makanandcomida

Parque Catacumba at Lagoa was developed on the site of a former favela and not only provides a lush green oasis from the noisy day to day in Rio but also features great sculptures:

as well a wonderful views over Lagoa:

You can tell winter has arrived as the dogs are being dressed up – yes 24 C is Rio winter and dogs seem to be freezing with that temperature. I wonder what german dogs would say!

Recipe for peppers antipasto

• 1 red, green, yellow pepper each, halved and deseeded
• 1tbs olive oil
• 1tbs white wine vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbs pine kernels roasted
• 1 tbs dill
• salt and pepper

Place the peppers, skin side up under the grill for about 30min. Remove and place into a plastic bag for 5 min. Take the skin of and cut into slices. Top with the remaining ingredients and serve with chunky white bread as part of an antipasto buffet.

To represent the plight for protecting the oceans and the fish, a huge fish sculpture made out of plastic bottles has been set up at Botafogo beach for Rio+20:

It is a great sight in front of Sugarloaf mountain, especially at night when illuminated:

Yesterday our cooking group indulged in preparing and tasting some great turkish recipes. Zeynep showed us to prepare a number of dishes from her home country and even though turkish food is a firm regular in Germany, in Rio you find only about 3 turkish families and no restaurant serving this delicious fare.

and here comes the recipe for the eggplant dip:

• 2-3 large eggplants
• 3 cloves garlic pressed
• 1tbs tahine paste
• 200g of yogurt, preferably greek style
• tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper
• lemon juice

With a fork, prick the eggplants and place them whole under the grill for about 30-40min, turning every 5-10min for even cooking. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly and deskin under running water to prevent them from turning brown. Halve and deseed slightly than blend in food processor. Mix with remaining ingredients and serve as part of a meze buffet or as a starter with some roasted pita bread and olives.

Recipe for Zeynep’s carrot salad

• 4-5 large carrots, deskinned
• 2tbs fresh dill
• 1tbs mayonnaise
• 3tbs greek yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic pressed
• salt and pepper

Boil carrots for about 10min. Great them finely and mix with the remaining ingredients. Serve with grilled meat.

As the UN summit on sustainable development is under way in Rio, about 50.000 activists from all around the world are in Rio to raise awareness to the causes of indigenous populations, diminishing ecospheres, risks of nuclear energy or the future of mega cities among thousands of others. They are meeting and exhibiting in Aterro de Flamengo parque which has been tranformed into a two week activists camp.

Greenpeace sailed their new Rainbow Warrior to the harbor of Rio, and people are awaiting their next big awareness coup after they have taken over Sugarloaf mountain, Christ redeemer statue and the bridge to Niteroi in former years.

Great to see that the volunteers from the Red Cross Rio branch were also present with first aid posts:

Last week friends took us to a great restaurant in Catete, Carmelo, in Rua Correia Dutra 75. It has a great atmosphere and a wonderful italian inspired menu with a twist. I had lovely pasta with nuts, pesto and prawns – sure a meal to remember!

Rio +20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, is starting today and will run until June 22nd. So far 134 heads of state or government have confirmed to attend the conference, but heavy weights such as Obama, Merkel and Cameron will likely stay away. Thousands of business CEOs, government officials, NGO leaders, academics, senior UN officials and representatives from many other groups are currently arriving in Rio as over 50,000 people in total are expected to participate in the Conference and related events.

One of the large side events, the Humanity 2012 pavilion, promotes Brazil’s role in sustainable development through focusing on its biodiversity, human diversity and the future of humankind. Here are some impressions from the exhibition visited today, which is staged in a sustainable structure build at Copacabana fort overlooking the beach – these guys do know where to hold their conferences (Cancun, Rio, Bali …)

This is the center of the exhibition, the chapel of humankind, stressing the importance of education, culture and technology and staging a library with 10000 books selected by 120 brazilian personalities for consultation.

The man and his connections:

Brazilian biodiversity

the stunning roof top terrace

and the view from it

after the visit!

Recipe for duck breast on asian noodles for 2

• 2 duck breast
• 200g asian noodles fresh or dried
• 1 red pepper sliced into strips
• 100 g of snow peas
• 100g green asparagus sliced
• 1 large carrot sliced into fine strips
• 1 piece of ginger finely diced
• 1 red chili finely diced
• 1 clove of garlic pressed
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs honey
• sesame oil
• fresh coriander
• lime
• salt and pepper

As mentioned in my Valentines day blog on 15th of February, the Brazilians celebrate the dia dos namorados (lovers day), today on the 12th of June. But very much in the same fashion as the february counterpart to boost the sales of flower shops, lingerie stores, restaurants and chocolatiers! So flower and chocolate prices have soared from an already indecent high!

