Frutas do Brasil (Fruits of Brazil)

Most people, when asked what kinds of fruits you might find in Brasil, will tell you bananas, passionfruit, papaya, oranges, anything tropical. But did you know that in the interior part of the state of Santa Catarina you'll find some of the best varieties of apples, pears, and grapes?

The town of Fraiburgo http://www.fraiburgo.com.br/english/index.asp is famous for it's apples. We drove through there once on our way to a beekeeper meeting in Videira (which we'll discuss later). It is beautiful country and we were lucky enough to have traveled to these cities right in the middle of harvest season. We stopped at the portal to Fraiburgo and bought some pears, big giant juicy pears, that were some of the best I've ever tasted. The pears we bought were not like D'anjou pears, but rounder and had brown skin. If you've ever tasted a small honey pear, that's what the taste of these reminded me of, only about 5 times the size of a honey pear. There were many varieties of applies, including large red delicious ones. We bought some locally made apple soap and jelly for small gifts to our family.

It was then on to Videira. Charles was asked to give a powerpoint presentation to a group of local beekeepers regarding how beekeeping is done in the United States. At the site where he gave the talk, there was a small winery operation adjacent. When we were finished, we walked over to the winery and sampled some of their wines. We ended up buying a couple of bottles. The quality of the merlot was comparable to any California wine and quite reasonably priced. I think we bought two bottles for the total amount of $R25, or about $12 U.S. Videira is known for its vineyards. The weather in the south central region of Brasil gets very cold in the winter months between June and September. Quite often, snow occurs in the town of San Joaquim, Santa Catarina. Therefore, fruits associated with colder climates thrive in this area. So next time you think of Brasil, remember, there's more than meets the eye.

Til Then, Tchau!

Desserts (Sobremesas)

Here is your link:

http://www.southernbrasil.blogspot.com/.

I'm never sure how these pictures are going to stack up, so here goes: The chocolate dessert is called Bolo de Bolacha, or biscuit cake, quite similar to what we know as tiramisu. It is one of the top favorite desserts for Brasilians. The dessert in the bowl is called Sagu de Vinho, which is tapioca pearls in a sea of wine, finished with a dollop of cream. This is probably the most popular dessert in Brasil behind anything chocolate, of course. And the final dessert is Torta de Maracuja, or passionfruit cake. From my experience, these are the three most served desserts on any respectable dessert table in Brasil.

If asked to choose between the desserts here in America and the desserts in Brasil, I'd have to choose Brasil. I am not sure why, honestly, because bakeries in both countries serve up the finest in sweets, but there is something about eating a cake or a cookie made from scratch the old-fashioned way, that beats the quick fixes. The creams used are heavier and reminds one of the old days. Since Southern Brasil is known for its rich European influences, many of the bakeries (confeitarias) offer up some of the finest strudels and tortes I've ever tasted. The only thing that is rare in Brasil are donuts. The closest thing you'll find to donuts is a little fried dough concoction called orelha de porco (oh-rel-ya gee poor-so), or pig ears. They are akin to our fried cake donuts only denser and shaped in a ring resembling an ear. They are good, but have a tendency to be dryer than our American donuts.

There are some differences between American and Brasilian cakes as well. Again, Brasilian cakes tend to be denser and dryer than American cakes. As Americans like their cakes as moist as they can be, Brasilians go the other way. They do not mind if their cakes are left to dry out a little and prefer them as such to take with coffee in the afternoon. It is not such a big deal for Brasilians to carefully wrap their leftovers to keep them moist. It just doesn't matter. What a refreshing attitude.

Tchau!