On the Road - Salvador - Pt. 3 - The FIFA/McDonald's Scandal

It's hard to overstate the cultural value of the humble acarajé to the citizens of the Brazilian state of Bahia. This unprepossessing, fist-sized black-eyed-pea fritter has become the icon of Salvador in much the same way that the Eiffel Tower represents Paris, or Guiness represents Ireland. When tourists and returning locals exit the Salvador airport terminal on the arrivals level, they are immediately greeted by the unmistakable aroma of acarajé frying in a pot of dendê oil - the sidewalk in front of the terminal is home to several stands of baianas selling acarajé. That haunting aroma, the marvelous taste of the fritter and the traditional and ritualistic way in which it is sold are cultural touchstones of Salvador, and have been recognized by all levels of Brazilian government as important cultural patrimony worthy of protection.

So what does acarajé have to do with FIFA, McDonald's and the scandal referred to in the title of this post? As the governing organization for the 2014 World Cup of Football/Soccer, which will be held in Brazil, FIFA has control over many aspects of the Cup. Things like stadium capacity and required facilities, transportion of players and sponsorship of the Cup. Because the McDonald's corporation is one of the largest corporate sponsors of the World Cup, FIFA wants to prohibit the sale of acarajé within 2 km (1.2 miles) of Salvador's Fonte Nova stadium during the World Cup, in order to protect the interests (and hamburger sales) of McDonald's.

Could this....

become this???

This potential disruption of acarajé sales has created an uproar in Salvador. Rita Maria Ventura dos Santos, the president of Associação das Baianas de Acarajé e Vendedoras de Mingau (Abam), the official association of acarajé vendors, calls prohibiting sales of acarajé "absurd." She notes that at present there are eight acarajé stands within 2 km. of the stadium, and wonders what will happen to the women who own these stands when the Cup comes around. Community groups in Salvador are calling for a boycott of McDonald's to protest the move, and news of the prohibition and the boycott is spreading rapidly across all the Internet social networks.

The FIFA/McDonald's prohibition has not been confirmed yet by the Brazilian organizing committee or by Salvador's municipal authorities. The Bahia state Secretary in charge of World Cup arrangements has been quoted as saying no decision has yet been made, but will only confirm that the role of baianas and of acarajé in the World Cup is "under consideration."

On the Road - Salvador - Pt. 2 - The Joy of Abará

As Julie Andrews once warbled, "Let's start at the very beginning, A very good place to start...". So, we're beginning our reportage on our recent visit to Salvador, Bahia with the item that's always first (alphabetically, at least) in any list of traditional Bahian dishes - abará. It's hard to think of anything that might proceed abará in an alphabetical listing of dishes - except aardvark, and they don't eat aardvarks in Bahia.

 Abará  is one of the foods that is most closely associated with the Afro-Brazilian religion of Bahia, Candomblé, and it's also one of the items that can always be found for sale by baianas, the traditionally-dressed black women who sell Bahian food, most notably acarajé, on streets, squares and beachfronts of Salvador.

Iansã

In the rituals of Candomblé, which preserve the religious traditions brought from Africa to Brazil by slaves, abará is a favorite food of the orixá (divinity) Iansã, and offerings of food made to her invariably include abará. Iansã is the orixá of the River Niger in Africa, and of the wind, hurricanes and tempests. She is considered to be one of the most agressive of the female orixás and has dominion over the dead. In the syncretic tradition of linking orixás with saints of the Catholic church, she is identified with Santa Barbara and is worshiped as such in the Catholic churches of Bahia.

 There's nothing complex or complicated about abará - it's not a fancy or delicate food. But it does combine many of the most important ingredients of the Bahian pantry, which was large inherited from Africa. Basically, an abará is a soft batter made from black-eyed pears, flavored with bright orange dendê palm oil and cooked by being steams in a banana-leaf package. Sometimes ground dried shrimps are added to the batter for additional flavoring, but this isn't obligatory. Readers familiar with Mexican tamales will have a very good idea of what an abará is, as the two dishes are very similar. They differ in the mass used to create the dough - ground corn in the case of tamales and ground black-eyed peas in the case of abará. Although tamales are often stuff with a meat or chicken filling, abarás are not and resemble most closely those unstuffed tamales called "blind."

The list of ingredients that go into making abará is almost identical to acarajé. Both are based on the same batter, though in acarajé the batter is deep-fried in dendê whereas abará is steamed rather than fried and a small amount of dendê is stirred into the batter to flavor it. This makes abará slightly more healthy eating than acarajé, though it could never be considered health food.

In Salvador we sampled  abará at the famed Bahian buffet of SENAC, the public-private vocational school that can be found in any city in Brazil. In our next post, we'll look at the 40+ dish SENAC buffet in more detail. It's an edible encyclopedia of Bahian cuisine and an essential part of the Salvador experience.

(Click here for a recipe for abará  from an earlier posting on Flavors of Brazil).

