makanandcomida

Brazilian Valentine’s day (Dia dos namorados) was not celebrated yesterday but will rather be on June 12th, one day before the Saint Antonio’s day on June 13th. Saint Antonio is the marriage saint when traditionally many single women perform rituals (simpatias), in order to find a good husband or boyfriend.

So no business for flower shops or chocolatiers, but anyhow everybody is too busy with carnival to think about anything else!

We still had a Valentine’s dinner – no reason to to celebrate!

Recipe for red wine radicchio risotto with beef medallions for 2

• 400g of beef medallions
• 200g of Arborio rice
• 1 head of radicchio cut into strips
• 2 clove of garlic pressed
• 1 white onion finely cut
• 150-200ml of red wine
• 1 liter of hot vegetable stock
• olive oil
• 50g of butter
• 2tbs grated parmesan
• salt and pepper
• fresh flat leaf parsley

Heat a little olive oil in a pot, add the onion and garlic and allow to soften for some minutes. Add the radicchio and rice and fry for a couple of minutes constantly stirring. Add the red wine and stir until evaporated then slowly adding the hot stock in batches each time stirring until absorbed. Continue for about 15 minutes until nearly all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper, add the butter and parmesan and garnish with some fresh parsley.

Serve with grilled beef medallions and a good red wine.

This was another weekend very much under the motto of carnival. Even though the Military Police and Fire Brigades had called for a strike in the State of Rio and safety concerns for the parades emerged, the weekend turned out to be a peaceful one with tens of thousands taking to the streets to cheer their favorite blocos (bands).

Each bloco has its one song that will be repeated throughout the parade as well as their own t-shirts – colorful designs with the name of the bloco and lots of supporters are buying them to wear for the parade.

This one here is not wearing a costume though, but is one of the numerous xixi or pee walkers, belonging to the city cleaning brigades, prepared to fine anybody urinating in the streets as well as with some disinfection on hand!

Friday night we went out to a fabulous champagne and bubbly bar in Rua Babina in Botafogo called Ovelha Negra, meaning black sheep.

They serve hundreds of different Proseccos, Champagnes and bubblies from various corners of the world and offer as well small dishes such as cheese platters and sandwiches to go with it. The event was organized by InterNations a network of expats and locals around the world and a great opportunity to meet new people. Definitely a place to go back to.

Recipe for endive and blue cheese salad as a starter for 4 or as a main accompanying a grilled beef filet for 2

• 400g endives, cut into rings
• 150g plain yogurt
• 100g soft and strong blue cheese crumbled
• 1 clove of garlic pressed
• juice of 1 lime
• salt and pepper
• 2tbs of walnuts crumbled

Mix the yogurt, cheese and garlic. Season with lime juice salt and pepper. Toss in the endives just before serving and garnish with the walnuts.

A delicious salad to go with a grilled steak or as part of a bbq buffet or as we had it last night as a light dinner with a cheese board.

Yesterday I joined a group of women for chinese lunch at the Chinese Cultural Association in Rio. The place is located in the neighborhood of Tijuca, not one normally known for culinary highlights. But this one clearly is one.

The Associação Cultural Chinesa do Rio de Janeiro in Rua Gonçalves Crespo 450, in Tijuca, caters mainly for the chinese community but anybody is warmly welcomed. It counts about 800 members and has been opened since 1984.

We had delicious Peking duck, a dish you should order two days in advance to allow for the long preparation process (Tel 2293-2653) as well as  various steamed greens. The menu is large, ranging from fresh fish dishes, to pork, beef, seafood to rice and noodle dishes. The famous dim sums can be chosen as starter or part of a larger buffet to share. The drink menu is as large, offering caipirinhas, brazilian and chinese beers as well as plum and rice wines alongside traditional wines and non-alcoholic beverages.

I just regret getting to know about the place too late to attend this years chinese new years celebrations, that were held here two weeks ago, to welcome the year of the dragon. Next year a must!

Recipe for spicy prawn pasta for 2

• 200g spaghetti
• 500g peeled and cleaned medium sized prawns
• 2-3 red chilis finely diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic pressed
• 2-3 spring onions finely diced
• 10 baby tomatoes halved
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 buch of rocket or bay spinach
• olive oil, salt and pepper
• coriander
• 2 tbs grated parmesan

The last two evenings we had the privilege to spend wonderful time over dinner with two  artists that have made Rio their home a long time ago. Dirceu makes individually crafted jewelry and all his pieces are one-of-a-kind gems. He has shown his pieces in numerous exhibitions in Germany, Switzerland and Brazil.

Besides the jewelry, he as well is a great painter and his latest passion is creating wonderful kinetic objects or mobiles. Please check his website http://www.dirceukrepel.com  or his facebook page Dirceu Krepel to see all his pieces of art.

