Cowboys and Cow Ribs

Imagine if you were attending a local festival celebrating your culture. Perhaps it is a bit of a mini-family reunion where your extended family has traveled to join in the festivities. As you are seated around your table waiting for food, someone approaches the table to tell you that there are foreigners present and they need a place to sit.

Would you welcome them to your table?

Let me tell you about my Sunday.

Early in the week we had been told by some friends about a festival taking place just outside the city. Costela ao Fogo de Chão festival, or more a way of cooking and eating, that celebrates the Brazilian Gaucho, cowboys typical to South America and from what I’ve learned most prominent in the south of country. You will likely hear of them in Argentina too which creates a bit of a rivalry from what I hear.

We made the decision to attend the festival after Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day and arrived to look around, not exactly sure what we were in for. We knew the costela (ribs) were a big draw, but we didn’t know what else was involved. The day turned out to be quite the cultural and culinary adventure, one we weren’t at all expecting.

We soon found a gymnasium-type facility decked out in colorful decorations, overflowing with people and filled with dinner tables. In the middle of each table was a round base, and in this base was a massive piece of cow rib.

Throughout the dining rooms there were tables set up with vinaigrette (tomatoes with onion, lime juice and parsley), lettuce, mandioca (yucca, manioc), rice, farofa (toasted mandioca flour with bacon, onion and corn) and rolls. The idea was to surround your table with family and friends, fill your plate from the salad bar and then feast off the slab of ribs elevated in the center of the table.

We weren’t exactly sure how things worked. Many of the tables were reserved and we had started to think that it was a private event or maybe that we needed to have made reservations. Finally we saw a gentleman dressed in gaucho attire and we decided to ask him what we were supposed to do and if we could eat.

Immediately he asked us if we were German (as usual). My husband told him we were from the US and from that point things just happened so fast. Before we knew it he had grabbed a lady who happened to be an English teacher. She was asking us if we had someplace to sit and told us to hold on while she found the boss.

It turns out that the boss was the head of the CTG (Centros de Tradições Gaúchas) organization. He appeared very happy to see us and in a few minutes we were directed to the table of his family. As it turned out two members spoke English and even though my husband told them he spoke Portuguese and I spoke a little they continued to communicate with us in English. Incredibly hospitable, in my opinion. They were having a bit of a family reunion and let us know that their family was from Rio Grande de Sul (known for gaucho traditions) and had moved to both Curitiba and Maringá.

I have to say it was the most welcoming, gracious experience I have had in our two years here. Looking back, the whole event and how we were treated was unbelievable. Here we were complete strangers, foreigners at that, and we were simply wondering if we could get a table to eat. They welcomed us to the experience, and were clearly excited for us to witness a piece of their culture. We were even addressed during the announcements!

So let’s talk about this costela (the rib meat of the cow) as it was certainly the main attraction at this event. Our new friends told us that the ribs are salted the night before and then the cooking begins about 5:00 a.m. over the open flame. That means they cooked for about seven hours before making it to the table. Fogo de Chão, which you may be familiar with because it is the name of a popular chain of Brazilian restaurants in the US, is roughly translated fire of the floor, or fire of the earth.

The meat was coming out all over the place, and if you weren’t carefully, chances are you would get bumped in the backside with a big slab coming out on a long metal pole with a sharp hook which the meat was attached too. From there, on the table it goes and the designated carver slices off pieces for everyone around the table.

The meat itself was just okay. This was much more about the experience itself. It was very, very fatty and resembled a roast beef like my mom makes at home with the carrots and potatoes. I can appreciate the fact that it is loved around here though. I just can’t eat it like most Brazilians do, fat and all. I carefully picked around the fat to get to the better meat. As is the case at most parties here, a second portion was practically forced upon us, but after that I was done for sure. The rice, vinaigrette and farofa were much more to my liking.

At dinner the family was telling us about their horse. He was described as a champion and after we ate we went out with a large group of people to walk through the stalls and take some pictures of him. We were met by a barn full of horses, some wanting a bit of attention, others content to eat their hay and still others a bit moody.

