A Trip To Sao Paulo!

I recently took a trip south of the equator for my first time when I visited our office in Sao Paulo, Brazil for a week. I know Brazil for a lot of people who haven't been conjures up thoughts of super hot temps with super hot people that are scantily clad milling about in cafes and on beaches. Nothing was further from the truth on that front. Brazil is in the early part of their spring now gearing up for summer so temps while at times hot were mostly in the low 70s and there were a few cloudy days that threatened rain and felt even cooler. It should also be noted that there was nary a thong in sight with everyone bundled up on those cooler days, albeit a little over the top in my opinion (I'm a New Englander, I'm not bundling up in 72 degree weather!).

I absolutely loved my week there and I'll tell you why. The city offers a ton in the way of night life...there's so much to do all the time and in a city of that size it's going on 24/7. Now, I was a far cry from dancing on tables until 5 in the morning on any night, but it was interesting to hear the tales of those that have (without having their hangover). Our office there is super nice and the people in it even more so, it really made the experience that much more enjoyable. One person in the office in particular, Gabriel, was a walking, talking food blog and I happened to set up shop for the week right next to him. Yep, once he got started asking me what I'd tried so far and what I should try throughout the week I knew I sat next to the cool kid in class (at least in my fictional food and drink classroom in my head). He told me how serious Brazilians take their food and what I absolutely had to try that week. Surprisingly sushi and Italian food are very popular and are done very well in an abundance of restaurants in Sao Paulo. There are certain days of the week devoted to certain foods...for instance, Thursday is lasagna day and Wednesday is reserved for Feijoada, a stew of rice and beans with beef or pork that is very traditional down there.

Brazilians have the most delicious little way to start the day in the form of pao de queijo, which means cheese bread and that's exactly what it is, formed into a round a little smaller than a tennis ball. Anytime you combine cheese with bread you have my attention and these just topped the charts of "delicious cheesy things" I've had in my life. Wherever you could buy pao de queijo you would also find in the next tray in the case coxinha, a traditional Brazilian snack that intrigued me from the get go due to it's cone shape. Of course, my walking food blog knew of the absolute best place in the area to have coxinha so we headed over for lunch one day and had one of each of the shredded chicken filling and shredded chicken with cream cheese filling. You can top them with ketchup or hot sauce, I chose the latter and dug in. I know you're all thinking that I must have gained ten pounds by this point in my trip and well...you're probably right. Luckily the scene I referenced in the first paragraph was not playing out according to popular belief.

There's a lot of great buffets in Sao Paulo, and while buffet for a lot of people means dried out, overcooked food that's been sitting under heat lamps for the last hour, such is not the case here. Whether you want traditional local foods, Italian or sushi there is a bevy of fresh, expansive buffets with everything your heart desires. I gave in to the sushi at the request of Gabriel one day and it was one of the best things that had ever happened to me. I felt quite literally like a kid in a candy store choosing amongst the options of tempura, dumplings, sushi, sashimi, salads and miso soup. Everything was so colorful and plump. What's great about any meal anywhere in Sao Paulo is that you can wash it all down with your choice of fresh squeezed juice. You can get fresh juice anywhere in the city in the form of orange, passion fruit, watermelon, pineapple...you name it. Brazil is a hub for great produce grown right there so you have access to what we would consider tropical and exotic fruits at every turn.

We wrapped up the week by attending a local street farmer's market that has vendors serving up pastel, another "must" on my list from Gabriel. This is where I almost didn't get on my plane coming home. Pastel according to Gabriel is the result of Brazil's failed attempt at making spring rolls. What actually came out of it is a rectangular shaped pastry that is filled with any number of items and fried in oil in just a few minutes while you wait. I chose the beef and cheese, Gabriel the heart of palm. You can also get shredded beef, seafood and pizza filling. Pastel goes perfect with the traditional Brazilian drink garapa, which is sugarcane juice that's often served with lime or pineapple. We had ours with lime and it was amazing--sweet but with the lime to cut it it was exactly what I wanted on a hot day. You grab a seat where you can amongst the farmers shouting out the great bargains on their wares and chow down. After we finished and strolled through the market, I stopped at a table of spices and seasonings and proceeded to buy the man out of his offerings, wondering the whole time if I was actually going to get this through customs but excited at the culinary creations that were dancing through my head as I selected spice after spice from his array.

I know you're probably thinking "where's the wine in this post?" and well...that was the one thing Brazil couldn't offer much of. Locally made I mean. Of course there's a fantastic wine selection at restaurants across the city, and certainly wines from Argentina and Chile are prominent, but Brazil while great at many things, isn't known for their wine production. Lucky for them the pao de queijo made up for it!

Until next time Sao Paulo!

Trish

PS--Dave turned 30 while I was gone...you see he didn't do his Aviation post he was supposed to. My guess is he probably had too many and forgot everything.