Lunches

Our lunches on this trip have been dictated entirely by our sightseeing, wherever we are around 2 or 3 we start to look for a place. We’ve had incredible luck with this. Yesterday we were shopping in Impanema. My dad "needed" some black pants and a black shirt. After we found the shirt it was time to eat and we decided on one of the many lunch counters that are all over Rio.

These are BUSTLING places, some have tables but at most of them you order and eat standing at the counter. We ordered mango juice to begin with and decided on a bacon cheeseburger for my dad and a bacon chicken sandwich for me.

Eating here was a total scene, as my dad said. It was a small space and there were 3 people working directly behind the counter to take orders. There was a large display of fruit, so I couldn’t see how many people were cooking. The rest of the space was filled with customers eating at the counter and picking up to go orders.

My chicken sandwich was totally delicious and stuck with me well past dinner…Together with the fresh mango juice my bill was just under $3US.



This morning we went to the botanical gardens and walked around the 1.5 square kilometer garden for a few hours. It was an incredible place with orchid, bromeliad, and carnivorous plant houses. The original palm trees were planted in 1808 when the garden was established, my dad said this was 100 years before Central Park.

Despite the shade and cloud coverage I think I sweat about 8 gallons. Our next stop was towards the centro to a street lined with record and cd stalls, since someone I know got a record player for Christmas. Before that though, we actually picked out a lunch spot. Our cab driver got us there, but the place in the Lonely Planet was closed and in its stead was a pay by the kilo middle-eastern establishment.

I was excited to try a pay by the kilo place, they are all over the place and an inexpensive way to eat—my dad’s plate was about $2US and mine was about $4US. These prices are such a change from Paris, it still blows my mind!!

It was just like a normal buffet at home:



Help yourself and weigh at the end—the plate’s weight is taken into account.



Here’s what I can tell you I had:
A grape leaf, that could have been cabbage or another green, stuffed with meat
Chicken nuggets
Hummus
A kind of Tabbouleh but with cucumbers and greens
Two different kinds of meatballs, although one was more like a sausage with a lot of bread in it and no casing
Sweet plantains with cinnamon
A dry yogurt
Steamed carrots
A slice of pizza with a doughy crust and no tomato sauce
Black beans and rice
Lentils with rice and bits of bacon
Roast eggplant that was cubed
Cubed mango

There were a couple of condiments, but I’m not sure what they were…The flavors were all quite mild, but I was happy that the meats tasted like there was nutmeg and mint in them, which is always a nice flavoring. We left satisfied, our bodies having a sufficient amount of time to absorb the air conditioning, ready to do some record shopping.

Some Sights from Rio

Careme Bistro

Given the choice between having one last extraordinary meal and heaven I would choose the meal without even thinking. While I was in Paris I thought a lot about the idea that most chefs when asked what their last meal would be say a meatloaf sandwich or fried catfish. I agree with that, comfort food is what you’d like for your last meal, but for a truly inspiring bit of entertainment and nourishment for my money, I’ll take a top tasting menu. I’ve been lucky enough to sample quite a few over the years thanks to my dad’s interest in food and every time it is like a 7-10 course party where the purpose is to indulge.

It is hard to indulge when traveling alone unless there is a tasting menu and I have yet to eat at a place that has one. Even if you order a few appetizers it still falls short of what you would taste were you note alone. I think every single restaurant, from fast food to slow food, should have some kind of tasting menu.

Again thanks to my dad, I had the chance to sample one of the top Rio restaurants with a tasting menu last night. There were seven main courses and three desserts. The portions were perfectly sized and timed so that you could make through all ten. Not only was the food exquisite—from the flavor combinations to presentation, but the entire staff was personable and helpful. It was truly a top-notch dining experience.

The first course was a spicy gazpacho with cream cheese. It was served in a glass that was slightly larger than a shot glass with a demi-tasse spoon.

Next was a terrine of boursin cheese and roast zucchini, red and yellow peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. This was served with a small green salad and pistachio vinaigrette that gave the entire dish the most wonderful nut flavor.



