Lookwhatweate's Weblog

Train to Morretes

lookwhatweate — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:25:08 +0000

From Curitiba we took a train down the coastal mountains to the town of Morretes on the Nhundiaquara River. The train passes through one of the few remaining pristine stretches of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest and offers–usually–stunning views as it descends almost a kilometer from the upland plane down to the coast. Unfortunately for us, the day we chose to travel was rainy and foggy, so the views were limited. We were compensated later by absolutely stunning views on the bus trips to and from Paraty; the mountains on the coast are astonishingly beautiful.

Morretes: hotel and river

Morretes produces bananas, sugar cane, oranges, and is one of the world’s largest ginger growers. What to do there on a rainy day? Eat barreado.

Barreado at the Hotel Nhundiaquara

Barreado is the local specialty, associated with Carnival, but available year-round in local restaurants. It’s beef slow-cooked in a sealed clay pot.

Barreado

We enjoyed ours in the Hotel Nhundiaquara, as we sat by the river and watched large hummingbirds flit around the patio.I asked our water, who I think was the owner, about the ingredients and he said it is beef rump seasoned with pureed onions, salt, pepper, bay leaf and a bit of cumin. It takes no wine, but stews in its own juices. The traditional accompaniments are rice, salad, manioc flour, a delicious small local banana that goes right in the stew and scrumptious banana and manioc fritters. There was another version available that also included shellfish, grilled fish and fish fritters, but we thought that would be overkill, and, indeed, we ate ourselves silly on the traditional preparation.

Barreado tradicional

We noticed that there was a lot of banana liquor floating around Morretes. We resolved to try some at the bus station, which seemed to offer quite a lot of possibilities for getting soused, apart from pinga da banana..

Booze at the Morretes Bus Stop

It was pleasant tasting, but none too smooth, and the effect on the stomach was less than salubrious. We got a small glassful for about 40 cents, so we assume we were not imbibing a beverage of the highest quality

Curitiba

lookwhatweate — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:38:08 +0000

We liked Curitiba, a tidy, well-organized, smaller city in with a manifestly good quality of life. Curitiba is in Paraná state and its position in southern Brazil means that it is beef country. This was the place, we decided, to go to a churrascaria. There were many, but we picked the Tropilha Grill, close to downtown.

It was great: especially the beef ribs, which you can see below. The meal cost about $65 US for two, including several drinks.

Meltingly tender beef ribs at the Tropilha Grill in Curitiba

Traveling in Southern Brazil

lookwhatweate — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:28:26 +0000

We traveled between SP, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Paraty on first-class buses, known here as executivos. We found them very, very comfortable although the driving was sometimes harrowing, especially on mountain passes. One of the delights of the travel was rest stops with first-rate buffet lunches, payable by the kilo. Some of these had a huge variety of offerings, and the food seemed to be of very good quality.

highway rest stop between Rio and SP: sweets buffet

São Paulo

lookwhatweate — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:14:18 +0000

We did not pursue any fine dining experiences in São Paulo, but we did go to the neighborhood of Liberdade to seek Japanese food. The selection of restaurants seemed paltry to us compared to New York, but perhaps that was to be expected.

We did find this little bar offering Japanese-style tapas. The pickled sardines were very good.

Japanese Tapas in Liberdade, São Paulo

We know there is a world of wonderful food in Sampa, but we really didn’t have too much time to explore. We did notice, however, that the coffee culture there is outstanding.

In Brazil

lookwhatweate — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:40:13 +0000

Ipanema Beach

It´s winter in Brazil, but not too bad for all that.

This is from a street market on Sunday on Rua Siqueira Campos in Copacabana, right down from our hotel.

If it´s Friday night, it must be Arcos da Lapa. This downtown neighborhood is extraordinarily festive on Friday night. There are parties on the street and vendors galore. Or you can choose one of many interesting restaurants.

Arcos da Lapa

We went here:

Antonio´s, Arcos da Lapa

Antonio´s

It wasn´t a mistake. We had a lovely mango and shrimp salad and a sanuiche de carne seca, i.e. a jerked beef sandwhich layered with grilled onions and farmer´s cheese. I´ll be bloging more on carne seca.

mango salad, antonio´s

sanduiche de carne seca

Here´s some carne seca hanging in a Sunday market in Copa. It is said to keep for a month or so without refrigeration. It´s quite salty, so you have to desalinate it before you use it. Delicious!

carne seca, market in Copa

This is an essential ingredient in Feijoada.

Beef. It’s what was for dinner.

lookwhatweate — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:54:17 +0000

We ate this last night.

Roasted Beef Filet

Others helped us. I served it with beet greens and wild arugula wilted with onions, pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries; mashed Adirondack blue potatoes; and a red wine reduction sauce. We bought all the produce at the Cortelyou Road farmers market. Somebody brought an amazing caramelized toffee pudding (sorry, I don’t name names in this blog).

The beef affected some strangely.

Pushing It Through

Beef Trance

After today I will be blogging from Brazil.

Don’t go out of your way.

lookwhatweate — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:00:59 +0000

We ate lunch here today. Don’t go out of your way, but the cole slaw is praiseworthy.

Good, cheap beer

lookwhatweate — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:52:26 +0000

You can’t beat this place for good, cheap beer! The taps are clean. The temperature is right. The cost before 8 pm is ludicrously low. This place does not have terrific atmosphere, but if you come when Chris is waiting bar, you can revel in the profane, loud-mouthed humor of a self-described: “nice, mean, nasty bitch.”

1849 on Bleeker with a partner-in-crime.

Good spots to eat in Midwood, Brooklyn

lookwhatweate — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:44:12 +0000

This neighborhood is not a paradise for eaters, but there are some good spots here and there. Here are a few we like.

DiFara's, on Ave. J

The legend of DiFara’s requires no further burnishing.

Schnitzli's on CIA

Schnitzi’s on CIA between I and J. There is a very decent chicken-cutlet sandwich on a great baguette here. The sides are also good. One sandwich serves two.

Kosher Bagel Hole on J

Kosher Bagel Hole on CIA

The Kosher Bagel Hole is tremendous! Chewy, crusty bagels, the way the gods intended. On Ave. J and also on CIA near K.

Some stuff to start with!

lookwhatweate — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:23:40 +0000

This is what we had for lunch.

Zucchini fritata with peccorino romano and linquiça from the Alentejo (Portugal); cucumber and dill salad, steamed Chinese pork soup dumplings. Iced coffee.