Island in the Sun

Does this look like an enticing view? If not, you might want to get your head checked. While not technically an island, it certainly has that kind of atmosphere. In this post I'm going to be talking about the food we ate in Paraty (pronounced. Para-chi). Getting to the city was quite an adventure. I wish it was easier to document, but like so many of the impressive things in life, they rarely are captured well. We went through the mountains on our drive there. Stopping at a roadside place, that wasn't really a convenience store and had a "self serve" food off in the corner, which consisted of a literal cauldron over a wood burning pit. Out back there was a pleasant deck with some rocking chairs, and...live animals.


This calf was just sitting somewhere with some shade, there were chickens pecking around (also finding shade under the wheeled cart), some rabbits and guinea pigs. I asked, the belief is this is sort of a petting zoo. Though full sized cows could be seen grazing on the hillside behind the place. Turns out calves really like being scratched around where their horns are starting to come in. I'd imagine its sort of like teething for a baby. We utilized the restrooms and then were back on the road. Windows XP anyone?
When we got to Paraty it was high tide. This is important because what it meant was, half the city was flooded. Not kidding. Like...water right up the streets flooded. After a fiasco of trying to figure out how to go back the way we came, and find parking. We stopped by the hotel rooms and asked about the best place for lunch. We ended up at a canal side restaurant ordering the expected. Good seafood.

 Pictured here is an appetizer of some kind of loose crab meat with some spices and, well kind of like a crab cake I guess, with cheese all in a clam shell. It was pretty tasty, though the crab shell was not so carefully removed so there were some careful moments of removing inedible bits.

The main course was two plates of shared food (and rice). The forefront pictured is a fried whitefish with shrimp, palm hearts and capers with plenty of lime and other sauce type drizzling. Potatoes accompany this.
The small dish with the lid behind it is what is typically used for hot sauce. Only, its really like olive oil with some spices and hot (i mean quite hot) peppers infused in it. So just a small spoon and drizzling. It's pretty good, though kind of like tabasco. Behind the hand grabbing some of the flaky delicious white fish is a plate of shrimp in creamy cheesy mashed potatoes. It was all really good, apparently lunch is the "big meal" in Paraty, some adjustment needed, as I don't tend to eat much around those hours.

Later Gabe, Mel, and I wandered around the city (very walk able when not flooded) and tried to decide what to do for dinner. Mel and Gabe have been to Paraty before for the yearly literary festival (where I will mention, with much jealousy, they met Niel Gaiman) While we were walking though, there was a very cool little doorway which lead back to something of a jungle in limited view. It was casually added to the list of places to potentially check out, but by the time dinner was upon us we decided this was "it". Glad we did. The owner(s) apparently were originally from Thailand (though they divorced and now there's a second Thai place in the city). The atmosphere was nice, and the staff was happy to help in english, as they get a lot of foreign visitors. Obviously keeping with a sort of bohemian, jungle, atmosphere it the inside of the building had a neat effect of making it feel like you were both outside and indoors at the same time.

First up. The drinks. Despite the fact that Caipirinhas are the closest thing to a national beverage I can imagine, the number of juices available outside of alcoholic inclusion of cachaca (ka-sha-sa) is still quite impressive. Left to right, Mel ordered Passion fruit, Gabe a green grass/kale kind of beverage I think (I'll leave him to correct me) and I had a Thai Iced tea. For those familiar with actual Thai iced tea, you'll note, its not as dark nor does it have any condensed milk floating on top to be swirled in. Despite the fact that it was not what I expected, I was the happier for it. It was really good, and it came with the adorable starfruit and flowers garnish! I wish I could easily recount what this tea tasted like, or even guess at recreating it. I know we followed up later with more drinks, the aforementioned caipirinhas (I think I got a traditional, given that this is supposed to be a reason famous for cachaca), and Mel got a Chai-Tai.


