1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (168 page)

Where:
In Buenos Aires
, Café Margot, tel 54/11-4957-0001;
in Pittsburgh, PA
, Gaucho Parrilla Argentina, tel 412-709-6622,
eatgaucho.com
;
in Los Angeles
, Gaucho Grill at two locations, tel 310-447-7898,
gauchogrilldining.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Braise
by Daniel Boulud (2006);
The Art of South American Cooking
by Felipe Rojas-Lombardi (1991);
New World Kitchen
by Norman Van Aken (2003);
foodnetwork.com
(search matambre);
saveur.com
(search matambre).
See also:
Carpetbag Steak
.

The largest and most eye-catching nuts in any mixed assortment, the tapered, mahogany-shelled Brazil nuts (
Bertholletia excelsa
) delight with their mellow, buttery overtones and their firm, meaty texture and toothsome snap, especially when roasted and lightly salted.

The yellow-beige nuts are the products of the huge, majestic Brazil nut trees that grow wild in the Amazon River basin. (These are also known as monkey pot trees, because hungry primates often get their hands stuck inside the round, woody pods that house up to three dozen of the nuts, each in its own woody shell.) The trees are most plentiful in the country for which they are named, of course, but they also grow in Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador. More tree facts: Because the Brazil nut tree is so tall—150 feet is not an unusual height—and grows in dense jungle, it’s impossible for harvesters to climb. The nuts are therefore gathered only after the fruit ripens and falls to the ground.

In addition to being deliciously satisfying, Brazil nuts are rich in heart-healthy oils, protein, and very high in selenium, a mineral some doctors believe helps prevent prostate cancer. Just two nuts a day meets the daily requirement, which is handy, as they’re also high in calories.

Mail order:
nuts.com
;
superiornutstore.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Tasting Brazil
by Jessica B. Harris (1992);
epicurious.com
(search roasted asparagus brazil nut; brazil nut banana parfait).
Tip:
Brazil nuts may be refrigerated or frozen for up to nine months. Informed consumers search out Brazil nuts from the cooperatives of indigenous Amazon farmers, looking for the “Fair Trade” mark, RONAP, which is the Spanish acronym for Organization of Organic Brazil Nut Gatherers of Peru.

The plump and cheery comma-shaped cashew nut, lightly roasted and salted, ranks high among foods that are difficult to stop eating once you have started. Less known is the cashew apple from which the cashew nut dangles, the latter encased in an unlovely bulbous appendage of its own. The pulpy, sweet apples are edible, and in cashew-producing regions are frequently juiced or made into jams and chutneys. But the delicate fruits rot within twenty-four hours of dropping from the tree, and so aren’t exportable in their fresh state. The nuts, however, with their sweet, irresistible flavor and their innumerable culinary uses, are well worth saving.

An important crop for their native Brazil, where the apple is especially prized and the nuts are commonly added to sauces and eaten as snacks, cashews also grow in parts of Africa and in India, where they add depth to stews like
shahi korma.
In the U.S., they have found favor in part as a substitute for peanuts among those with allergies, although, alas, the cashew is not allergy-proof. To make them even easier to like, cashews have one of the lowest fat contents among nuts, and contain antioxidants and healthy oils. Although generally eaten on their own as a nutritious snack, chopped, toasted cashews are an elegant addition to stews, sauces, stir-frys, and salads.

Mail order:
nuts.com
;
superiornutstore.com
;
bazzininuts.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Tasting Brazil
by Jessica B. Harris (1992); International Tree Nut Council,
nuthealth.org/cashews
;
epicurious.com
(search cashews).

The very definition of homey and hearty, the smoky, salty Brazilian stew of meat and beans called
feijoada completa
is
completa
, and then some. An epic feast displayed on a lavish buffet, it is a huge and sustaining lunch meant to take up the better part of an afternoon. Almost everyone in Brazil, from supermodels to farmers, takes pleasure in a regular feijoada—most traditionally as a special-occasion Saturday luncheon that most definitely needs to be followed by a lengthy nap.

To a basic black bean stew flavored with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic, all manner of pork and other meats are added, including
carne seca
(dried beef) and linguica (smoked pork sausage). Before the official eating begins, guests are offered
caldinho de feijão
,
bean broth served in small ceramic cups or shot glasses, often garnished with fried pork rinds (
torresmos
). The actual feijoada is served informally, with hot beans usually in a tureen, and the meats alongside on clay platters. Traditional accompaniments include fluffy white rice, orange slices (meant to cut some of the dish’s richness), sautéed collard greens, hotter-than-hot sauce made of habanero chiles, and fine, crunchy
farofa
, made of toasted manioc flour (also known as cassava flour), to be sprinkled over all.

