Pigging Out at Casa do Porco

While visiting friends, we found ourselves in central São Paulo at one of the trendiest foody places in town, Casa do Porco. Yes, it is literally the house of pig. We had read about the restaurant in a NYTimes piece about the city, and our friends swore that the sometimes 2-4 hour wait was well worth it for this sinfully delicious experience. So, we went. We have no regrets. And now I am writing home about it.

Drinking cane

I tried this drink today that is made from pure cane sugar. The cane is run through a machine four times and this sweet juice comes out. Yum!

Post #23: Bahia

Today I was in Salvador, Bahia, almost another universe from the dry, organized highlands of the capital.



Although I only was there for 24 hours, I had a few experiences that are worth sharing and are definitely enticing enough that I know I will be back not only for work but also for pleasure! Take a look.

The sunset as seen from the hotel in Salvador

Beautiful restaurant visit for dinner at Casa de Tereza

Eclectic and traditional decor

Gorgeous meal of traditional Bahian food, including a moqueca (in the caldron) or type of fish stew. Sooooo yummy!

Post #21: Pão de Queijo

Pão de Queijo or Cheese Bread is a delectable Brazilian treat enjoyed with cup of coffee in the morning (or afternoon). When hot, the center is still a bit soft and oozes cheesy deliciousness. These puffy little balls are tasty, addictive, and even gluten free! So far, they are my favorite part of breakfast in Brazil... my only fear is that if I enjoy them too much that I may turn into a round cheese puff!

For the uninitiated, I've included a video, below, and NYTimes Cooking's recipe.

Post #15: It's Nuts

Haven't you always wondered if Brazil nuts come from Brazil? Mystery solved. You no longer need to wonder. They do come from Brazil, they are very healthy, and they taste even better when bought freshly from the market. Warning: apparently, although they are healthy, consuming too many can be dangerous (selenium overdose!), as several Brazilians have pointed out upon seeing me purchase several hundred grams!

Post #13: Keeping the Passionfruit Cool

You have to be a bit ingenious if you want to slowly sip on a cool cocktail on a hot day... How to keep a maracuja caipirinha cold? Freeze the pulp of the passion fruit into a popsicle and insert it into the cocktail. Cool and delicious!

Post #8: Big Avocado

Post #5: Bean Stew Brazilian Style

The last week at work has been crazy busy with several events and visits happening all at once, so our section took a time out on Friday to celebrate together over a dish of beans and under a canopy of Brazilian music and the din of conversation...

First, the beans. There is a typical Brazilian dish of beans stewed with different types of meat that I had tried during Portuguese language study back in Washington, but the real thing was very much better. Beans slowly stewed with different parts of the pig gives it a lot of flavor. At this restaurant, you could load up on beans and rice and then choose your meat, each part labeled in separate pots so that you knew if you were getting those savory bits of tongue, ear, etc.! The dish is called feijoada and is a typical Saturday meal that you consume with family and friends slowly, and, if my sense of sluggishness after eating feijoada is in any way typical, a nap probably follows the meal at some point.

Best of all was the great company of my colleagues here and the rhythmic live music in the background. This felt like a wonderful taste of Brazil!

Day 9: Baking Powder

Another consumer report, my apologies. Today, my gifted cake-baking husband wanted to make a cake out of some sour mystery berries (barberry?) a friend brought to our house. We headed to the store to buy more flour and some baking powder. All the usual suspects were present on the shelves - sugar, soda, spices, but no baking powder. Flexible shoppers, we went to the larger supermarket that has fancy imported goods a bit farther from our home. We scoured shelves in multiple sections of the store. Dr. Oetker pudding and other products galore(good news for the gifted cake-baking husband!). No baking powder. Who knew? The end result involved a delicious cake made with a mixture of baking soda and lemon to substitute in his new Gugelhopf pan (fancy German bundt pan form). Even if it was a bit of a workaround adventure to create, the final result was simply "вкусно"!

Day 7: Sticker Shock

To celebrate our one-week anniversary, we did what any self-respecting American should. We went shopping. We even managed to properly go shopping at a big box store, the German chain, Metro. It has been interesting to shop around the last week and to take inventory at grocery and convenience stores. We were told before we arrived that goods would be expensive, and, admittedly, they are much pricier than the American equivalents. However, when broken down, the individual sums actually don't seem half bad.