Appetizer with this fantastic...carrot(?) garnish, was fried egg roll. Which came with a sweet and hmm..kind of a duck sauce-y dipping sauce. This was really good. Like, really REALLY good. The waiter came around to take the plate away, and asked to keep the dipping...the waiter was real confused, I think he broke a little bit. He walked away with both dishes, then returned with a fresh new sauce dish. Which delighted Gabe and eared a large grin from the waiter.

 The main course for myself (pictured as the bowl to the rear right) was Thai green curry with squid. Which I ordered, despite the warning, "Thai hot". It was good, definitely spicy, but really really good. The squid was easy to chew and I was happy to have ordered. However, There is no way I couldn't be jealous looking at Mel's Shrimp and Pineapple in red curry, served in the pineapple rind. Presentation alone is appetizing. It was so good though. Less spicy than as I ordered, but really good combination of citrus and spice.
 Gabe as I recall ordered the Thai Red Curry, I think with beef. Also quite good, If I did it again though...that Shrimp and Pineapple. You can see the little dish of the egg roll sauce in the middle, and each of us got the cute plate of rice with a pepper on top. I ate the pepper. Retrospectively, a mistake. It went down fine, didn't seem to have any heat behind it as I chewed. After swallowing though, watery eyes and a few sips from the water glass. The heat dissipated by the time we had walked down the street though. Where we got dessert. Finnish ice cream. Yup, went to Brazil, had food from Thailand and Finland. Makes sense.

Chapter Two: Jungle Fever

 The second day of the trip to Paraty, we went on a jeep jungle tour. "Jeep" really meaning rugged vehicle, in this case a Land Rover Defender. Apposed to the air-conditioned buses. The tour involved roving up into the mountains, explanations by the driver about the "Royal Road", which is where gold was hand carried down into the port city of Paraty to go on boats back to the Portuguese, or the pirates, whichever, and dirt roads through thick foliage to eventually find waterfalls. Along the way we stopped and some guys with menus took our lunch orders to be waiting for us at "Tarzan's Well".

Next to a waterfall pool, next to a rope bridge, open canopy, guitar playing and island singing, Quaint...no, down right funny, credit card transaction process. Remote, seriously remote. We could have never dreamed of finding this place on our own. Again we ordered 'to share' and were told plates fed two. They lied. Plates feed four easily. Shrimp in 'mashed' manioca (Yucca, tapioca, all the same thing). Which was good, had a kind of hmm, squash like flavor almost, the consistency was weird. Really more of a puree but a bit stiff. Shrimp was good and spicing good. After swimming around and walking and the cachaca distilleries I was hungry.

 Also ordered was a traditional Brazilian seafood 'stew'. There was fish, and squid, and muscles, and shrimp, and it all came out in this ceramic cauldron still bubbling. It was actually really good, as one might suspect from something that the locals prefer. Beer in the shade was thoroughly enjoyed, really some of my first on the trip. In Brazil, for the most part you drink from small cups pouring frequently to top back off, and usually as a group. Stella (Gabe's mom) was happy to have a partner, as Mel and Gabe don't like beer.
This is where credit cards go...under the umbrella. In the jungle.

Dinner following the Jeep tour again was a Mel, Gabe, Thomas affair. We went to the place that Gabe and Mel knew was a "must visit" while we were in Paraty. Just a short walk from our hotel, Bartholomeu. This was a gastro eatery in the city, next to bars and boisterous crowd. We basically had a private dinning situation, and not long after we were seated a musician sat and started playing slow jams. We, I guess hadn't had enough of the jungle since we made sure our restaurant again had plenty of it 'inside'.


Still, really cool. The palm had a small gourd like thing hanging from it, which had bats flitting to it every now and again. Not something you see every day. The first thing to show up was this...bread plate? It had breads, and cheese and butter and in the glass was a sort of eggplant compote. All on a slate plate.



 Then came the salad, of sorts. I think that was beets in the center? Dried veggies, herbs, cucumbers. I recall it came with a vinaigrette. I had a few bites, but had a feeling the danger would be finding myself full. Or maybe I ate it all. Who can say?