The champion’s name turned out to be Zeus. Zeus fully met the criteria of being a self-confident champion. He was bit irritated at being bothered during his hay munching. As one of the men teased him a little, I have never in my life seen a horse practically bust through a stall gate to try to bite someone. Zeus may have been beautiful, but he was not all that friendly. In fact, they closed up the stall and I didn’t even get a picture. He looked like his day was going bad enough already and I didn’t think a photo would sit too well given his current mood.

We did meet some other friendly horses. The names were the best part because many of them were in English. My husband really liked Cowboy.

Hanna was my favorite; a sweet girl with her head out of the stall welcoming anyone who passed by to give her a scratch. I couldn’t help but laugh when two young boys walked up to give her hay and started calling her Hannah Montana. Apparently she is popular here too.

What a completely unexpected day. In fact, until about 10 minutes before, we weren’t even sure we would go. I’m so glad we did and it makes me wonder if I’ll ever have the opportunity to return this type of hospitality and cultural experience to a complete stranger someday.


This culture and culinary experience was a good fit for both my blogs so you'll find this cross-posted at Fake Food Free.

I Had a Feeling…

Over this past weekend we finally tried out the newest place in town – Flor Café. It had been described to me as being “chic” and unlike anything else in Maringá. The outside certainly had us intrigued. It is in a two story building on a corner with large windows around the front and side.

True to its name, Flor Café does have flowers. In fact, it is like a coffee shop slash home décor shop. Half of it has couches that I can only assume are for sitting, but they look a bit more like an upscale furniture store display. Surrounding this area is all kind of home décor gift items for sale as well as candy and flowers.

Although the service counter is filled with the typical pastel, empanada, fried snack selection that every single café I’ve ever been to in Brazil has, the rest of the menu is kind of nice. Lots of desserts and specialty coffees/hot chocolates. And get this! The sandwiches actually come with chips or a small salad!

This issue has been an ongoing point of discussion among my husband and I and we were surprised when the lack of a “side” was also mentioned by a visitor not long ago. When you order a sandwich here you just get the sandwich. Not that I enjoy eating lots of chips, but sometimes you just crave a little something else. We are so used to the whole ½ and ½ soup, salad, sandwich combos in the US it feels like something is missing when you just get a sandwich. Anyway, apparently you can get that something at Flor Café.

We did have dinner while there. We shared the mushroom bruschetta. My husband had the croque monsieur on which they went a bit crazy with the cheese. Is there even a sandwich under there?

Oh, that little swirl of orange with black specs in it, that’s maracujá. It tasted like they cooked it down into a reduction and crushed the seeds. That stuff is so amazing. I wished they had drizzled the whole plate!

I had the individual escondidinho de carne seca which is one of my favorite Brazilian dishes. It has been described as a Brazilian Shepherd’s pie with the top made of mandioca (yucca, manioc) instead of potato. This one came out wrapped like a gift. I have no idea why. Too keep warm? To make it fancy? I’m not quite sure.

So this is where it started.

I had a feeling with this being such a chic, modern establishment in the city that there would likely be English somewhere. The place does have a bit of international flair. When it came time for dessert, I got up to look at the cakes and pies at the counter. A waiter asked me (in Portuguese) if I had questions. I asked him about one of the cakes and he proceeded to describe each one to me.

He was about halfway through and he said, “Where are you from?”

And there it was.

Turns out he lived in Tampa for five years. Later he started a conversation with my husband, and, of course, apologized that his English wasn’t very good. Yeah right. I didn’t even noticed an accent and his use of the word “cool” gave away that he had been in the U.S. a while.

Always a small world around here. It's nice that we are continually meeting new, friendly people.
So as for Flor Café, a cool place for sure. I probably wouldn’t go back for dinner because it wasn’t exceptionally exciting and a bit overpriced, however, if I’m in the mood for a fancy coffee or hot chocolate I’ll be swinging back by.

I guess I should clarify that the dinner wasn’t overly exciting except for one item offered. I got a picture off the menu.

This is brie cheese baked in a pastry and served with honeycomb. How tasty is that? However, at R$52 on a menu of things costing R$20 or less it is quite a splurge.

The Last of the Food Fests

A week or so before I left to head back to the US for my visit in May the city held another World Food Feira. I’ve been so fortunate to have experienced these events multiple times, but I fear this may have been my last one. I think there might be another one coming up soon, but I’m not sure I’ll be here to enjoy it.