To give you a sense, here are some items from our grocery run today:

• 1.5 kilos (3.3 lbs) laundry detergent = $9.00
• 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) store-brand coffee = $20.00
• 1 bottle of lower-priced red wine (Georgian) = $12.00
• 1 bottle of lower-priced French wine = $22.00
• 1 liter of milk (.25 liters) = $1.20
• 1 kilo(2.2 lbs) ground beef = $9.50 
• .6 kilo (1.3 lbs) of Old Amsterdam Gouda cheese = $14.00

As expected, imported goods are more expensive than local ones, but almost everything is shipped in from somewhere. Fresh vegetables and fruits are slim picking, even in the middle of summer. I'm told we should buy while we can and freeze/can for the winter.

For the moment, we're enjoying setting up our kitchen and discovering what we can make out of what we've found. Nothing to worry about back home - we definitely won't starve! 

Strawberry jam and toast

This morning, I stumbled to the kitchen to put on a cup of coffee before making breakfast - two slices of buttered toast with strawberry jam. Without rush, I sat down to eat, news radio on and a newspaper open on my kitchen table. Biting into my toast, I glanced down at my feet, toes recently painted "Revlon red."



Phooom! I was taken straight back to my grandmother's kitchen in central Wyoming, mint green colored kitchen cabinets, red geraniums on the sill, Fiestaware dishes, and Formica table. With backcombed hair maintained through weekly visits to the hairdresser, striking blue eye shadow and red lipstick as well as a huge collection of beads and costume jewelry, my grandmother always ate toast with strawberry jam for breakfast, often while mulling over a crossword puzzle in a housedress, and always with red toenails.

Funny how such a small moment can trigger such a vivid memory. Even funnier when you can see those pieces of your personal history - family and friends - reflected in the way you go about doing things. We are who we know and have known... we have in us where we are and where we have been.

Family memories seem to strike me when I least expect it. Humidity and heat followed by a sultry summer storm take me right back to my other grandparents' farm and the summers we spent there, stealing grandma's chocolate chip cookies from the deep freeze in the basement, helping to do chores, playing Uno and rap poker with my grandpa for ice cream, picking peas in the garden, and attempting to ride Smokey, the most ornery horse. Early morning dishes clanging and the smell of pancakes, mealtimes signaled by a triangle hanging by the door, coffee for anyone who might show up, and quiet evenings eating peaches with sugar and a bit of cream on top. We fixed ourselves up to go to "town" in the car, but we liked getting dirty even better so we could help bale hay or drive around on the tractor with grandpa.

They were good summers that my brother and I spent visiting our grandparents' homes. From the time we were really small kids until we were through high school, we spent one or two weeks every summer at the North Dakota farm, and, until my grandma moved to Gillette, we spent a week each summer in the big city of Casper. The contrast between my two sets of grandparents could not have been bigger. However, I am glad that I got a chance to really know them, to understand where I came from, and to internalize those details about their habits and lives. And, I am most grateful that memories surface on quiet Saturday mornings when I least expect them.

Chips and salsa

As humans, I suppose we are drawn to experiment and test boundaries. That feature is exactly what makes experiential learning such a powerful educational tool, right? Learning something first-hand through trial and error leaves a strong impression, and, although you may find yourself retesting some of those boundaries now and then, you do usually remember not to purposefully set your hand near the hot clothes iron or not to click mercilessly on an object on your computer screen when it does not react as you think it ought. (Doubtless, we all can remember times when we've temporarily "forgotten" the consequences for these actions by accident, distraction, or distress). In addition to learning from experience, I imagine it is also healthy to retest what we know as adults to retain a healthy amount of wonder (or skepticism?) and to resist becoming stagnant know-it-all schoolmarms. When living in a new environment, I catch myself doing things that I otherwise might not. In fact, often my past experiences should lead me to better conclusions and decisions.

Case in point. I just finished licking my fingers after cleaning the crumbs out of the bottom of a bag of Santa Maria Chili-flavored tortilla chips. I feel about as disgusting as I might after cleaning out an off-brand bag of cheese puffs. Santa Maria is a Finnish Tex-Mex brand sold here in Estonia. Probably I should know better from the start as Finland is about as far from Texas or Mexico as one can get, and the palate of the local target consumer market here has no proclivity towards the piquant. (A short diversion--because it is too good of a story not to share: A well-meaning neighbor recently gave me some feedback on some pumpkin bread I made for her family. She inquired about the "essence" or spices used(nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice) and mentioned that her children thought their mouths were on fire. The adults managed to choke it down but thought that I had messed up the recipe!)