Also at this time some more bread came and another white fish civiche, with red onions and chipped sweet potato I think?
This next part. This  is where things get interesting (as if they weren't already)


Brazil is pretty well known for beef. Just ask anyone to rave about "Fogo" and the type of meat experience that is met. Well, at Bartholomeu I was in for a meat experience of a slightly different nature. A rather large roast, done to medium rare, that was stuffed with Gorgonzola and pan fried potatoes, sliced fresh (and still sizzling) at the table.

This was disastrously well done. I'm not even sure how this kind of magic is achieved. I didn't exactly ask to see the meat so I could find the seem, but I can tell you it was capped on both ends, so I suspect it was at 'the bottom'. I don't remember how much beef kept appearing on my plate (only after the prior portion was gone), but before I knew it the entire thing was gone.




 It perhaps looks a bit rare in this picture, which...could be true. I can say though, really it wasn't bloody or anything like that. The gorgonzola (blue cheese) was incredibly potent, and I had to be a bit careful with my fork to make sure I didn't completely overpower the steak.The potatoes here might have actually also been sweet potatoes, I don't recall entirely, but they were crispy and good for sopping up all kinds of good run off.


   We finish with, what might have been one of my most important discoveries. Guava Lava cake. With a crispy cheese piece, ice cream dollop and a smear of extra guava on the plate.

 This was amazing. I can't even express. Like normal Lava cakes the insides oozed out and were warm and gooey. I didn't know my love for dessert could go so deep. I have brought back...bricks of guava, I will do what I can to reproduce some kind of pie (admitting that a lava cake is beyond me) with guava in an attempt to share this love with my friends. 

Japanese food

As a city that has a large concentration of Japanese immigrants, it is not surprising there is tons of good Japanese food available. The first exposure was on my second day. We went to this really neat little place that did all you can eat temaki, onigiri, and shish-kebabs. The temaki were expected types, salmon, with skin, tuna, squid, vegetarian, fried shrimp. The onigiri, fewer options, with ume being the expected favorite. Tons of options for the Kebabs. Pretty much all of it delicious.

The temaki, was really quite delicious. These 'simple' rolls are really not readily available in the states. Only gripe? sometimes its a bit hard to bit through the seaweed wrap.

You'll have to forgive my failing memory about some of the ordered food. The impact doesn't really change though. It was good.

Next up. Bacon wrapped potatoes? Yes please.  I wish we had something like this at all back home. Reminded me of what Tapas is supposed to be. Simple small dishes, that just keep coming as long as you are still ordering alcohol.

Next to the potatoes, are chicken hearts. Not something common in the states, really at all. They were pretty good, a bit tough, I guess, but really not much worse than like a thick sausage skin. The flavor wasn't anything peculiar or offending. So, in all, I'd recommend it. Steak bits next to that, and mushrooms (which I later found could come bacon wrapped).

The onigiri was the most unfair. The rice was so good, and I know I won't be able to get this sort of thing back home. I miss it already. I think I actually got this one with salmon inside? Unsure at this point. I ate too much though, seriously. It was endless, you want more Onigiri? Just mark it on the paper. Temaki? it's right there, choose your flavor. Too much food. This will be a common theme.

Moving on to the next Japanese stop.  Koban.

  Koban, is another all you can eat Japanese place. This one though, proper sushi. Koban in japanese is basically "police box". Pretty neat name in my opinion. The street appeal is actually pretty high. Nicely lit, inviting, and a cool front door (who doesn't like water features?).

The inside is very cool! I really like the decor of the restaurant. Has a very Japanese feeling, but at the same time has these cool middle isle booths. With the lights underneath with the glossy surfaces, I sit her asking...is this blade runner? Well, maybe it isn't, but it was cool anyway. 

The food showed up faster than I could keep track of it all. I didn't even see Mel and Gabe order most of this. Later they told me they just said what "not" to bring...go figure.

