Belo Horizonte
I awoke refreshed. There was a great view of the city from the 13th floor. Nelma, my host, spoke with an accent that I found easy to understand. She spoke slowly as is the way in Minas (the State of Minas Gerais). Ana, the other guest came from Ceará, a State to the North and it was difficult to understand her, even on the rare occasion that she spoke slowly. She was 30, attractive and in the process of opening another restaurant in her town.
I was surprised when she asked if I would like to accompany her and see some of the city. She said she wanted to go to the market and we walked there asking directions as we went. It was a completely different market to that which I expected. The Mercado Municipal was a grand building housing many different businesses. Vegetables and fruit, cheeses, butchers......not just everything you needed to eat but live birds, hardware, spices, china, wines and even a shop with many different types of cachaça (aguardente - firewater) which the girls insisted I tried.
We had café de manhã in one of the little bars in the market. I ordered Pão de queijo (small bread balls baked with cheese) while Ana ordered pamonha, a cake made from maize flour, wrapped and steamed in the leaves of the maize. It was very light and not oversweet. We continued our exploration of the market and Ana was very interested in the many different spices and ingredients on offer.
Lunchtime came and we returned to the little bar where we had earlier eaten breakfast. Feijoada is a very popular dish in Brazil based around feijão (beans) and various meat including linguiça (sausage) pigs trotters and ears....... I've eaten pigs trotters before and the ears seem impossible to chew and swallow. Neither appeal to me so I ordered the feijoada with out the trotters and ears. They didn't sell beer so I went to a another bar to buy a 600ml bottle. Lunch over we returned to the apartment.
Nelma ordered a taxi to take us to a theatre where Ana tried to book a ticket to see a singer she liked. She was unsuccessful and decided she would go dancing instead. I was relieved she didn't ask me this time. We walked back through parks, stopping to take photos of the many interesting buildings along the way. Nelma liked beer so we shared a couple of bottles before I showered. There was a bar by the apartment but there weren't many eating places close by and I had to walk a little way to find somewhere. Lots of people sat outside bars with loud music: A party atmosphere.
A lot of eating places offer food by weight where you choose from a variety of foods. Sometimes you may be restricted to one or two portions of meat, with salads, vegetables such as palmito, mandioca and the ubiquitous rice and both black and white beans, Mandioca can be served boiled as a potato like vegetable, pureed, or often as fofarra, a crunchy flour.
A good plate with a beer cost less than £4.50. I returned home along deserted streets. I can't say I was scared but it was the second time I felt the need to be cautious in Brazil.
I was surprised when she asked if I would like to accompany her and see some of the city. She said she wanted to go to the market and we walked there asking directions as we went. It was a completely different market to that which I expected. The Mercado Municipal was a grand building housing many different businesses. Vegetables and fruit, cheeses, butchers......not just everything you needed to eat but live birds, hardware, spices, china, wines and even a shop with many different types of cachaça (aguardente - firewater) which the girls insisted I tried.
We had café de manhã in one of the little bars in the market. I ordered Pão de queijo (small bread balls baked with cheese) while Ana ordered pamonha, a cake made from maize flour, wrapped and steamed in the leaves of the maize. It was very light and not oversweet. We continued our exploration of the market and Ana was very interested in the many different spices and ingredients on offer.
Lunchtime came and we returned to the little bar where we had earlier eaten breakfast. Feijoada is a very popular dish in Brazil based around feijão (beans) and various meat including linguiça (sausage) pigs trotters and ears....... I've eaten pigs trotters before and the ears seem impossible to chew and swallow. Neither appeal to me so I ordered the feijoada with out the trotters and ears. They didn't sell beer so I went to a another bar to buy a 600ml bottle. Lunch over we returned to the apartment.
Nelma ordered a taxi to take us to a theatre where Ana tried to book a ticket to see a singer she liked. She was unsuccessful and decided she would go dancing instead. I was relieved she didn't ask me this time. We walked back through parks, stopping to take photos of the many interesting buildings along the way. Nelma liked beer so we shared a couple of bottles before I showered. There was a bar by the apartment but there weren't many eating places close by and I had to walk a little way to find somewhere. Lots of people sat outside bars with loud music: A party atmosphere.
A lot of eating places offer food by weight where you choose from a variety of foods. Sometimes you may be restricted to one or two portions of meat, with salads, vegetables such as palmito, mandioca and the ubiquitous rice and both black and white beans, Mandioca can be served boiled as a potato like vegetable, pureed, or often as fofarra, a crunchy flour.
A good plate with a beer cost less than £4.50. I returned home along deserted streets. I can't say I was scared but it was the second time I felt the need to be cautious in Brazil.
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