This was followed by salmon cured there at the Bistro served over top of a sweet potato fritter/pancake with a kind of lemon sauce that had the lightest lemon flavor it could possibly have and still be lemon. This was by far my favorite.



Next came fresh foi gras draped over an orange-onion marmalade with a veal reduction sauce (I think) and another butter sauce. This was an incredible combination of flavors and one of our favorites.



Grilled sea bass with a tapioca bead and fava bean sauce arrived next. The sea bass was accompanied by a tomato stuffed with langostine (which I think is crawfish) and my dad said it was an oyster topping, but I’m not sure if that is right. Either way, it was the best part of this dish and could have easily stood on it’s own.



The next item neither my dad or I had ever had—guinea fowl with a reduction, a tapioca soufflé and a single baby leek. This was melt in your mouth, packed with flavor poultry. The opposite of what we get at home.



The final savory course was ostrich in a juniper berry sauce, with a slice of goat cheese between the two slices of ostrich and a wild mushroom strudel. This was a very meaty meat and also something that I had never had before. What was so nice about this dish is that the mushrooms had an equally meaty flavor and so it was another perfect combination.



Now it was time for dessert. A vanilla panecott, which was an Italian custard and I’m pretty sure I don’t have it spelled correctly. There were vanilla beans in the custard and it was topped with a raspberry coulis. Totally delectable.



Next was an incredible tart tatin topped with a thin layer of crème brulee and a wonderful biscuit crust. As far as we could tell this was made in three separate pieces and layered together before it arrived at our tables. Later the manager told us in six years this is the one item that stays on the menu.



Finally, last but not least was the chocolate madness. Three chocolate treats—ice cream, crème brulee, and a ganache on top of a hazel nut cookie, which was really a lot like a rice crispy treat but better. We were told that if you order this a la carte it comes with six different chocolate treats.



Not until after the parade of dishes did we learn that the chef, Flavia Quaresma at Careme Bistro is one of the top in South America. She is a proponent of using local-organic ingredients whenever possible to create her incredible Brazilian inspired French dishes. I think that the manager told us that she wasn’t cooking last night because she was filming her television program in Sao Paulo. The chef on hand did an exquisite job and also was extremely kind in walking us through the menu in English until the manager returned.

Feijoada, Kind of...

Feijoada, is a dinner tradition in Rio served only on Saturdays. According to the Lonely Planet the dinner it consists of black beans cooked with a variety of meats, salt, garlic, onion, and oil. The stew is then served with white rice, shredded kale, croutons, fried manioc flour, and pieces of oranges.

On Sunday dad and I spent most of the day at the Ferria Hippie, the hippie fair. Now as most of you know I hate people who claim to be hippies, maybe hate is a strong word, but I’m not for them, however all the books said this was the place for Brazilian handicrafts. Also, I’m never one to pass up a good market and this turned out to be a great market.

There was leather, jewelry, crafts, clothes, paintings, and pottery. It took us almost 3 hours in all to walk around the entire park, but after about halfway around we needed some food. There was a restaurant facing the park and it looked like a winner. There was an extensive menu—pizza, sandwiches, meats, seafood, and a whole page of sugar cane liquors.

After looking through the menu, changing my mind about 8 times, I decided on a pineapple pizza then at the last minute I switched and went with the black bean soup which was called feijoada. I knew it wouldn’t be the full Saturday meal, but I thought it I would get a good idea about what the feijoada was like.



The black beans were pureed and arrived with crispy lardoons and shredded greens. The soup was soupy, not at all like the black bean stews we tend to make at home, with a hearty meat flavor. I sprinkled in the lardoons and kale and enjoyed the salty, garlicky flavor. It took me back to my semester in the Yucatan where every lunch was started with a hot bowl of soup. It really does cool you down.

Mango-Ginger Party

Last night for dinner we went to Sushi Leblon and I was able to continue my journey for all things mango with a mango sorbet, roasted ginger, and honey.