 There are a lot of...starters? You can choose what you want. Pictured above. Gyoza (really good). Mini Pastels, which, uh..I think might have had fish? Not positive anymore. Its a pastel though, which means it was great. Spring rolls, stir fried mushrooms in the back. Salmon ceviche. It was great. All of it. Next picture over, shows the white fish ceviche. Which was also really good, and more temaki. All three are salmon, but the two on the outside are "skin on" which is crispy cooked skinned salmon. The bowl has a japanese cucumber (read pickle) salad.

 The sushi itself, is really nice isn't it? Mostly salmon, which is really quite good by me. (There's some tempura hiding on the side). There's some spicy things on the 'front' of the plate, with a cream cheese on top. At the back is the Sashimi, white fish, something I can't identify next to that, Tako (octopus) and then Salmon. The nigiri takes up the row in front of that, dominated by more salmon. There's some other stuff mixed in there. Closest to the camera, is what was easily my favorite. I didn't really know you could improve salmon sashimi and nigiri. It's like a reverse sushi. It is little bit of rice, wrapped in salmon, with a bit of diced salmon on top. It's delicious. I don't know how the rice gives it so much more mouth feel, but gah. Need this.

The last japanese stop was actually on my last day. It was lunch, Mel and I walked around her neighborhood which is near a college, and some of her favorite places were actually closed, but we managed to find this little Japanese place. Had my last Guarana there. It ended up much the same as Koban, you tell them what you want to roll through for appetizers, and I'm not entirely sure how the factor to your bill. Then after those plates are cleared, blam! Sushi. Here we had less overall variety, but more tuna, which was good. And the whitefish in the foreground is all separated by thinly sliced limes. First one i ate with the lime. Didn't work so well. Rind too thick, was good that way, but hrmm execution didn't work so great. I wish we did sushi like this in the states. Instead its a much more ala carte style, and way over charged. No complimentary gyoza and temaki. I'll miss it. Somehow managed not to find a fish bread, or get some takoyaki on this trip. I'll add it to the Udon and Okonomiyaki. 

Market food

I probably can make a bunch more posts about this, but this was effectively breakfast on the first full day. Markets, or "fairs" as they are called. Akin to a farmer's market in the states, but far more regular and not hipster or hippy even.

In this case, we went to the Saturday market down the street from my sisters house. Its basically all local farm fresh food, but it bounces around to various parts of the city. Rather unsurprisingly its A LOT of fruit. The vendors are all very friendly and want you to try their wares, offering fruit cuts, or entire small fruits (mini bananas!). It makes sense, given its the best way to show how fresh it is. I'm advised everyone does this and to not feel obligated to buy anything from a vendor just because you stood still too long and the pushed fruit at you. I don't normally do breakfast so I got my fill.
 
 

In this picture, front or center, two types of dragon fruit. Not sure if there is a flavor difference between the two. Just below the orange colored with stems are Passion fruit. Star fruit on the top left. Guava to next to them. Kiwis and Papayas. All the way to the right and front are Pear-Apples. The weird green fruit is called a "Sugar-Apple". Haven't had one yet. The packaged small fruits are called Acerola, or Barbados Cherry. Just below on the left nearly cut out of the picture are Mangosteen.

These are AVOCADOS. They are really freakin big. I should have put my hand in the picture for reference. I think they eat them (and everything else here) with sugar.

I didn't grab any pictures, but they have meat and cheese stands at these markets as well, and all the way at the end they have a fish monger, the fish was extremely fresh, and lots of variety. Some of it no real good translation for. I may at some point see what I can do to grab a picture.

For lunch, we went to Karaoke at a place in Liberdade, the Japanese cultural center of the city. I unfortunately didn't grab pictures of food at the karaoke place, a little too busy singing I guess? Under the Sea, Evangelion theme song, and Total Eclipse of the heart were some big highlights. I had a really solid bowl of ramen here, complete with boiled egg and naruto slice. I got the miso variety which had a slightly more flavorful broth. We had cake there which was a Matcha (green tea) cake my sister ordered beforehand from a place literally across the street.