This one was exciting because…ta-da! My favorite sweets lady got a sign for her booth!

She also had some new treats to share which were 50 centavos more expensive per item, by the way. I have a feeling it might have been to cover the cost of the new sign. Luckily, her sweets are worth every penny. In fact, I feel kind of sorry for all the other doces booths there. They don’t get much business when she is around.

First, was the usually cocada in the cup. I like this so much more than the variety that is laid out to dry and get crunchy. This type you eat with a spoon and my absolute favorite is the one with maracujá (passion fruit). Oh, and I’ve discovered the secret to getting it just the way I like it. Buy it the very first day.

I love it when it is really tart along with the sugary sweet syrup it is mixed in. However, as it sits for the two weeks that the feira takes place, the sugar seems to take over and it loses all of the tartness associated with the fruit. My husband suggested I go ahead and get it the first night there and I was pleased for sure.

Her new item this time was doce de abóbora – pumpkin candy. This certainly isn’t a new thing, but I have never seen her offer it before. Now this is some interesting stuff. My husband loves it. I love pumpkin everything, but I just can’t seem to develop a fond taste for this sweet. It is sugary like the others, but carries this raw squash flavor with it that is difficult to explain. I can enjoy it in small bites, but I only want a little. I guess roasted pumpkin is more my thing.

Now, shifting gears to the Portuguese tent. The last time I went to this particular fest a good friend of mine taught me all about the Portuguese desserts. A lady, who has some mad skill at pushing marketing her product sells traditional Portuguese desserts. The pastries travel in from Sao Paulo state and you can only get them at this fest each year. They are first come, first serve and once she runs out, that’s it.

Knowing this bit of important info we headed to the booth on one of our first nights at the fest. Having never been to Portugal and using only these desserts as my judge (not a good move, I know), I would say the popular desserts there are based in egg-heavy custards and nuts. Very different from my neck of the woods, yet good at the same time.

Unfortunately I have no idea what the names of these items are. When I said the woman selling them was good at marketing I really meant she talked incredibly fast. Even my husband had a hard time catching every word. So basically we chose by looks and a few random words such as nozes (nuts) and specific fruits.

The first one consisted of a dry paper-like pastry holding a sweetened, egg custard. It was thick and rich. The pastry probably doesn’t sound too appetizing with my description, but it went well with the custard.

Next, this one was chosen based on that huge walnut on top. We have walnuts here, but they are very expensive so I jump at the chance to get them when they are included in other things I’m buying. It was similar to a nut pie or tart. A pie-like crust filled with a sweetened nut paste.

Oh yeah, we did have some actual food and not simply sweets while we were there, but nothing out of the ordinary that I haven’t posted about before.

So maybe I’ll be surprised if another feira pops up before I leave. But otherwise I send a sweet farewell to one of the best things about the city of Maringá.

Cathedral on Corpus Christi

Thursday was an exciting day around Maringá. In fact, I even planned my last trip to the US so that I could be back for it. It was the feast of Corpus Christi. This isn’t something we are used to celebrating much in the US even though we are Catholic. After a little research I learned this is because in English speaking countries the holiday is often celebrated on the following Sunday and not on the actual day.

Well, it is huge deal around here; bigger than Easter if you judge by the crowds around the Cathedral. What makes it even more an intriguing event here is the carpets that line the walkway in front of the church.

Before moving to Brazil we had seen a documentary based in Ouro Preto where this same practice took place on Easter weekend. We were disappointed to learn that this wasn’t common on Easter here, but then learned about Corpus Christi.

My husband and I were discussing on Thursday that we don’t know what the actual word for the creation is in Portuguese. In that documentary they translated it to carpets so that is what we have used to refer to them.

People were up early on Thursday morning. We heard that they start the night before, but this wasn’t the case this year. I’m not sure if we got false info or if it was because it had rained the previous night.

We went out early because we were curious about how these beautiful carpets were constructed from the beginning. We learned that they start on a piece of paper where often the group in charge has already drawn out the design.

Then for most of them, words and designs are lined with colored yarn, often black. After that, things like salt, sand and wood chips that have been blended with colors are used to create the picture. It looks to be a tedious job that takes a lot of time even with 4 or 5 people working on each one.