On the way over our rather opinionated cab driver told us Brazilian television stars used to go there and even though they no longer hang out at Sushi Leblon, we would still see a lot of beautiful people. It is also written up in all the books for it’s creative, quality sushi, such as salmon stuffed with foi gras, and a scallop-foi gras kind of sashimi.

Our eyes were drawn to the combination platters when we first glance of the Portuguese menu. As my dad said, “Sushi menus are hard enough for me in English, let alone Portuguese.” Luckily we were ready to spend some time with the menu and it turns out we were able to do a pretty good job of deciphering things. At one point I asked our waiter what one word meant and he brought us English menus. It was almost the exact same menu, not much was actually translated. So, this morning we bought an English/Portuguese dictionary.

It was a great menu and after ordering some of the best gyoza dumplings I’ve ever had, we began to order our sushi slowly. We started out with my standard favorite—shrimp tempura roles. We also got crunch salmon, which was thinly sliced salmon used in place of the nori and with sushi rice on the inside and topped with a puree of some kind. It wasn’t roe, it was an herbed something or other. For the crunch there were little balls of what could have been Cheerios. It was the smoothest and most elegant bite I remember having. We also tried the scallop-foi gras combo during this round. Of the three that was my least favorite. The pieces didn’t really go together. In addition to the foi gras and scallops there was a tomato puree and sprinkles of hot pepper.

The table beside us was starting to get their food at this point. I saw an interesting item, which turned out to be a hot philadelphia roll. This was something I have never, ever seen before. It was a normal roll—seaweed, cream cheese, salmon and some green onion, that had some kind of batter on it and was then deep-fried. It looked incredible. So we got that, shitake, and eel. The eel and shitake were under the sashimi section, as best we could tell. The shitake had been pan-fried, laid over top the rice like sashimi and a thin slice of nori was wrapped around it. The eel came out standard—over top of rice with that wonderful sauce—a sweeter and thicker soy sauce. The hot philadelphia roll, while it looked good was bland and the breading wasn’t quite right. It was too dried out, I think it would have been much better with panko bread crumbs. It would provide a better contrast in textures.

After this we decided on one more eel and the first salmon roll we had. Those were our favorites and a perfect end to a totally delightful meal. Then we were handed the dessert menu. We often turn down dessert, but never the menu. There it was, again I had seen it be served to our table neighbors, the mango sorbet with roast ginger. I had to get it.

I was not disappointed. The mango sorbet was on the creamy side with just the right softness and not too sweet. The ginger was in some kind of honey sauce and was roasted to thin little spicy crisps. It was a taste sensation. The sorbet was a neutral palette for the ginger, which had a tangy, spicy-ness that is totally unique and of course takes on different levels of flavor depending how the ginger is prepared. This roasting the ginger gave it a concentrated flavor that lingered in my taste buds long after I finished eating.

Santa Teresa

Today my dad and I went up to the Santa Teresa neighborhood here in Rio. To get there you take a trolley car.



Once we got to the top we saw Christ the Redeemer, which is a huge monument that overlooks the city. This is the closest we’ve been to it and it was still a ways away.



It was kind of like extreme eastern Kentucky with structures built into the mountain in a way I’ve never seen before. Peach Orchard has nothing on Santa Teresa.

Mango

After 12 hours of sleep I finally felt refreshed from 2 days of traveling. I debated between reading by the pool or walking around. My dad was out on a bike ride and I didn’t have to meet him until 1. I opted for walking around to look for some food, since I slept through the hotel breakfast.

I walked a couple blocks in from the beach and was surprised at the level of activity. None of the stores were open since it was Sunday, but there were a lot of people walking around and a few people selling things on the street. I found a grocery store which was selling a bottle of Campari for about $9US and made a mental note to return. Then I found a juice counter. I wasn’t feeling that adventurous about eating, despite the variety of sweet and savory pastries they sold, so I settled on a glass of mango juice.



