Friday, October 1, 2010

All in the Flavor

The preparation of lunch got me thinking today.  Living in Rio de Janeiro has me pairing foods I never would have thought of before. 

Beats and black beans for example.  Who in the hell would have thought that I´d not only be cooking them together, in one pressure cooker, but mashing up the beats and serving them to my boys mixed together with rice and beans.  Weird. I hate sweet and salty but somehow it works.

That brings me to the orange, beat, and carrot juice that people commonly give their kids down here.  I heard that and vomited a little in my mouth. But you know what, it´s surprisingly good. No I would not drink it on a daily basis but it´s totally doable.

And avocado.  Never, ever, EVER crossed my mind to puree avocado with cream and some sugar.  That has nasty all over it.  But people like it down here. That actually counts as a desert.  Sacrilegious to me but it is what it is.

It´s all because the avocado is sweeter down here.  I have to put quite a bit of salt for my Guacamole, and invite a double the people because the avocado is the size a my left breast. Who am I kidding, I wish it were, the avocado is a hell of a lot bigger.

The best part is when you tell a Brazilian that you eat your avocado with salt on top of your salad. They´ll think you are crazy.

I think this is one of my favorite things about living in Brazil. You can go to lunch and end up with something that you have NO idea how it´s going to taste.  It´s an adventure in your mouth.  I mean, who knew I´d fall in love for something that looks and has the texture of sand.  I never did.  And eggs on pizza?  What the hell is that? But I love it!

Not to mention, the different kinds of pizza at the all you can eat pizza places, the skinny potato chips with stroganoff , and the corn and chips they put on hotdogs.

What are some of your different flavor favorites?

7 comments:

  1. I never thought I'd eat pizza with lettuce on it, but it's good!
    I never would have imagined pineapple juice with a bit of mint would be so divine!
    I never thought I would drink coca cola served in a wine glass.
    I never thought I'd eat ice cream at a self-serve buffet pay-by-the-kilo place.
    I never knew that the cashew nut had fruit under it that would taste so refreshing.

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  2. Minas cheese and guava paste, popcorn with bacon pieces, avocado milkshake...and dang, I wish I could remember the interesting pizza toppings I had at the rodizio place!

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  3. The sweet avacado thing took me for a loop early on. Avacado juice for breakfast -- who knew!?

    Chocolate, or sweet banana dessert pizzas - a whole new universe.

    Chilled red wine with ice cubes -- OK, that goes too far.

    And my favorite Festa Juninha treat "Canjica" - a sweet, lumpy, creamy white corn soup. Heaven!

    And how about the smoky, chocolaty, cherry, blueberry flavor of açai. Mmm, mmm good.

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  4. I love Coke in a wine glass. It´s so trailer trash classy.

    I never got into the minas and guava. So weird! Of course I´ll eat it on a pizza.

    One of my first evenings out, I wanted a glass of wine. I didn´t know why my husband was laughing while he ordered it. Of course, I did when he arrived and it was cold, tasted like bad grape juice, and was in a mug. Note to self, do not order wine in a buteco like setting.

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  5. You can always lower down a little bit and ask for a sangria, with the red wine, bit of fruits and ice cubes! That's the real churrascaria-de-subúrbio classy you'll learn to love.

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  6. Farofa!! Especially farofa de dende...I too never thought I'd love the taste of toasted sand topped with some spicy hot peppers, but I love this stuff! Even better to mix it up with some salad and vinegarete/molho a campanha! Viva areia.

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  7. Something I'd never thought I'd eat...chicken heart, on a stick, from a man on the sidewalk. Still can't believe I walked away.

    My Favorite Brazilian Flavors
    Açaí
    Passion Fruit Juice
    Steak, white rice & french fries (I don't actually order this but it's what I would eat every day if I stopped giving a damn about my health.)
    Canjica - Jim, right on! I love this stuff and my MIL makes the world's best.
    Paçoca
    Bolo de Fuba

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