His wife Marianne is a sculptor and creates beautiful art pieces in clay and bronze as well as exquisite plates and bowls. Apart from that she is a great cook and wonderful hostess. You can find her on facebook as well under Marianne Krepel.

Recipe for salmon tatar with wasabi yogurt as a starter for 4

• 400g freshest salmon filet cut into tiny cubes
• 1-2 spring onions very finely chopped
• juice of 1-2 lemons or limes
• salt and pepper
• 200g of full fat yogurt ideally greek yogurt
• 1tbs of wasabi paste
• crackers for serving

Mix the salmon cubes with the spring onions and marinate in the lime juice for about 1 hour in the fridge, season with salt and pepper. place on serving plates. Mix the wasabi paste and the yogurt and drizzle over the salmon. Serve with crackers

The other day I came across this two locksmith – the one advertising that he is a “have all locksmith – chaveiro tem tudo”, and it is amazing what he is able to fit into his small booth in Ipanema:

and yesterday I found this mobile locksmith working out of his car parked in Copacabana with everything he needs fitted into the back of his tiny pickup:

This is a brilliant way to offer your services I think. I will keep my eyes open for more!

Recipe for warm beetroot-lentil salad with chorizo and grilled goats cheese for 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course

• 200g lentils
• 1 large or 2 smaller beetroots, skinned and cut into small cubes
• 1,5 litres of vegetable stock
• 3 spring onions finely chopped
• 1 bunch of rocket leaves
• small handful of walnuts
• 1 red chili deseeded in finely chopped
• balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper
• 100g of spicy chorizo in small cubes
• 200g of goat cheese cut into rounds
• balsamic glaze

Bring the stock to a boil and add the lentils and beetroots for about 30 minutes or until slightly soft. Drain and allow to cool a little. Mix with the spring onions, rocket leaves, walnuts and chili and season with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Distribute on 2 or 4 plates.

In a hot pan fry the chorizo for some minutes until crisp. Add the goats cheese and fry until browned on both sides. Place on the lentil beetroot mixture, drizzle with balsamic glaze and serve immediately.

Yesterday we participated in our first street carnival parade in Rio. Originally coming from the german region of Cologne/Bonn, I’m nothing new to carnival and have participated intensely in numerous carnival shows, parades and parties – but what a difference! In Germany due to plain winter, street carnival always means to put on as many clothes as possible to witness the decorated wagons, horses and groups of people passing. Here people take of as many clothes as possible or come right from the beach to witness the bloco/group performing.

In german carnival they throw sweets, flowers and little toys from the wagons whereas we threw confetti and paper snakes at the parade.

I was expecting a parade of a number of wagons and performances but the whole parade was one band and all the followers walking and dancing in front and behind them.

But as there will be lots of more blocos and parades over the next 2 weeks I will continue to follow the similarities and differences!

Recipe for chicken tonnato as a starter for 4

I love vitello tonnato and always order it, if I find it on a menu in an italian restaurant. But it is sinfully rich and difficult to always come by veal that you need for the original recipe. So I came up with this easy version using chicken and replacing the mayonnaise by a lighter tuna sauce.

• 500g chicken breast
• 1l chicken stock
• 1 can tuna in water
• 50ml light cream
• 2tbs capers
• salt, pepper
• 1 lime
• parsley to garnish

Bring the chicken stock to boil and simmer the chicken breasts until done. Allow to cool a little and cut into very thin slices, placing them on a serving dish in a single layer. Mix the tuna, cream and a little chicken stock until you have a smooth consistency and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken, garnish with capers, parsley and slices of lemon or lime.

Great guild free way to enjoy this winning combination.

We had a lovely night out last night with friends in Ipanema.

We took the metro to Ipanema and I came across this wonderful initiative Rio metro is offering anybody in need of assistance when using the metro:

Posso ajudar – or can I help you staff are standing in strategic locations to help with information but as well with carrying prams, heavy bags or lending a hand to the elderly. What a service!

Arriving in Ipanema we headed for the beach to have a sundowner in one of the beach huts – great way to start the weekend:

Afterwards off to meet our friends at Le Vin restaurant (www.levin.com.br), located in a charming old house serving french bistro fare. As there was a Belgium among us he recommended the Moules et Frites, the belgium classic of mussels in a white wine broth served with french fries – absolutely delicious. Only a Belgium learns to stack the empty shells this way though:

As the night was still rather young and the motto somehow had turned out to have a belgium touch, we headed to Delirium Cafe offering hundreds of different beers from all around the world and yes as well lots of them from Belgium.