When I was in college I spent my semester abroad in Mexico and more specifically in the Yucatan Peninsula. Staying in the Yucatan is a bit like being in the southern part of the United States—there is a different accent, different food, and different cultural influences mostly from the Mayan. It is also a very tropical area—Cancun is on the coast of the Peninsula. I lived with a family and my senora was ALWAYS trying to get me to eat papaya and mango. I didn’t really like them at the time, which was a shame I realize because they practically grew in our backyard.

So this morning when I ordered the juice I wasn’t sure I would like it. I hoped I would, because who wants to leave a full glass on the counter. Turns out I loved it. It was thick, more like a milkshake than juice and not all that sweet. It was actually the perfect balance of sweet and bitter for me. I didn’t see them make it because there was a Coke machine in the way, but I’m pretty sure it was pure, fresh mango. I decided it was a much better way to start the morning than coffee.

Beach Food

On the way to Rio I studied the food sections of the guide books. Rio’s history of near colonization by the French and certain colonization by the Portuguese makes for an international flavor when it comes to the food. In between colonization and independence there have been a variety of ethnic groups settle here adding to Brazilian food traditions.

There is one force that is perhaps more influential than any ruling country or settlers—the beach—and we are staying right on it. After our arrival we had a long morning and afternoon, which included a driving tour of the city and a nap, it turned out that we missed lunch. I suggested that we walk around a bit and see if we could turn up some of the beach snacks I read about.

We settled on one of the juice stands with a free table. These stands are scattered along that walkway, there is one every few feet it seems. They have tables, chairs, umbrellas and serve juice, beer, drinks, and food. It is more elaborate than what I imagined saw the words juice stand.



Dad and I both ordered Coco Frio, which is my dad’s favorite. I had never really had one because I don’t really like coconut anything, but I gave it a try. After a few sips I gave it to my dad…

For our snack we ordered garlic-fried chicken.



Upon arrival it was too hot to touch. Once it cooled down, we dug in. It was salty and garlicky and juicy and delicious. It wasn’t battered, like you would expect fried chicken to be. We weren’t entirely sure it was chicken at first because of the way it was butchered and because there was still a fair amount of fat on it. After a while we decided it definitely was chicken, much better than what we get at home.

After our snack we walked along the beach and watched the dwindling crowds, as the sun had set. People were fishing and flying kites still, but most of the sunbathers had gone home. We headed back to the hotel to hang out before our dinner.

Miami, I thought we were going to Rio

Late Thursday afternoon my dad and I loaded up the car and headed to the Huntington, West Virginia airport to begin our journey to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A journey is a long trip and this one definitely qualified—I left Whitesburg at 1:30 p.m. and we were expected to arrive at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning—right at 21 hours.

Unfortunately we weren’t quite that lucky. A 35 minute delay out of West “by God” Virginia turned the journey into 42 hours. We made it as far as Miami at 11:30 on Thursday, missing our flight by a mere 15 minutes, and couldn’t get out until 8:30 p.m. the next day. Such are the trials of traveling. You are at the airlines’ mercy, although my dad says you’re at war…

While my dad might be at war when he’s in the airport, he’s all about comfort when he’s not fighting. Not one to be content staying at the airport Marriott, he rang the Tides, the hotel he and my mom stayed at last month in South Beach. They were booked, so he called the Victor, a brand new art deco place also in South Beach.

We arrived and the lobby was packed with well dressed people and there was the standard, hipster, electronica music playing. I could barely look around—I was tired and I knew I looked it. We went straight to our room, I crashed into bed and my dad went out for a walk, not wanting to miss the opportunity to stare at people.

In the beautiful morning light I could see the purple and green lobby and pool and the ocean view as we walked to breakfast at the Tides, the hipsters had all gone to bed. The lobby at the Tides was different shades of white, a much more understated kind of decorating and there was no electronica. The Victor was a little over the top as far as I could tell.

