Casa da Feijoada

They have a local specialty in Brazil called feijoada.  Feijoada, legend has it, is a dish that the Brazilian slaves created out of the left over parts of the pig that the Portuguese nobles didn’t want, combined with the other ingredients available to them (beans, salt, chili, etc.).  The slaves made these things into a stew which, in today‘s form, results in a bubbling cauldron of an almost purplish liquid that is served at your table, usually accompanies by traditional sides like rice, collard greens, farofa (toasted and seasoned manioc flour), aipim (fried yucca) and torresminho (pork rinds).

In order to sample this famous Brazilian dish, Double S and I high tailed it to the Casa da Feijoada in Rio.  This is a famous place for eating feijoada in Rio.  Besides being the specialty of the restaurant, there are feijoada pot symbols everywhere, on the plates, on the glasses, on the coasters, on everything.  There are even feijoada pot shaped light fixtures.  It was a little odd.

When the feijoada came out, it was enormous.  A portion for one was definitely big enough for two.  The waiter kindly set the feijoada up for the two of us (who knows what to do with aipim?) and we dug in.  As we began picking our way through the assorted pork parts in the stew, Double S almost threw up when she spied me slurping up a pig’s ear.

The feijoada, in my mind, sums up Brazilian food.  It mostly sucks.  It sounds good on paper (fish, ok, coconut, sure, rice and beans, fine) but, somehow, it never seems to work out the way one would hope.  The only thing that seems to work out are all things fruit related: juices, acai and caiprinhas.  Those should be consumed en masse.  Most other things should be avoided.

Here are a few recommendations of places in Brazil that served tolerably good food.  The list is longer than one might think on pizza because there are wood burning ovens everywhere and, blissfully, that cheese of cheeses, mozzarella di bufala is plentiful.

Carlota, Rua Dias Ferreira 64, Rio: Fine dining in a romantic spot in Leblon, one of Rio‘s more upscale neighborhoods.  Double S’s sole dish was perhaps the best sole that I have ever eaten.  Double S couldn’t stop raving about her fettuccine side dish.

A Brasileira, Rua Pedro Longo 175, Itacare: An unexpectedly nice restaurant in the middle of a Brazilian surfer town.  The bolinhos (deep fried rice balls stuffed with deliciousness) were the best I had in Brazil.  The caiprinhas were also excellent.

Pizzaria Boca de Forno, Rua Lodônio Almeida 108, Itacare: An excellent thin crust pizza place.  The vegetarian special was fantastic.  I could have eaten a whole one myself.

O Passo, Rua São José 56, Ouro Preto: As you walk down the cobblestone streets of Ouro Preto in the evening you encounter jazz music coming from the upstairs patio of one of the lovely colonial buildings that fill the town.  The second floor deck at O Passo is the source of that music.  The views, atmosphere and fantastic pizza make this a great spot to unwind after walking up and down the streets in town.  I loved the pizza.  Seriously, I loved the pizza there.

When it comes to Brazilian food, stick to the fruit.

A bubbling cauldron of feijoada

A plate of feijoada, all ready to eat.  Watch out for the ears.

Lapa

In Sao Paulo they have bars where you sit down and, after ordering your round, your table is given a bingo like card with X’s marked to indicate how many beers you have ordered.  Fair enough.  What is different is that there are a bunch of men walking around with draft beers on trays.  Once they spy a customer who has finished his beer, they rush over to replace his or her beer without any prompting.  Sometimes, if they feel you are being just a tad bit of a , um, lollygagger, they will place another beer in front of you when you are only about half finished.  Drink up before we have to embarrass you in front of your friends again, wuss.

In Salvador they love their Tuesday nights.  Tuesday nights are the nights where bands play free music throughout the old city and, to finish it all off, a drum band marches through the streets and picks up a rag tag assortment of locals and tourists who drink beer and march along with them.

In the Bahian beach towns there are some places where vendors stand all along the sand ready to serve you a mixture of the fruit of your choice and a lot of cachaca.  In other towns it is forro dancing several nights a week and stores that don’t open until 4pm or 5pm, likely due to late nights out followed by long days on the beach surfing.

Then there is Rio.  Almost everyone knows about Carnival and the crazy party that occurs during that festival.  While walking along the beaches of Ipanema one is struck by the thought that it would be a marvelous place to spend New Year’s.  Apparently Cariocas (people from Rio) have that covered, too.  December 30th is meant to be the night where people dress in white, gather on the beach, build bonfires and make offerings to the orixa (kind of goddess) of the sea.  December 31st is then total mayhem on the beaches with concerts, partying and fireworks.  Surely all of that is just for special occasions and the town is normally fun, but not crazy.  Wrong.

I now consider Lapa in Rio to be the top party neighborhood in the world.  Not eating or fine dining.  It is a party neighborhood.  I was completely unprepared for what I encountered there on an, as far as I know, random Friday night.  As you enter the neighborhood in the evening you are immediately struck by the number of people that are out on the streets.  It isn’t just on one main block.  People are out on many blocks.  One of the benefits of people being spread out over such a wide area is that you do not experience a Bourbon Street style crush of people.  There is room to move.  There are clubs with electronica, samba, forro and seemingly every other kind of music you can think of.  There is music in the streets and even in a tent looking thing that has been set up for concerts.

For those that dislike the dance floor, there are some great bars.  At the entrance to the busier bars a hostess will find out how many are in your party and direct you to a table, which ensures that the place does not get too crowded.  Someone will immediately come to take your drink order and, if it is a beer, walk over to one of the conveniently located beer fridges (which have LED displays with the temperature inside the fridges, lest a fridge get too warm) and return quickly with your drink.  Only cocktails are referred to the bartender rather than wasting their time fetching beers.  A team of bar backs replace beers in the refrigerators when they get close to empty.  There is no possessiveness amongst the staff in terms of waiting on your table.  Tons of staff are patrolling the place and any can help you with a drink order.  Making sure customers drink as much as possible is their top priority.

If it is a nice night and you want to be outside there is an area in Lapa filled with street stands selling food and drinks.  Other areas have guys with portable kegerators pouring beers.  Or, while you are waiting in line to a club, someone might come up to you with a bottle of tequila and offer to sell you a shot out of a plastic shot glass.  Every eventuality is covered.

There are people of all ages out having a good time.  There are even families out drinking together.  Amazingly, all of this is happening in a neighborhood that is, more or less, adjacent to the financial district.  How Brazil has become one of the top performing economies in the world with all of this temptation, I have no idea.  God bless them.