The cake was really good. There was a sort of green tea jelly layer, as well as the cake portion itself being slightly tea-flavored. Or maybe it was just green. Either way. Yum. We then headed across the street to see the pastry shop the cake came from. Holy crap. I walked away with a few items, but seeing as I was already full from the cake, noodles, and creme puffs, it was a big "eyes bigger than stomach" situation. Still, I now have Melon bread waiting for me. Score.

In liberdade we walked around, and went in a variety of little Japanese shops and it reminded me of my childhood in ways that I didn't really expect. Though, we didn't manage to find any "sadness candy". If you've ever seen grave of the fireflies, those candies will never been the same since. We didn't have the most success getting bubble tea, they were out of bubbles. The bakery where these crazy macaroons and pastries were had a "upstairs"cafe which had bubble tea, alas hindsight is 20/20.

On Monday, we went to downtown section of Sao Paulo and hit "the market". Ultimately its a large building that looks like it was once a train depot, that was built entirely to be a market square from the beginning. This plays out like the local fair on Saturday, except all the time.

  

I don't even know if I can hope to get in all the comments about the things I saw here. It was much slower than normal, being that it was mid-Monday, some of the booths weren't even really open.

obviously they had sundries, various nuts, dried fruit, meats, dried fish, fresh fish, oils, jellies, cheese, many many types of cheese. Mel was happy to find there is now a Brazilian company doing cheddar and feta. she used to pay import prices, $$$.

Of course I had to stop by the pepper stand! I did not directly sample any of the fresh pepper wares, as this is a dangerous proposition. However, I did not leave empty handed, and have many spicy joys to bring to the US with me.

Seriously though, how cool is it to see all the types of olives you could possibly want? Want fresh garlic cloves? We've got that. You wants palm hearts? Yep. I wish I could have walked away from here with more. It just wouldn't have made much sense, especially since just about every meal I'll be having hear is likely a "meal out". My brother-in-law was complaining that the list of places to take me was longer than days and meals available. Guess I'll just have to come back for a round two!

We finished up our time at the market by getting some well known 'market food'. Above there is something of a deck and a bunch of places selling beer and hot food.

In this case the hot food in question is Mortadella sandwiches. For the uninitiated, mortadella in the US goes more by the name of the region it comes from. Bologna Italy. I'd pretend this was somehow a higher quality bologna, but it wasn't really *that* much improved over what you might think of. It was, however, better than my expectations. My sandwich is on the left. It is a smoked Mortadella with sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella. Mel's to the right was a "spicy italian"Mortadella and looks like more standard fair of tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, maybe some mayo hiding in there somewhere. Gabe's in the rear, obviously not mortadella but a sort of pulled pork. It was a bit too dry and salty unfortunately. My smoked was actually really, quite good. I can't say I was surprised, ingredients list sounds great. The smoked flavor really came out quite well. We also had this sort of fried fish..uh stick? You apparently eat it with hot sauce normally, I'll gladly comply.

Finally, I can't really talk about market food without mentioning street food. They are pretty related, since at the market there are some expected vendors around. One, which is pretty great, is fresh ground sugar cane juice. Mixed with some various fruits of your choice. Ginger and sugar cane...so good. I know I've been on a ginger kick for a while, but man this was good. We also snagged a Lime and sugar cane juice. Really, the only issue with these things (besides I suppose lots of sugar) is that they tend to go bad pretty quick. Might just mean that you get a short cut to making some ginger beer. The second street food. Pastel. These are pretty much everywhere. We grabbed some on Saturday, but we also had some Sunday as a snack while walking a popular culture street (and fair day) before late lunch at Gabe's aunt's place. These are fried "envelopes"of dough with various filling options. Sweet or savory or cheesy. The dough is a lot lighter and crispier than I had expected, I was ready to assume it was too filling. These things are one of my favorites now. I've had the shredded beef and "pizza"filled variations. Only complaint, and a small one at that, is that these things are served right out of the fryer, and they are hot, and the filling ends up sliding down to the bottom. Just means its "good to the last bite" though right? I'll see if I can get a better picture of one of these marvels.

Update: I got pictures of Pastels. Lots.