After a walk looking at the different art deco buildings, my dad went for a bike ride, and I got re-packed. We met up to go for lunch at David’s Café, a Cuban spot. I have read about this lunch counter a few different times in food magazine’s or stories about South Beach. It is the one spot I saw that wasn’t done up or over. You walk in and right there is the counter, there are no tables, but there is a carry out window that you order from from the street. We grabbed the last 2 stools.

We sat at the counter and were given menus. I ordered one of the specials—roast pork and onions with beans, rice, and plantains. My dad got chicken soup, tostones, and plantains.



While the mansion that Versace was murdered at may have been around the corner, this was pure, unadorned, unfancy food and an extraordinary lunch. The pork and onions were tender and flavorful. The black beans were of the thick soup variety and arrived in a bowl and the rice was fluffy as a cloud. The plantains were the last of a big batch, so they were a bit dried out. My dad got some fresh ones, which were much better.

All in all this was a fabulous layover. I have been wanting to go to South Beach for a while now and with my dad I was lucky to be able to do it in style! I spent the rest of the afternoon reading on our hotel’s front porch. I began chatting with an older woman who was having a drink with her husband and she told me that the lobby was so happening last night because Shaquile O’Neal was having a party there…

Sushi Class for Beginners

Earlier this morning I unpacked my car from the Sushi for Beginners class I taught for the Pikeville College Community Education program on Saturday. It was my first time teaching a group about food. I knew after my crappy experience in France with a food tour that I wanted to be sure to provide sufficient information, context, and a lot of hands on experiences. So, I put together an outline and packet of information, loaded up the car with all my supplies, did some last minute grocery shopping, and headed over to the church kitchen where the class would take place.

The idea behind this class was that you could get everything you need to make sushi rolls at home in Pikeville, Kentucky thanks to the Super Walmart. They have the rice, the nori, and all the fillings you can think of. I wanted to keep the class fairly vegetarian so I went through the produce section and picked out some asparagus, spinach greens, shitake mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers, and shredded carrots. In the seafood section I got some crab meat, smoked oysters, and baby shrimp. I also picked up some canned corn, extra wasabi paste, nori, and soy sauce.

As I unpacked, after getting a tour of some painting that was going on in another part of the church for an Easter drive through, I decided that the huge island in the middle of the large kitchen would be the perfect spot to have people gather around for the rolling. I began my preparation—parboiling the asparagus and carrots, slicing the peppers, and mixing the crab, oysters, and shrimp in their own bowls with a small amount of mayo. All the sushi ingredients went on the island, I set up a rice station near a plug so my rice cooker could work it’s magic, and a soup station by the stove since we were also making an udon noodle soup.

At about 5 the class began showing up—it was a mixture of friends I recruited from Whitesburg, my parents, and some people from the community. We started by talking about the rice, which is short grain rice. As the rice cooked we went through the supplies needed and the different options for filling the rolls. My timing was a little bit off, so there was a bit of lag time between when the rice was finished and when we could start rolling.

After the rice was finished, we made the rice vinegar and sugar dressing that flavors the rice and everyone got a chance to make their first sushi rolls. It was so fun to watch—everyone was gathered around that island and passing around the one bamboo roller that we had. The sushi turned out beautifully.

As the class was mixing and matching fillings, I began the soup. I wanted to make a poached egg, noodle soup. I used store bought organic vegetable broth and flavored it with powdered ginger and garlic. My dad saved the day by helping me poach the eggs in a separate pot. I set out one bowl for each person, sprinkled in green onions and uncooked spinach leaves. As my dad finished the eggs one went into each bowl as well. In the broth pot I dumped in the shitake mushrooms, some of the bell peppers, and the noodles. As soon as the noodles were cooked everything was divided among the 10 bowls.

After all the food was prepared we all sat around a long table and ate the fruits of our labors! It was really, really fun to prepare and teach the class. The students did a great job rolling the sushi, and I learned a lot in the preparation for the class. If anyone is interested in getting the class packets, let me know via email and I can drop them in the snail mail. I have a few extras.