The trend of drinking speciality beers from anywhere and everywhere is a real big one in Rio and people are willing to pay more than 20 EUR for a speciality beer! German exporters rejoice!

I suppose even anyone outside Brazil must have heard of Michel Teló by now – or his most famous hit Ai se eu te pego or the english version Oh, catch me if you can.

He joined the brazilian band  Grupo Tradição in 1997 at the age of 16, making part of the band for eleven years as lead vocal. In 2008 he started his solo career with huge success in Brazil but his international fame came from the release of Ai se eu te pego, a No. 1 hit  in many countries.  The song gained international attention when Real Madrid’s players Ronaldo and Vieira danced to it after Ronaldo scored a goal. Since then, football goals and this song seem to have a match in heaven – a little bit like We are the champions and winning tournaments.

Now the match between his song and football players going crazy on the grass will be expanded by carnival entering the equation- with a samba version being released to allow the masses to dance in the streets.

His official version on youtube today has so far over 143 million hits – you can add a couple by clicking on http://youtu.be/hcm55lU9knw

Recipe for Gazpacho for 4

• 4-5 large tomatoes in pieces or 1 large can of canned tomatoes
• 1 large or two small cucumbers peeled and in pieces
• 2 large red bell pepper in pieces
• 2 large white onions cut
• 2 cloves of garlic cut
• 1-2 pieces of white bread preferably leftover from the previous day soaked in water
• olive oil
• white wine vinegar
• fresh basil,salt and pepper
• optionally finely diced cucumber, and bell pepper for decoration

Blend everything together in food processor including the liquid the bread was soaked in. Season with Vinegar and olive oil, salt and pepper and serve as a summer lunch with fresh crusty bread or a light starter for a heavy main course. Summer in a bowl!

If you see the photos from yesterday morning starting the day at Barra beach with my son taking a surfing class and myself enjoying coffee with a friend especially you in cold Europe will think heaven:

Unfortunately the last edition of the Veja magazine came up with shocking facts in regards to the water quality around Rio. In all but one of the eight stretches of beaches measured for water quality the conditions have deteriorated since 2011, and of all stretches only two in Barra are fully safe for swimming and a little stretch of Copacabana temporarily.

The main reason for the poor water quality is the largely untreated waste water from the favelas covering the hills around the area. The existing water treatment plants are not sufficient for the number of inhabitants and the heavy rains in December added to the problem by over flooding into the sea. The government promises to invest around 500 Mio Euro to clean up all beaches until the WorldCup 2014 trying to catch up for mistakes made over the last decades. The topic will be also high on the agenda for the UN conference Rio+20 taking place in Rio in June this year.

For us for the time being this clearly means beach yes but swimming no!

Recipe for pasta with smoked salmon for 2

Yesterday evening my husband Thomas took himself into the kitchen and in front of the stove a rare but always very delicious experience!

• 200g of Spaghetti
• 4 spring onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1tbs of capers
• 200g of smoked salmon (not coming from this waters – I’m telling you!)
• butter
• olive oil
• 2tbs of grated parmesan
• 2 tbs of philadelphia cheese
• 1 sprig of dill
• salt and pepper

Boil the pasta. In the meantime heat a tbs of olive oil and slowly fry the spring onions and garlic. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with a knob of butter. Add the capers, grated parmesan and smoked salmon, season with salt and pepper and place on the plates, garnishing with a dollop of philadelphia cheese and some dill. Yummy!

Last weekend a colleague took us to the Tijuca National Park for a wonderful day in the lush Atlantic rain forest that once covered the whole area Rio is stretching today. The park has several waterfalls, caves, bicycle and hiking trails as well as beautiful picnic areas and two restaurants.

It is home to numerous birds and animals such as monkeys, snakes, iguanas and this quati we came across belonging to the raccoon family:

After a nice walk in the forest we had lunch at Os Equilos restaurant, a hidden gem in the middle of the park, in service since 1945 and with an old colonial charm transporting you back into former times. Food was good but not to rave about, but the beautiful setting made up for it. Definitely a place to come back to as well in winter with the large fireplace calling for a lazy sunday lunch with fondue in front of a crackling fire.

On our way back to Rio we stopped at the famous Vista Chinesa, offering breathtaking views over the Lagoa and Rio:

Friday night we went to a birthday party for two of my husbands colleagues. There I tried this delicious

Avocado pesto recipe from Lukas

• bunch of basil leaves
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 2tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2tbs roasted pine kernels
• 2tbs grated parmesan
• 1 chili optional
• 1 ripe avocado
• juice of one lime

Mix all ingredients except the avocado in food processor until smooth. Add avocado just before serving and mix. Season with salt, pepper and lime juice. Great as a dip for vegetable sticks, meatballs or as a pasta sauce.