancho Queimado, Santa Catarina, in 1905, and has been manufactured there, and only there, ever since. In fact, the water used in making this drink still comes exclusively from a well on Sell family property. Rancho Queimado is located 60 km. (35 miles) from the capital of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, and that city constitutes almost 100% of Guaraná Pureza's market. The company is currently owned by the fourth-generation of the Sell family, and they have resisted various offers to sell the company. Current production of Purity Guaraná is 300,000 liters per month, compared to the 66 million liters of Guaraná Antartica that are produced in the same time frame.

In an age of logos created with the help of focus groups, market-saturating ads and commercials, sales promotions and imperative social media presence, Guaraná Pureza chugs along as it always has done, resisting change and "modernization." The logo and the label that the company uses today has not changed in 105 years, and the company does NO marketing, advertising or promotion. None. The reason? According to Ricardo Sell, the current general-manager, Guaraná Pureza does no advertising because, "We don't have to. Without exaggerating, we can speak of generations that grew up drinking [Guaraná Pureza] and it's become established as a family custom. Those who like it only drink Guaraná Pureza, even though it's a bit more expensive than other guaranás." I, for one, love the fact that a company that has never "updated"  it's product, never marketed it, and even charges more for it than the brand-leaders do, can still find a niche in the marketplace and successfully exploit it. I say "Bravo, Guaraná Pureza!"

The Pinhão - Brazil's "Pine nut on steroids"

The pine nut, which is the fruit of a pine tree hidden inside a woody structure known as a pine cone, is one of the oldest known foods of the human species. Anthropological studies show that the Stone Pine tree has been cultivated for its seeds (pine nuts) for at least 6,000 years, and that pine nuts have been harvested from wild trees for much, much longer. In North America, cultivation and harvest of pine nuts from the pinyon family of pines most likely goes back just as far, though the anthropological track record is not as easy to prove as it is in Europe.

In contemporary North American and European cuisines there is extensive use of the pine nut. Without pignoli (pine nut in Italian) is it impossible to make a true pesto sauce. In Greece and the Middle East pine nuts are an important ingredient in the filling for baklava. There is wide use of pine nuts in the traditional Native American cooking of the Southwestern USA, and in the cuisine of Mexico, where pine nuts are used in some recipes for chiles en nogada, an iconic Mexican recipe.

Pine nuts are important in Brazilian cuisine too, and have been cultivated and eaten since long before the arrival of Europeans in 1500. However, the pine nut of Brazilian cooking (pinhão in Portuguese) is not from the same family of trees as European and North American pine nuts. It it harvested from the Araucaria pine, which is a large and geographically widely-dispersed family of pine-like trees of the Southern Hemisphere. Member of this family which have been successfully transplanted to the Northern Hemisphere include the Norfolk Island Pine and the Monkey Puzzle Tree.

Pine nuts from Araucarias dwarf their Northern Hemisphere cousins. Whereas Northern Hemisphere pine nuts range up to about 1/2" in size, the pinhão is normally between 2 and 3 inches long. It is also a rich, dark brown color as opposed to the light beige of the Northern Hemisphere pine nut. And the taste of the pine nut is sharper and stronger south of the Equator too.

Tremendous quantities of pinhões (the plural of pinhão) are consumed every years in Brazil, mostly in the Southern and Southeastern regions where the Araucaria are native and grow rapidly. Latest figures show an annual harvest of about 4,300 tons of seeds. In Lages, a city in the southern state of Santa Catarina, there is an annual  pinhão festival, the Festa Nacional do Pinhão, featuring all kinds of foods cooked with pinhões as well as pinhão wine.

In the next few posts on Flavors of Brazil, I'll provide some recipes for dishes featuring pinhões. Most of them can very successfully be made substituting Northern Hemisphere pine nuts. Although the dish will not look the same due to the difference in size and color of the pine nuts, the taste will be very similar.

RECIPE - Chucrute (The Brazilian Take on Sauerkraut) REPOST

(Please click here to read about this series of reposts of original posts from May 24, 2010 to June 12, 2010)

Southern Brazil's state of Santa Catarina received a large influx of European immigrants in the 19th Century, continuing on into the early years of the 20th Century. They came to the south of Brazil as it was fertile land, suitable for agriculture, and most of had been farmers in Europe. The south was relatively unpopulated at the time, and so was eager to absorb and immigrant population. And finally, the temperate climate of the south, with hot summers and cold, sometimes freezing, winters was less of shock to the immigrants' systems than the tropics further north.