As someone who considers chips and salsa as a food group unto itself, I sometimes waver over to the "exotic foods" isle of the supermarket just to see if anything new has appeared. Although the shelf has become fuller of these Santa Maria products over the years, there generally is not too much of interest. Sometimes though, I convince myself and those chips and salsa may have improved. Sometimes, I buy them. Almost always, I bring them home and gobble too many of them up, and I am left with an artificial taste in my mouth and an unsatisfied craving. I make yet another mental note to myself about Finnish Tex-Mex products, only to expire when I eventually I waver over to that particular isle and decide to retest the boundary.

Frohes Neues Jahr aus Deutschland

This year we truly rang in the New Year in great style -- with wonderful company, a delicious gourmet menu, and a beautiful setting. Joining family in Remscheid, we were decadent and celebratory as we enjoyed a slow (and gluttonous) nine course meal at a restaurant and hotel in the area, Villa Paulus.



Some highlights:


Course 1: (Unpictured) Gänsleberparfait im karamellisierten Kürbiskernmantel
Gooseliver parfait in a carmelized pumpkin crust



Course 2: Hummer Créme Brulée (with Pina Colada Creme)
Lobster Créme Brulée



Course 3:
Kaninchen-Gewürztraminer Pastete mit Haselnusskrokant und Mangosalsa
Rabbit pate with Gewurztraminer jello pieces, hazelnut crunch, and mango salsa



Course 4: Zitronen-Kartoffelsüppchen mit gebratener Jacobsmuschel
Lemon-Potato soup with fried scallop



Serious amount of silverware -- thank goodness I have seen Pretty Woman and know to start from the outside!



Course 5: Rote Ravioli gefüllt mit Nuss-Ricotta in fritierter Raukebutter mit gerösteten Maccadamian nüssen
Red ravioli filled with nuts and ricotta with butter-fried ruccola with roasted Maccadamian



Course 6: Paradeiser-Salbei Sorbet
Tomato Sage Sorbet



Course 7: Filet vom Red Snapper an Pernodschaum mit Rote Beete Risotto



Course 8: Geschmortes und gebratenes vom Lamm mit Maronen-Lila Herzoginenkartoffel
Braised and roasted lamb with chestnut-purple duchess potato



Course 9: Hausgemachtes Nusseckchen mit Salzbutter-Karamelleis
Homemade nut corners with salted butter caramel icecream (tasted just like Werther's candies)



Accolades to the chef (left) and owners (above)


With such a start for 2011, I can say that the New Year looks very promising!



Frohes Neues Jahr 2011!

Jõule Highlights

Everyone knows that there is no place like home for the holidays, but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to go home this year. So, I gathered a few fellow vagabonds -- friends old and new -- and we infused the season with cheer (or rather stuffed it with abundant amounts of tasty homemade morsels). Here are a few of the highlights or our Jõule (Christmas) celebrations!


Gathering on Christmas Eve, we were lucky to have in our midst a world-renowned German MPP (Master Potato Peeler), Hape.

Traveling all the way from Finland, we also had master Chef Jen, pictured right, preparing scrumptious dishes of her home tradition -- cranberry bread, special kind of scalloped potato with sardines that I forget the name of, almond paste coffee bread, meatballs (and the chef is vegetarian... imagine that!) to name a few of the tasty items.

We also had a dancing Russian, Nastya, who prepared her potato salad and blini with much flare and then persuaded us all to join her in a hilarious game of charades/pictionary.


Caroline, a carrot-peeling Nebraskan (who also makes a mean batch of maraschino cherry cookies, by the way) brought many smiles and cheer to our bunch.


Finally, we were lucky to have two elves with us to prepare the salad and add to our lovely Christmas mix. Britta added some traditional German Christmas butter cookies to our table and Marika, the Estonian-Russian in our company, celebrated her first Christmas with our international crowd.


We celebrated both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and filled our time with festivity:

Feasting on fabulous dishes... Trimming the tree with popcorn and cranberries... Playing games... Enjoying hot mulled wine... Laughing...
Watching movies... Sharing stories... Singing... Exchanging Presents...

Jõule 2006

Celebrating Birthdays...
(Hape birthday, Hape! ~ December 25 and Happy Birthday, Jen! ~December 26)
































In the end, a very cozy and beautiful Christmas... I hope yours was as beautiful!

HÄID JÕULE, EVERYONE!