Taking its name from the Portuguese word for bean (
feijão
), feijoada likely originated in the 1600s in Recife, on Brazil’s northeastern coast, on the vast sugar plantations built by Portuguese colonists. It may be partly derived from the Portuguese meat and vegetable stew
cozido
, but was probably an invention of the African slaves brought over to work the fields, who added black beans to the cuts of meats that the plantation owners discarded (pigs’ ears, feet, and tails and the like). Also perhaps harkening to the stew’s sugar plantation roots, the traditional accompaniment to feijoada is cachaça, the potent sugarcane brandy that is Brazil’s most popular liquor. While mainly known abroad as an ingredient in caipirinha cocktails, in its native Brazil the clear and fresh-tasting spirit is often artisanally produced and sipped on its own. When enjoyed with feijoada, it serves as what the French call a
trou Normand
, there a traditional between-courses break during long meals to down shots of calvados, thereby burning a hole (
trou
) in already full stomachs to accommodate more food. With an hours-long feijoada feast before you, a few nips of cachaça are a most welcome, fortifying palate cleanser.

Where:
In Rio de Janeiro
, Caesar Park Hotel (for Saturday lunch only), tel 55/21-2525-2525,
caesarpark-rio.com
; Casa da Feijoada, tel 55/21-2247-2776;
in Miami
, Boteco, tel 305-757-7735,
botecomiami.com
;
in New York
, Ipanema, tel 212-730-5848,
ipanemanyc.com
;
in Cambridge, MA
, Muqueca Restaurant, tel 617-354-3296,
muquecarestaurant.com
.
Further information and recipes:
The Art of South American Cooking
by Felipe Rojas-Lombardi (1991);
The South American Table
by Maria Baez Kijac (2003);
Tasting Brazil
by Jessica B. Harris, (1992);
foodandwine.com
(search feijoada).

Author Jorge Amado.

The sensuous food and languid climate of the cacao-trading town of Ilhéus in Brazil make for a seductive trip well worth taking. Fortunately, armchair travelers can get there by way of the late Brazilian author Jorge Amado, who used his hometown as the setting of one of his most famous novels,
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon.

The story follows the romance between Nacib, a Syrian-born bar owner, and Gabriela, a cook and barmaid who prepares for her lover an enticing array of lushly spiced, tropical
dishes typical of the Afro-Bahian region. Food buffs will be beguiled by the novel’s descriptions of the dazzling markets, where vendors rush about and where Gabriela shops for tropical produce and fresh fish, like silvery snooks and dorados (mahi-mahi) so fresh they still flop on tables. Most of all, they will be seduced (just like Nacib) by Gabriela’s cooking: luscious, crisply fried
bacalao
(cod) fritters; dainty shrimp pies; tiny balls of black bean paste, sprightly with onion and golden
dende
(palm oil); softly soothing porridges of manioc or
farofa
, cornmeal or rice, glossy with coconut milk; buttery chunks of corn on the cob, yams, fried bananas, chicken stew, jerked beef, and pots of steaming coffee frothy with hot milk and served with crunchy little pastries, redolent of spices and honeyed sweetness. It is a wonder that since this delicious book was published in 1958, there has been no related cookbook. But surely somewhere in Brazil there must be—or should be—a restaurant named Gabriela.

Further information and recipes:
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon
by Jorge Amado (1958);
Tasting Brazil
by Jessica B. Harris (1992);
The Art of South American Cooking
by Felipe Rojas-Lombardi (1991).

The two most common varieties of
moqueca
(moh-KAY-kah), the old-fashioned and deeply flavorful Brazilian fish stew, are
moqueca capixaba
, which comes from the state of Espirito Santo, and the moqueca of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil. Due to the slave trade that brought Africans to the region to work the sugar, cacao, and coffee plantations, Bahia was heavily influenced by West African traditions and customs (notably by the African-Brazilian religion of Candomblé) and this dish—the most memorable of the two versions—is no exception.

Long considered peasant fare, moqueca began as a way to use up the plentiful, cheap local fish, such as mackerel and kingfish. Its fragrant base of garlic, onion, peppers, and fish broth (
caldo de peixe
), made from fish heads and scraps, takes on a brilliant red-orange glow thanks to the liberal inclusion of rich, sunny palm oil (called
dende
). To the deep, oceanic flavor of that pungent broth,
moqueca baiana
adds shellfish marinated in lemon juice and then slowly simmered in tomato sauce. Cilantro is sprinkled into the pot for its herbaceous freshness, and coconut milk delivers the final creamy touch.

The finished moqueca is always served alongside
pirão
, a kind of porridge made from manioc flour (also known as cassava flour), or with plain white rice. Palm oil, a key ingredient in moqueca, has become controversial for its high saturated fat content—but it is a favorite ingredient in the Brazilian pantry, prized for
its thick, velvety texture, complex flavor, and unique color. Olive oil is a suitable substitute for the health-conscious.

Where:
In Salvador, Brazil
, Casa das Portas Velhas, tel 55/71-3324-8400,
acasadasportasvelhas.com.br/english/servicos.php
;
in Oxnard, CA
, Moqueca Brazilian Cuisine, tel 805-204-0970,
moquecarestaurant.com
;
in New York, Chicago, Miami, Coral Gables, Las Vegas, and London
, SushiSamba,
sushisamba.com
.
Further information and recipes:
The Brazilian Table
by Yara Castro Roberts (2009);
Tasting Brazil
by Jessica B. Harris (1992);
southamericanfood.about.com
(search moqueca).