One of the most numerous groups of immigrants that came to Santa Catarina were from Germany. The first German immigrants arrived in 1828, and by the end of the 19th Century, large parts of Santa Catarina were settled primarily by Germans. The two largest settlements were in Blumenau and Joinville, cities which today still have a very German flavor. At the present date, 40% of the population of Santa Catarina can trace its roots back to Germany, and in some areas of the state, German is more commonly spoken than Portuguese.

One of the recipes that arrived in Santa Catarina with the early immigrants from Germany was sauerkraut, still a popular dish today. Over time, influenced by the French name for sauerkraut - choucroute - the Portuguese name changed to the somewhat more Latin-influenced chucrute (pronounced shoe-crew-tchee), but the recipe is still recognizable as German sauerkraut. Here's how chucrute is made today in Blumenau, Joinville and numerous other towns and villages of Santa Catarina.
_________________________________________________
RECIPE - Chucrute
Serves 4

1 lb. sauerkraut (preserved in glass jar is better than tinned)
1/2 cup smoked bacon, in 1/3" cubes
5 bay leaves
5 black peppercorns
8 dried juniper seeds
pinch of granulated white sugar
1 small white onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Put the sauerkraut in a sieve or colander and run cold water over it to remove the brine. then squeeze it gently in the hands to remove excess moisture. Put the bacon cubes in a heavy, medium saucepan, and fry it until the fat is rendered and cubes are crispy. Add the bay leaves, the peppercorns, the juniper and the sliced onion and continue to fry over medium heat until the onion is soft and transparent but not browned. Add the sauerkraut, forkfuls at a time, and using the fork to separate the strands. Stir well, add the white wine, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has reduced by half. Serve immediately.

These are Brazilian Dishes?? (REPOST)

(Please click here to read about this series of reposts of original posts from May 24, 2010 to June 12, 2010)

Imagine that you just bought a book of Brazilian regional cuisine. It has a beautiful cover and you thought it would be nice to have a book of Brazilian recipes in your collection of cookbooks. When you get it home and open it up to thumb through some recipes you find recipes for these dishes: lasagne, gnocchi, beefsteak tartare, chucrute, spatzle, Kassler rippen, and even knackwurstchen mit sauerkraut und salat. You'd think that somehow the wrong cover got put on the wrong book, and what you had was not a Brazilian cookbook but a German or Italian one. If your new book was about the regional cuisine of the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, however,then those recipes are exactly the ones you  should expect to find, as they are the typical foods of this state of immigrants, particularly from Germany and Italy.

Southern Brazil is different from the rest of the country in topography, climate, racial and ethnic mixture, and all forms of culture, including cuisine. The three southern states, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, share a temperate climate that is very different from most of Brazil, which is tropical year-round. In the mountains of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul temperatures fall to freezing or below frequently during the winter months of June, July and August. Most of the current population of these states can look back up the family tree to find ancestors living in Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, Lebanon or Syria. And like descendants of immigrants around the world they continue to honor their immigrant heritage. Village festivals might include Oktoberfest-style beer tents and oom-pa-pa bands in lederhosen. Italian holidays are celebrated, as is the grape harvest with wine festivals. It's very different from the beach, sun and palm tree picture postcard image that most people carry in their minds when they think of Brazil.

But just as Carmela Soprano's baked ziti cooked at her home in New Jersey is not the same thing as her great-grandmother cooked in Italy, the dishes of these states, although they might have a name that comes from the family homeland, have been molded and modified by the years spent in Brazil. It's interesting to see what has changed over the course of a trans-oceanic voyage and a century or two in the New World, and what has not. In the next few posts, I'll give you some recipes from this region that reflect the immigrant heritage of southern Brazil. One thing for certain, the ingredients will not be difficult to find anywhere in North America or Europe. This is the cuisine of temperate climates, and the ingredients are very similar to areas with similar climates north of the equator.

