Monday, November 9, 2009

Tudo bem? Tudo bom.

All is well and good, but being among speakers of Portuguese, in tropical heat, now with flowers, leaves, water, mosaics, and beauty all around, we've become less verbal.







Figurine at Pousada Santa Clara on Boipeba

I realize that I have not written about food. Much has been bland. On the bus in Paraguay, the anise seed I encountered in every fourth nibble of chipa was thrilling; chipa is usually uniformly boring, as well as dry. In Foz do Iguazu, Sarah and I went out for pizza and chose the "Paulista" (Sao Paulo style with heart of palm and peas), I think because it was vegetarian and also because I could not imagine that plain canned peas would be used. The canned peas dried out less in the oven than you would expect and were impressively vile.
In Salvador, we were able to sample traditional foods. Acarajé is made from bean massa (blackeyed peas). The same product steamed in banana leaves, abara, has the appearance and texture of a perfect mudpie (very fine particles, just enough water to stick together, firm enough to cut). It was bland with a faint unpleasant undertaste (probably dried shrimp). I liked acarajé fried.

Sarah says that she liked acarajé and that she suspects that I am writing something unfair about it, so here is a quote about the importance an virtues of acarajé. I have read that acarajé is not only a traditional food in Bahia and Ghana, it is associated with the Candomblé religion.

"Acarajé belongs to the cult of Iansá. Iansá is the Lady of the Winds and the flash of lightning. It represents freedom in the figure of the wind. It corresponds to Saint Barbara in the Catholic Religion. She carries a scimitar, her colors are red combined with white and her ritual greeting is EPAHEI!
Acarajé is made and sold by women in Bahia and has been declared "heritage culture" of this region of Brazil. "




Figurine at Pousada Redfish in Salvador

Jenniferi

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