On the Road - Salvador - Pt. 1

Salvador, Bahia

From time to time since beginning this blog in 2009, we've featured series of reports from various cities and regions of Brazil. We call them On the Road, and in the past we've reported on the gastronomic culture and food scene in such places as São Luis, Rio de Janeiro, Jericoacoara and Belém. Every one of these series originated with a trip to the location in question - visiting markets, street-food stalls, restaurants, museums and supermarkets. And in each, we've included restaurant reviews, photos and videos, and recipes.

This weekend we're in Salvador, Bahia, preparing for the next in the series. The state of Bahia, and in particular its capital, Salvador, is home to the most well-known and widely-appreciated of all of Brazil's regional cuisines, referred to in Portuguese as comida baiana and in English as Bahian cuisine.

Brazil's food culture is a complex mixture of influences, but there are three essential referential points - the gastronomy of Europe, particularly of Portugual, the native American gastronomy of the indigenous Amerindian cultures, and the gastronomy of Africa, which was brought to Brazil by captive slaves. Bahia's food culture rests primarily on African roots - the slaves who came to Brazil from Africa beginning in the 16th century carried very little with them in the holds of slave ships. Only their African cultural heritage - food, art, religion, music, rhythms and the like - survived the trip across the South Atlantic from Angola, Benin and Guinea to places like Bahia, Pernambuco and Minas Gerais in Brazil.

Candomblé

The African influences on Bahian culture bubble and stir together in a large open pot - the spicy dishes that Bahia shares with Africa are served in the temples of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé, and the rhythmic songs and chants of Bahia often sing the praises of local delicacies. It's all connected organically, and the mixture is unique to Bahia.

Starting at the beginning of next week, when we're back from Bahia, check out Flavors of Brazil, On the Road - Salvador. If you know Bahia, it should bring back some great sensory memories. And if you've not been there, it will surely whet your appetite to go.

RECIPE - Cartola Nordestina

We're wrapping up our trip of recipes from the Brazilian state of Paraíba with a dessert that's not only typical of the state that is the birthplace and home of Flavors of Brazil honoree,  Chico César, but of neighboring states in Brazil's northeast as well.

Back in February of 2011, we published another recipe for Cartola - a recipe one that is popular all over Brazil. What makes this version specifically northeast is the addition of powdered cocoa, which adds an additional flavor to the traditional recipe, and the specification of queijo coalho, a non-salty, feta-like cheese from the northeast.
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RECIPE - Cartola Nordestina
Serves 2

3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp granulated white sugar
4 ripe, but not over-ripe bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp powdered cocoa
1/3 cup, dry white cheese, grated on box grater, largest holes
powdered cinnamon to taste
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Mix together 1 Tbsp granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp powdered cocoa. Reserve.

In a large frying pan, melt the butter. When hot, add the 1 Tbsp sugar, stir, then fry the bananas on both sides until they are softened and beginning to brown. Remove from heat.

Put half of the fried bananas on each of two plates.  Sprinkle half the sugar/cocoa mixture evenly over the surface of the bananas, then cover with the grated cheese and sprinkle again with the remaining half of the sugar/cocoa mixture. Dust lightly with powdered cinnamon to taste.

Serve immediately, while the bananas are still hot. You can put a ball of vanilla ice cream on top of the bananas if you wish.

RECIPE - Leg of Lamb, Paraíba-style (Pernil de Cordeiro)

After yesterday's recipe for a shrimp cocktail first course, our three-recipe homage to Chico César continues with this substantial main course from the semi-arid interior of the state of Paraíba.

In the harsh scrub-and-cactus landscape called the sertão, only men, plants and animals that can adapt themselves to hot, dusty and dry conditions can survive. The people of this region are known for their toughness of character and for their stoicism in the face of conditions that would drive more sensitive souls to flee to more benign conditions along the coast. And the animals have to share the same conditions as their owners, so they too share their masters' characteristics.

One domestic animal that is perfectly at home in the sertão is the goat, and the original of this recipe probably was for a goat. However, as goat is not always easy to come by, and because some people don't like the strong gamy taste of goat, here the recipe is adapted for a leg of lamb.

Tomorrow we'll wrap up our three-recipe collection with a dessert from Paraíba.
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RECIPE - Leg of Lamb, Paraíba-style (Pernil de Cordeiro)
Serves 6

1 bone-in leg of lamb, about 3 lbs (1.5 kg)
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
3 bay leaves
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic,, crushed
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp canned tomato pulp
1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
8 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup unsalted butter,melted
chopped Italian parsley (for garnish)
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Season the lamb with salt and pepper to taste. In a small bowl, combine the wine, bay leaves, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato pulp and mustard and mix well. Spread this paste over the entire surface of the lamb, then marinade the lamb, refrigerated, for 24 hours.