The carpets are left there for the day and mass takes place about 3:00pm. After mass, there is a procession along the carpets with the Eucharist. The whole day we wondered what happened to the carpets after the mass and realized as we drove back from dinner that night that they are simply left there to dissolve into the road and nearby ground. Papers and sand were all over the road where the beautiful carpets lay early in the day.

It is kind of sad to see all that hard work go to waste, but I’m not quite sure what you would do with them anyway. All I know is that they were certainly an amazing site to see as they were being created and completed throughout the day.

This was my husband's favorite.

This was my favorite.

I don't think this guy really had a favorite. He was sleeping through all the action.

The Sites in Curitiba

We didn’t get to all the sites in Curitiba, but we did see several. I mentioned that I took the tour bus ride last year so I’ve had a sneak preview to most things there. This time we had the opportunity to go back and explore a little more.

Let’s start with my favorite – Parque Barigüi. There is just something about a beautiful park with walking and bike lanes filled with people out getting daily exercise that I love. I usually find a place like this everywhere I travel and Curitiba was no exception.

It was absolutely packed when we were there. I’m not sure if it was typical for a Saturday, because it was sunny and that rarely happens in Curitiba, or because of a festival we later found.

What made it even better where the families of Capivara living there. There were two that didn’t seem to mind people at all. They hung out, sleeping I think, while people crowded around them and took photos.

While in the park we stumbled on a local foods event - The Flavors of Paraná. I thought this was great since my interest in local food has been growing lately. It just felt all authentic and full of local culture. There were foods from small companies all over the state from jams to cookies to coffee.

Jalepenos too – R$5 for a huge jar! This beats the R$14 I was tempted to spend at the supermarket in Maringá. I miss spicy food!

Another stop was the Municipal Market. It was an interesting afternoon looking through a lot of imported stuff. Most things were expensive, but it would still be nice to have access to it from time to time. We don’t have anything like this in Maringá.

They had a really nice fruit and vegetable market inside too. I was a little disappointed with the dining options. It lacked character a bit in my opinion, but overall the place was fun to explore.

We also visited Parque Tanguá. There were some beautiful views of Araucaria trees there. It is a pretty place, but not as nice as Barigüi for me. I guess the draw here is the huge overlook. It kind of loses its appeal when you find out that it is not natural, but there due to mining in the past. But in fairness we got lost both going and returning so maybe that put a damper on my impression of the whole thing.

We went to several shopping places. Shopping Crystal – very upscale but there is a Havanna (remember the Alfajor?) café inside the bookstore there, Shopping Estação – lots of food options and the stores were more affordable, and Shopping Barigüi.

We were surprised to find an ice skating rink on the bottom floor of Shopping Barigüi. We joked about trying it out, but after seeing the gear they required – no thank you. Helmets, knee and elbow pads. I have been ice skating many times in the past and never got this geared up. Safe, sure, but not all that comfortable.

I spent a lot of time exploring Batel and I absolutely loved that area. One afternoon, I walked from Batel to the Rua das Flores. This is the pedestrian shopping area in town. It is also near the beautiful cathedral, Catedral Basílica.

I’ve mentioned that Curitiba felt so much like Europe to me. I especially felt that in the Batel area. Although Rua das Flores appeared to be similar to the pedestrian shopping areas in the European cities I’ve explored, it felt more like Brazil than any other area I visited on our trip.

The exterior felt European, but the atmosphere was very Brazilian. There were kilo buffets everywhere and the stores felt very much like the ones we have here in Maringá.

Obviously it should feel this way because I was in Brazil, but it was just interesting that other areas felt so much like Europe and the one place that was so similar, a pedestrian only street, felt so much like Brazil.

I also visited Praça Japão or Japan Square. I found it amazing how the moment I stepped off the loud, bustling street and into the park it was quiet. It is like this oasis in the noisy city. It was peaceful and people were just there to relax.

I walked A LOT, and let me tell you, all that cobblestone works your legs in some unique ways. It is beautiful, but it is difficult to walk on. I watched in sheer amazement as many women navigated it in 3 inch, spike heels. Um, I’ll take my Crocs, thanks.

On the list for our next visit:
Curitiba Zoo
Santa Felicidade – Little Italy