Mara Rosa - Where Brazil Grows its Turmeric

In the sparcely populated northern stretches of the central Brazilian state of Goiás, where the cerrado that covers much of central Brazil begins to give way to the rain forests of the Amazonian basin, lies the hamlet of Mara Rosa. Although Mara Rosa counts only about 300 families, almost all of them share an  occupation - they are all turmeric farmers.

Turmeric (called curcuma in Portuguese) is an essential spice in the Brazilian pantry, even though it originated in Asia, like its botanical cousin ginger. Brazilians use the spice not only for its earthy, almost musty, flavor but also for the way it imparts a brilliant yellow color to dishes in which it is employed. As a food colorant, turmeric often serves as a substitute for saffron, which also give dishes a golden hue, but which is infinitely more expensive than turmeric. Alternative Brazilian names for the spice, such as açafrão-da-terra  meaning saffron-of-the-earth, demonstrate the link between turmeric and saffron in Brazilian gastronomy. In fact, many Brazilians simply call turmeric açafrão, and are perhaps unaware of the existance of true saffron, which can only be found in the best, most expensive gourmet shops in Brazil's bigger cities.

Turmeric has been grown in Mara Rosa since the 17th century, but it's only recently that local growers have banded together as a turmeric-growing cooperative, Cooperaçafrão. The aims of the cooperative are to stabilize and increase the price they are paid for their harvest, to improve cultivation yields through techniques such as crop rotation, and to restrict sales from the co-op to pure, dehydrated rhizomes of turmeric. Very little whole turmeric is sold directly to consumers, and the bulk of the co-op's sales are to spice companies, who grind the rhizomes and package the spice for consumers.

For most North Americans and Europeans, the color and taste of turmeric is primarily associated with Asian food, especially Indian food in which turmeric is an essential ingredient of most curry powders. In Indian cuisine, however, turmeric is normally mixed with other spices in the creation of spice powders and pastes, so the flavor of turmeric doesn't shine through. In Brazilian cuisine, where it's used alone, the intense and distinctive flavor of turmeric is allowed to be the dominant spice note in many dishes. Tomorrow, Flavors of Brazil will publish a typical Brazilian recipe which gives turmeric a starring role.

RECIPE - Kosher Clove and Cinnamon Cake (Bolo Cravo e Canela)

This recipe for a marvelously-delicious orange cake, spiced with clove and cinnamon, comes to Flavors of Brazil from Koshermap Brasil, a São Paulo blog-guide to all things kosher (kasher in Portuguese). São Paulo is home to the largest Jewish community in Brazil and the second largest such community in South America, yielding in size only to Buenos Aires. Brazil has been the destination of choice for many Jewish immigrants throughout the centuries. The oldest synagogue in the Americas, Sinagoga Kahal Zur Israel, is located in Recife, Brazil, and was founded during the Dutch occupation of that city between 1630-1657.

The recipe clearly derives from northern European spice cakes, and it probably came to Brazil in the memory of immigrants. Although the earlist Jewish settlers in Brazil were Sephardic, principally from Portugal, the present-day Jewish community in Brazil is mostly Ashkenazi of Polish and German descent. This cake would taste familiar to Jewish families of similar descent almost anywhere in the world.

The blog specifies that this cake is traditionally made to celebrate the Jewish holiday Shavuot. However, it's a perfect coffee-break, afternoon-tea-party cake anytime of the year.

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RECIPE - Kosher Clove and Cinnamon Cake (Bolo Cravo e Canela)

5 large free-range eggs, separated
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp ground cloves
1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 oranges, squeezed
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup neutral vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose or cake flour
grated orange peel (optional)
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Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Generously grease a cake pan (tube or bundt pan preferred) and dust with flour.

Using a manual or electric cake mixer, beat the eggs whites and sugar together in a glass or copper bowl until the whites form soft peaks. With the mixer at lowest speed, add first the egg yolks, one at a time, then the cloves and cinnamon, the orange juice, the baking powder, the oil and finally the flour, a bit at a time.

When completely mixed, pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpic inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cool, unmold the cake. If desired, sprinkle a bit of the grated orange peel on top to decorate before serving.

INGREDIENTS - Cloves (Cravo-da-Índia)

The aromatic dried flower bud of the Syzygium aromaticum  tree has been a treasured spice for millennia - in Western civilization dating at least as far back as the ancient Greeks and Romans. Because these hard brown buds resemble a carpenter's nail, the Romans called the spice clavus, meaning nail in Latin. From this Latin root come both the present-day English name, clove, and the Portuguese name cravo.

The spice is native only to the Molucca Islands in Indonesia, the original Spice Islands, though it is now cultivated in other tropical lands. In ancient times cloves were transported to the Mediterranean at great expense and sold there at enormous profit by Arab and Indian middle-men, and until the early 1500s they enjoyed a monopoly on the clove trade. Because of this association with India, the Portuguese refer to the clove as cravo-da-Índia. In 1497 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama became the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope and on to India, thus destroying the Indian/Arab monopoly on the spice trade and establishing the basis for Portuguese colonization of ports in India, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Brazil tangentially. Portugal became extravagantly wealthy as a result of its trade with Asia, and a great portion of that wealth was due to spices.


Because of Portugal's long connection to the spice trade, these spices - in particular cinnamon and cloves - became important ingredients in Portuguese cuisine and subsequently in Brazilian cooking. Naturally the spices were used to flavor sweets and pastries, but they also had important roles in savory cooking as well, in dishes such as soups and stews.

For Brazilians, cloves and other spices add an exotic and sensual note to the dishes they are employed in. They add mystery and luxury to food and have become symbols of the sensual aspects of Brazilian cuisine. Author Jorge Amado, perhaps Brazil's most famous 20th Century novelist, is noted for the way he was able to convey the particular sensuousness of Brazil's racially-mixed culture, and he was well aware of how spices contributed to this. One of his best-known novels, which was made into a sensationally popular Brazilian TV serial as well as an international film starring Sonia Braga and Marcello Mastroianni, is called Gabriela, Cravo e Canela in reference to the titular character's "spiciness". The book has been translated into English as Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon.

In upcoming posts, Flavors of Brazil will highlight the use of cloves in Brazilian cuisine, and we'll share some typical Brazilian recipes that call for this exotic and aromatic spice.