Preheat the oven tp 350F (180C). Remove the lamb from the refrigerator 30 minutes before beginning cooking. Put the lamb in a large roasting pan, and cover loosely with a tent of aluminum foil. Cook the lamb for 60 minutes, then remove from the oven, and baste with melted butter. Return to the oven, uncovered and let brown for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with honey. Return to the oven, then again after 10 minutes, remove from oven and brush a final time with honey. Cover the roast with tin foil and let rest for at least 20 minutes.

Put the potatoes in rapidly boiling water and cook while the roast rests until they are just tender. Remove from the heat, drain thoroughly and reserve keeping warm.

Remove the lamb from the roaster and place on a large serving platter. Put the potatoes in the roasting pan and toss them in the roast's juices and sauce. Place them around the lamb on the platte,r, then pour the remaining sauce over all. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately, carving at the table.

RECIPE - Shrimp Cocktail Paraíba (Camarão ao Vinagrete)

The small northeastern state of Paraíba (home of Chico César, subject of yesterday's homage on Flavors of Brazil) is a longish narrow strip of land, with a hundred miles or so of Atlantic coastline on its eastern edge, backed by the semi-arid terrain common to Brazil's northeastern interior. Because of this geographical orientation, there are really two cuisines of Paraíba - a seafood-based one along the coast and a dried-meat based one in the hot interior.

This recipe, which obviously has its origins along the coast, makes a wonderful first course, and is a welcome change from the ketchup and horseradish-based shrimp cocktails of yore. Less sweet than the ketchup cocktails, this recipe also lets the flavor of the shrimp shine through, never masking it with the sauce.

In Portuguese, this recipe is called "Shrimp in Vinaigrette". In Brazil, though, vinaigrette doesn't mean the same thing as it does in France, Europe or North America. It's not a salad dressing consisting of olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Brazilian vinagrete is a refreshing mixture of chopped tomatoes, green peppers and onions marinated for a short time in a diluted vinegar mixture.
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RECIPE - Shrimp Cocktail Paraíba (Camarão ao Vinagrete)
Serves 2

For the vinagrete:
1 medium red or white onion, chipped
2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 medium green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp green onion, green part only, chopped
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup water

For the shrimp:
3/4 lb (300 gr) large shrimp, peeled and deveined
juice of 1/2 lime
salt to taste
wedges of lime to garnish
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Prepare the vinagrete: in a medium mixing bowl, combine the onion, tomatoes, green pepper, cilantro, and onion. Pour over the vinegar, olive oil and water, then toss all the ingredients in the marinade. Reserve for a minumum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 30 minutes.

Prepare the shrimps: season the shrimps with lime juice and salt. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan, then cook the shrimps in the water for about 3 minutes, or until the shrimps are opaque and firm. Drain completely, then add them to the reserved vinagrete. Let cool for about 15 minutes, then serve in small bowls or ramekins, with an added wedge of lime if desired.

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

An Homage - Chico César

Presumably the Brazilian singer/songwriter, journalist, activist and politician Chico César loves to eat, as his music, his lyrics and his writings are full of the absolute delight in sensual enjoyment in all its forms. But, in reality, he has little to do directly with Brazilian gastronomy - the nominal subject of this blog.

However, having attended a stupendous show of this remarkable artist last night in Fortaleza, it's impossible for us not to honor him with his own post here on Flavors of Brazil. Among all the flavors of this vibrant country, he is one of the richest, and certainly among the spiciest.

Chico César comes from Brazil's long-suffering northeast, from the tiny state of Paraíba, and he has long been a champion of his state and of his region. His music reflects the rhythms and dance styles of the northeast - from the frevo of Recife's Carnaval, to the endemic dance rhythm, forró, and on to the tradition of folk ballads from the harsh sertão in the interior of the northeast that punishes those that live in it and love it.

His career began as a journalist in Brazil's biggest city, São Paulo, where he learned to play guitar (marvelously) and began to compose his first tunes. From the beginning his lyrics became known for their linguistic cleverness, complexity and beauty. Unfortunately, as with all poets, his lyrics are practically impossible to translate, at least in all their richness of allusion and connotation. But take it as gospel that they can be beautiful, moving, hilarious, and ascerbic - sometimes all at once.

He was never satisfied just to be a popular musician and composer, though that he was, with success in Brazil and Europe, and in 2009 he returned to the capital of his native Paraíba, João Pessoa, where he assumed the presidency of the city's Cultural Foundation. In 2010, he took the post of Minister of Culture for the state, a position he holds today, even as he continues to write music, release CDs and DVDs and tour.

In honor of this great Brazilian, our blog will feature traditional recipes from Paraíba in the next few posts. In the meantime, do yourself the favor of searching out Chico César on the usual spots on the Internet. You won't be disappointed. To get you started, here's a video of his from YouTube that showcases just a few of the aspects of his artistry. It was filmed in his hometown and co-stars his family and neighbors. It's called Mama Africa and the lyrics are in praise of the African spirit that inhabits and inspires the poor and downtrodden of the northeast.
xx