Uma introdução à comida

(An introduction to the food)

When in doubt, a children’s librarian turns to… children’s books! I grabbed a book called Foods of Brazil by Christine Roholt from our children’s cooking section because I was curious about this famous feijoada dish. Duck and I have had several conversations about the food in Brazil, especially because I don’t usually eat pork or non-fish seafood for kosher reasons. I don’t keep full kosher, but I didn’t really grow up eating those foods, so to me they are just sort of foreign and icky and less about how kosher it is or isn’t. If someone served you octopus, you might be reluctant to try it if you didn’t grow up eating it, you know? Pork and seafood are like that for me.

HOWEVER. To celebrate getting the Fulbright, my friend Denise and I went to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant and I tried some of their sausage and oh. my. it was good. I have also instructed Duck on multiple occasions that when we are a guest in someone’s home and they serve me pig, he is not to make a big deal out of it. If I can, I will eat around it; if not, I will just eat it because I know how anxious and upset I feel as a host if I accidentally serve someone food they prefer not to eat (or are allergic to) and not upsetting people is more important to me than eating something that sort of grosses me out. The same principle applies in Brazil, plus Duck’s anthropological training of always try to say yes to things when out in the field. So I have been expanding my exposure to treyf (non-kosher foods) in preparation!

In my final conversation class this week, we talked about restaurants and food. Katia asked us what the most unusual thing we’ve eaten was (for me: kangaroo, crocodile, and buffalo; the French woman said, unsurprisingly, snails and tripe). She also asked us about our allergies, which is when I learned a term that will be useful to me: intolerância a lactose. Also apparently tips are included in the bill, and water is never free. If there is live music, you can add a tip for the musician(s).

Foods of Brazil surprisingly doesn’t cover feijoada, the famous stew, but does have pão de queijo (cheesy bread rolls), moqueca (fish stew), salpicão (chicken salad), and rabanaca (french toast), plus some background on the foods and eating customs in Brazil. I hope we can try out some of these recipes, and I’ll keep you posted on our culinary expeditions!