Onze man in Ouro Preto
I already told you about the university UFOP and about the course I’m teaching at UFOP. That’s all work. Now it’s time to tell a bit more about day-to-day life in Ouro Preto. Lots to tell but let’s focus this update on an important aspect of life: food.
Already for many years, one of the secret holiday pleasures of me and my wife is visiting supermarkets in foreign countries to look at the differences in food (and drinks). And of course, also try some of the local specialties. Sometimes you discover a delicious new treat and sometimes you quickly have to rinse your mouth and brush your teeth. Of course I continued this habit here in Ouro Preto. So, on the first Saturday I went to the supermarket to do the weekly shopping, I reserved plenty of time to scavenge all aisles. To discover new types of food and to discover if the items I put on my shopping list are available here.
When you know the Brazilians a bit, especially the ones living here in the province of Minas Gerais, you know that they like beans, rice, and meat. There is hardly a meal without these ingredients. So, when I was in the supermarket, the first thing I noticed was a long line of people waiting for the butcher to order their beef and chicken. And besides that, there was at least one full aisle with different varieties of rice and beans. No cooked beans like we mainly see them in The Netherlands, but beans that still need to be cooked. The size of the package ranges from 1 kg up to 20 kg. Another thing about Brazilians is that they have a sweet tooth (which I do not mind at all). They are into chocolates, cookies, and desserts. So whole aisles are filled with cookies, chocolate, and baking products for cakes and pudims. What is also interesting is that most of the bread here also contains sugar. Wholegrain options are rare.
Coming back to the EU oriented shopping list that I made. I discovered that some items were not available or very expensive. So far, I have not been able to find soft cheese (kwark) or sour cream. Especially sour cream is something I use a lot back home. It nearly always improves a meal 😊. Mushrooms, cereals, and pesto are (sometimes) available but are very expensive. Ah well, once I discovered I changed my diet to more local options. One of the things that I discovered is tapioca flower. I knew general Tapioca from Kuifje and the Picaro’s, but not as a delicious type of food. Online, I discovered some nice and simple recipes for Tapioca pancakes. Both savory and sweet options are available, but I prefer a sweet one. Simple and tasty. You should give it a go:
- You take a pan with a good PFAS-layer
- Heat the pan a bit, no oil or butter
- put in the Tapioca flour and press it
- let it clot / coagulate for 1-2 minutes
- turn the pancake and add fresh coconut and plenty of condensed milk
- fold the pancake and eat .... mmmmmm.
The food shopping that I do here is usually meant for a light evening meal since I have my main meal at lunch time. Instead of taking my own sandwiches with cheese (which would be weird here), we usually go to a Quilo restaurant. It’s a concept which I really like. It’s an improved version of the all-you-can eat buffets that we have in EU. At a Quilo restaurant you can still pick whatever you want, but at the end you weigh your food and pay per weight as you can see in the picture. Almost no food waste. Maybe this should be part of the campaign against food waste that was just launched by queen Maxima. The restaurant we often go to for lunch is Vovo Lilica. They have a nice choice of home cooked food reaching from a salad bar, beans & rice (of course), meat, fish, and vegetables, but also great desserts. Although meat is a central feature, there is also enough choice for vegetarians like me.
Writing about food makes me hungry. Time for a freshly baked Pao de Queijo from the canteen.
Ate logo / Ate breve,
Jappe
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