RECIPE - Chucrute (The Brazilian Take on Sauerkraut)

Southern Brazil's state of Santa Catarina received a large influx of European immigrants in the 19th Century, continuing on into the early years of the 20th Century. They came to the south of Brazil as it was fertile land, suitable for agriculture, and most of had been farmers in Europe. The south was relatively unpopulated at the time, and so was eager to absorb and immigrant population. And finally, the temperate climate of the south, with hot summers and cold, sometimes freezing, winters was less of shock to the immigrants' systems than the tropics further north.

One of the most numerous groups of immigrants that came to Santa Catarina were from Germany. The first German immigrants arrived in 1828, and by the end of the 19th Century, large parts of Santa Catarina were settled primarily by Germans. The two largest settlements were in Blumenau and Joinville, cities which today still have a very German flavor. At the present date, 40% of the population of Santa Catarina can trace its roots back to Germany, and in some areas of the state, German is more commonly spoken than Portuguese.

One of the recipes that arrived in Santa Catarina with the early immigrants from Germany was sauerkraut, still a popular dish today. Over time, influenced by the French name for sauerkraut - choucroute - the Portuguese name changed to the somewhat more Latin-influenced chucrute (pronounced shoe-crew-tchee), but the recipe is still recognizable as German sauerkraut. Here's how chucrute is made today in Blumenau, Joinville and numerous other towns and villages of Santa Catarina.
_________________________________________________
RECIPE - Chucrute
Serves 4

1 lb. sauerkraut (preserved in glass jar is better than tinned)
1/2 cup smoked bacon, in 1/3" cubes
5 bay leaves
5 black peppercorns
8 dried juniper seeds
pinch of granulated white sugar
1 small white onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Put the sauerkraut in a sieve or colander and run cold water over it to remove the brine. then squeeze it gently in the hands to remove excess moisture. Put the bacon cubes in a heavy, medium saucepan, and fry it until the fat is rendered and cubes are crispy. Add the bay leaves, the peppercorns, the juniper and the sliced onion and continue to fry over medium heat until the onion is soft and transparent but not browned. Add the sauerkraut, forkfuls at a time, and using the fork to separate the strands. Stir well, add the white wine, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has reduced by half. Serve immediately.

These are Brazilian Dishes??

Imagine that you just bought a book of Brazilian regional cuisine. It has a beautiful cover and you thought it would be nice to have a book of Brazilian recipes in your collection of cookbooks. When you get it home and open it up to thumb through some recipes you find recipes for these dishes: lasagne, gnocchi, beefsteak tartare, chucrute, spatzle, Kassler rippen, and even knackwurstchen mit sauerkraut und salat. You'd think that somehow the wrong cover got put on the wrong book, and what you had was not a Brazilian cookbook but a German or Italian one. If your new book was about the regional cuisine of the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, however,then those recipes are exactly the ones you  should expect to find, as they are the typical foods of this state of immigrants, particularly from Germany and Italy.

Southern Brazil is different from the rest of the country in topography, climate, racial and ethnic mixture, and all forms of culture, including cuisine. The three southern states, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, share a temperate climate that is very different from most of Brazil, which is tropical year-round. In the mountains of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul temperatures fall to freezing or below frequently during the winter months of June, July and August. Most of the current population of these states can look back up the family tree to find ancestors living in Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, Lebanon or Syria. And like descendants of immigrants around the world they continue to honor their immigrant heritage. Village festivals might include Oktoberfest-style beer tents and oom-pa-pa bands in lederhosen. Italian holidays are celebrated, as is the grape harvest with wine festivals. It's very different from the beach, sun and palm tree picture postcard image that most people carry in their minds when they think of Brazil.

But just as Carmela Soprano's baked ziti cooked at her home in New Jersey is not the same thing as her great-grandmother cooked in Italy, the dishes of these states, although they might have a name that comes from the family homeland, have been molded and modified by the years spent in Brazil. It's interesting to see what has changed over the course of a trans-oceanic voyage and a century or two in the New World, and what has not. In the next few posts, I'll give you some recipes from this region that reflect the immigrant heritage of southern Brazil. One thing for certain, the ingredients will not be difficult to find anywhere in North America or Europe. This is the cuisine of temperate climates, and the ingredients are very similar to areas with similar climates north of the equator.