Brazzil
Food
March 2003
My wife's cousin Shirley (not her real name) moved to New Jersey from Brazil about a couple of years ago, but we had never found the time to get together—at least not until two weeks ago, when we finally went to 33rd St. (yes, we do miss the PATH station that used to be under The World Trade Center) and took the New Jersey Transit train into Newark, where there is a large Brazilian community not far from that city's Penn Station.
We walked to a nearby bakery where we were surprised to see every single thing written in Portuguese. The bakery did not seem luxurious. There were a few small tables filled with clients having their afternoon snacks or a cup of coffee. We ordered our snacks (it was about 3:00 PM and we still hadn't had lunch).
For the first time since we moved to New York I had a chance to drink guaraná (the national soft drink) and eat Portuguese-styled fried codfish cakes (bolinho de bacalhau) , coxinha de frango (a deep fried chicken fritter) and pastel de queijo (a Japanese-inspired fried cheese pastry) and other delicacies I had long been unable to savor.
Not that Brazilian cuisine was unavailable to me. As an amateur cook, I have prepared several Brazilian-styled main course dishes such as baião de dois (rice and beans cooked together and mixed with cheese and spices) and moqueca de camarão (a Bahia-styled coconut shrimp stew), but I—as of this writing—have never tried my hand at Brazilian snacks, so both, my homesick wife and I, were stuffing ourselves with the simple pleasures of South American cuisine.
As for my wife and cousin, they basically reminisced about their native Fortaleza and of the relatives they left behind back home as I happily poured cup after cup of tasty, strong Brazilian coffee (quite a change from the New York deli variety), which went for a measly 55 cents each.
Minutes became hours, and soon we realized night had come. My wife's cousin then invited us for a drink at Churrascaria Brasília, one of Newark's many popular Brazilian restaurants. We both thought we could use a Brahma (Brazil's number one beer brand) or a decently prepared caipirinha (a cachaça, lime and sugar cocktail), since there are few places where you can actually find one in New York.
We reached the Brasília a few minutes later, where we met with Bob, Shirley's cheerful Brazilian husband. He was having a chopinho (draft beer served in tulip glasses). We greeted each other, and as I sat I promptly ordered (in Portuguese!) a caipivodka (a variation of caipirinha using vodka since I'm not too crazy about cachaça), while Shirley and my wife settled for a jar of sangria.
Since we were all from Fortaleza (though originally from Michigan, I lived there for ten years before I returned to New York), we began reminiscing of earlier days, when we all lived in the warm Northeastern part of Brazil, where life was simpler, though cash was harder to get.
A few minutes later, Bob's cousins (all from Fortaleza, all living in Jersey) walked into the bar, and once their drinks were poured, we resumed the conversation. One of them, Paulo stared at me for a while, and began asking me questions about what I used to do in Brazil.
"You used to have a band there, right?", he asked me.
"Yes, I did," I said, surprised with his memory—after all, the last time I played with that band in Brazil was over six years ago."
"Where did you live back then?", he asked.
"On Barão de Aracati Street, in a big house that was recently converted into an event location."
As coincidences go, Paulo looked at me with disbelief after I'd uttered those very words.
"I used to live in that building across the street. I used to listen to you guys practicing."
No one at the table could believe in what was happening. After all, what are the odds of meeting your former neighbor from Brazil in a bar in New Jersey?
CAIPIRINHA
Ingredients:
1 shot cachaça (can be replaced with vodka or rum)
1 or two tablespoons sugar, to taste
1 medium sized lime
1-3 ice cubes, to taste
Thinly slice lime. Place slices in the bottom of a cocktail mixer (or medium glass). Add sugar and, with the back of a spoon, crush the lime and sugar together until well blended. Add cachaça and mix well. Add ice and enjoy
Serves 1.
BAIÃO DE DOIS
Ingredients:
1 small can of black-eye peas (frijol carita in Latin markets), drained
1 cup of rice, uncooked
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3/4 cup shredded queso blanco(white cheese) or queso de freir (frying cheese). Monterey jack cheese can also be used.
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chopped onions
1 tsp cilantro
salt and pepper to taste.
2 tbsp oil
Heat oil in a large pan. Add onions and garlic and sautée until tender. Add rice and fry it stirring it frequently. Add beans, water, cilantro, salt and pepper and cook for about 10-15 minutes until most of the broth is absorbed. Stir in cheese and cook until mixture is moist, but not too dry. Add more broth if you feel rice is too hard. Turn off stove and let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.
Serves 2 as main course - Serves 4 as side dish.
COXINHA DE FRANGO (Breaded chicken "thighs")
2 lbs cooked, shredded chicken breast, seasoned to taste
3 cups flour
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup ground breadcrumbs
oil for frying to taste
Mix chicken broth and milk in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add flour and cook the mixture, stirring constantly with a mixing spoon. When dough begins to detach from pan, gently move it to a bowl until mix is cooled.
Make small balls with cooled dough. Flatten balls in your hand and fill with cooked chicken and shape as a chicken thigh.
Dip "thighs" in milk and roll in breadcrumbs. Deep-fry until golden.
Ernest Barteldes is an ESL and Portuguese teacher. In addition to that, he is a freelance writer who has regularly been contributing to The Greenwich Village Gazette since September 1999. His work has also been published by Brazzil, The Staten Island Advance, The Village Voice, The Staten Island Register, The SI Muse, The Villager, GLSSite and other publications. He lives in Staten Island, NY. He can be reached at ebarteldes@nycny.net