Over the weekend we had friends over for a spanish inspired feast of Paella and Flan:

and what better way to start the evening than with my own take on a light and easy Sangria – here comes the recipe for 4

• 1 bottle of Spanish red wine – Rioja or Tempranillo, chilled
• 100ml of dry white martini
• 100ml orange juice, chilled
• 1 orange skin on cut into cubes
• 1 lemon skin on cut into cubes

Marinate the orange and lemon in the martini for a couple of hours. Add the chilled red wine and orange juice and stir well. Serve! Couldn”t be easier yummy summer drink!

Some days back in Rio, still thinking about the great time I had in Johannesburg and Dubai. Here are some pictures from the large fish market in the old part of Dubai:

and the spice and pulses market next door:

I could not resist but to buy some nuts and pine kernels as well as some Iranian saffron which was weighed the traditional way:

what a perfect ingredient to lift up any pasta cream sauce!

Recipe for pasta with salmon in saffron sauce for 4

• 500g of pasta boiled
• 500g of fresh salmon filets diced
• 2 shallots finely diced
• 1 clove of garlic pressed
• 1 tbs butter
• 200 ml of cream
• 50ml white wine
• 1/2 tsp saffron diluted in a little hot water
• 1 red chili deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tbs capers optional
• 2 tbs dill

What a city – I spent the last three days in Dubai visiting my old friend Birgit and her family.

Everything here seems to be of larger size and proportions – whether the stretch Hummer

or the tallest building of the world

or the largest aquarium in a shopping mall

Even if you fancy skiing while and shopping in the same mall this is the place to be

And the prawns we had for dinner were the largest I have ever tried – delicious. Thanks Birgit, we will be back!

What a special treat – coming back to the continent that first inspired my cooking and spending some days with my old friend Kate in Johannesburg and the bush. A wonderful couple of days of autumn sun soaked lunches on the veranda of their weekend house in the african bush, dinners in front of the fireplace and walks in the bush.

Followed by culinary treats in stylish Joburg cafes and restaurants. One of my favorite discoveries – tashas – a wonderful place to have breakfast like this super delicious wilted spinach, fried mushrooms and feta on toasted rye bread topped with poached eggs. Heaven on a plate!

But no girls trip without some serious shopping, going back to Sandton and Nelson Mandela square

Recipe for my friends Kate smoked chicken pasta salad for 4 – makes a lovely lunch dish or as part of a larger bbq buffet

• 500g smoked chicken breast cubed
• 1/2 cucumber cubed
• 250g boiled penne
• 100g sundried tomatoes cut into slices
• 100g black olives pitted and halved
• 1 can artichokes drained and sliced
• 8 slices parma ham sliced

Mix all these ingredients together in a nice serving bowl. To make the dressing, heat 5tbs of olive oil with 1 tbs white wine vinegar, 1tbs grainy mustard and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and add 50ml of fresh cream and shredded basil leaves. Mix into the salad. Garnish with more basil. Serve warm or cold.

Last weekend we visited the Feira de San Cristobal – a large open air permanent fair, presenting all things typical from the northeast of Brazil – food, artwork and music.

Here some very hot chili sauce in beautiful bottles:

Or for the more adventurous once, cachaça with seafood!

Patriotism clearly ranks high at the fair:

No fair visit with indulging into some typical brazilian food. This rice dish was a new try:

Recipe for Baião de dois – a beans and rice one-pot meal from the north-east of Brazil, great to combine leftovers of rice and/or beans 1/2 kilo of brown or black beans, soaked overnight 1 sliced chorizo 1 onion finely chopped 3 clove garlic pressed 1 green pepper finely chopped olive oil 1 bunch chopped coriander 300g of rice 150g cheese cut into cubes (e.g. halloumi cheese, mozzarella, feta whatever you prefer) salt and pepper Cook the beans for about 1,5 hours until al dente.  Drain the beans and set the cooking liquid aside using it to cook the rice. In a large pan heat the olive oil and fry the onion, garlic, pepper and chorizo. Add the cooked rice and beans and some of the cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper and mix in the coriander and the cheese to allow to melt. Serve with grilled beef. Here you can see the large amount of meats served at the market, the rice and beans in the background with fried manioc and a tomato salsa. Not to forget the yellow manioc flour rounding up any traditional brazilian feast.