makanandcomida

This incredibly stunning view of Corcovado and Rio was captured by one of our neighbors yesterday:

The Kilo restaurant hype (os kilos) is something I had heard of before arriving in Rio but not really understood the fun of it. Going to a buffet style mainly lunch venue to choose and have the food weighted did not appeal to me at first. BUT after some month I must say the concept is not bad at all. For us newcomers it offers the chance to try a wide variety of different brazilian foods and ingredients without having to order a full plate of anything unknown and going out for food with kids gives them the chance choosing by eyesight which without speaking much portuguese yet is an advantage.

But a kilo is not a kilo as there a numerous varieties. There are the very large kilo restaurants with hundreds of seats that serve standard brazilian fare – lots of rice, beans, meat stews and some greens as well as all types of fried stuff. They look like large canteens or old day railway station restaurants. These are normally found downtown and next to large office complexes and popular for quick everyday office lunch – I skip those. Then there is the smaller, family run kilo with “comida caseira” – homemade cooking, consisting of daily varying home cooked meals, fresh salad buffet and desserts. We have one very near to our home, Maricotinha (I’m still trying to find out what that means), that we often frequent. There the food is just as you would imagining the brazilian avozinha (grandmother) cooking and some of the older ladies in the kitchen look just that. The ambience of the restaurant is casual but far from being modern or trendy and that’s why I come to the third category of  kilo restaurants. These are the sleek, lofty, modern kilos that are more and more emerging , serving high end, healthy, often organic buffet style food with a large variety of great salads, ranging from lentils with beetroot and feta, to quinoa with squid as well as all kinds of often asian and/or italian inspired dishes. Today I had lunch at biscui restaurante  in Copacabana – recommended and yummy! Prices at the kilo vary significantly from 2 Reais (1EUR amount to 2.4 Reais today) per 100g to 8 Reais.

. 

Today I went to my favorite small market place in our neighborhood – Cobal de Botafogo. A place that sells fresh fruit and fish, has a couple of great wineshops and Delis and the best place to buy small middle eastern delicacies such as Kibe. Kibe is Brazil’s most popular arab snack that you can buy nearly in all bar de sucos (juice bars serving a huge variety of freshly squeezed juices and salgados (fried or baked snacks)).

Kibe is traditionally made out of beef and bulgur wheat but can be found with lots of different meats today. Her comes the standard recipe:

You will need:

• 200g of bulgur wheat (in Brazil it is called trigo para Quibe, Perlweizen for my German friends)
• 500g of minced beef
• 700 ml of boiling water or stock
• 2 large finely chopped onion
• 1 pressed clove of garlic
• 1 bunch of fresh mint finely chopped
• nutmeg, salt and pepper
• Oil for frying

Soak the bulgur wheat for some 30-40 min in the hot stock or water. Drain should there remain excess liquid after that period. In the meantime fry the 1 diced onion and garlic in some olive oil, add half of the minced meat and brown. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and fresh mint.

In a food processor mix with the remaining onion, raw minced meat and drained bulgur wheat. Shape around 30 tear drop like kibes and fry in hot oil for around ten minutes or bake in 200 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Serve drizzled with fresh lime juice. Great as a pre-dinner snack with a cold beer or caipirinha!

Welcome to my food blog featuring the Bahasa Malay and the Portuguese and Spanish name for food.

I just love food, reading cookbooks and even more eating itself!

As for me the most important part of eating with family and friends is about being together and talking to each other. The food served should provide the perfect background for this whether it is a dinner for two, a relaxed evening with some good friends or a larger or more formal occasion. But the preparation of food should never prevent the cook from taking part in the entertaining! therefore my favorite recipes are all easy to compile, leaving myself enough time to enjoy the guests.

I have never learned to cook professionally but from an early age my parents made sure that I would know the basics. As a student having to provide for myself I soon found my inspiration from reading loads of cookbooks and experimenting. Moving to Uganda in the 90s, a place where at that time you hardly could buy anything ready-made or preserved but with an abundance of fresh ingredients, I really started to learn and love cooking. Eating my way around the different places we have stayed ever since has just widened the friends met, the nice meals shared, the ingredients used and the cookbooks collected.

After leaving Malaysia and the delicious South East Asian Makan in the middle of this year behind, moving across half the world to Rio de Janeiro, I hope to provide you with a wide range of new culinary experiences and comida tipica from Brazil and the Latin American continent.

The recipes are all inspired of nice lunches, dinner and parties with friends were the food served provided the perfect setting. This compilation would not be possible without all the good food and ideas friends provided me with. Please continue!