MOQUECA AY AY AY!

Olá!

Today we are going to continue our food tour.

Sim, we are still in Brazil! Now let's hop on a tiny helicopter

and let it lead us to....

Salvador!

Ah, the city of colours! The food we are going to prepair is also quite colourful! Ever heard of Mogueca? If you have, great, but since you probably have no idea I'm going to inform you briefly: Moqueca [muqueca] is a traditional brazilian type of seafood stew. In Brazil, it's been an integral part of their diet fo over 300 years! Since we are on a bahia state of Brazil (means northeast) we are cooking the moqueca baiana type of stew.

This recipe actually has a story behind it. We got this recipe from our travel agent Maija, who used to have her own restaurant in Brazil. It was a finnish restaurant called Koskenkorva:D Too bad we didn't get the chance to eat there but instead we had an awesome chance of tasting this moqueca! Afterwards, she sent us this recipe, with her message on it and we still have the original piece left! (though we used a scanned version while cooking, not wanting to ruin it)

When starting to cook moqueca, be prepared to spend a while doing your groceries!

(Maija's) Moqueca

1 kg of fish(originally the fishes used in this recipe were something called bajedo (cod like fish)and namorao (the name stands for boyfriend..)which we sadly couldn't find from a finnish supermarket :( Wonder why! However, if possible buy cod,pike perch of salmon)

2 handfuls of shrimps (these are fully obligatory)

5 tblspn of olive oil

3 onions

3 tomatoes

3 gloves of garlic

1 big piece of red pepper

stack of fresh cilantro

2 dl of coconut milk

2 dl of white wine ( the rest can be served as a drink!)

(Tabasco if you prefer spicy)

1. Take a huge pot and fry the onions and the garlic in the oil, add (sliced) tomatoes and pepper

2.Add the fish on top of the vegetables, don't blend! Add white wine and let it cook for half an hour (in ALL peace, ahem)

3. Add coconut milk and chopped cilantro (and shrimps)

4. Let stew from 5 to 10 minutes (the longer the better)

5. Serve whit white rice and a fresh salad

Mmm...once again, tasty! Takes a while but totally worth it!

Now that we've enjoyed this masterpiece of our kitchen I guess it's time to head back to airport. We can't just travel in Brazil in these travel series of mine...

Wait...where is this plane going!

...I think it's travelling to our next blog entry! (means that it's a secret...wait means that I don't know)

अलविदा! (just a hint of our next destination)

- Momo

P.S Wondering why I'm always the one to write these? The actual reason for that is the fact that I happen to be on a reading vacation and bored as hell:D

I actually shouldn't sit here, writing this.

I have my math finals tomorrow

I'm actually not even good at maths

FEIJOADA POR FAVOR!

"You walk off the plane in Rio, and your blood temperature goes up. The feel of the wind on your face, the water on your skin, the taste of the food, the music"

- Amy Irving

Olá meninas é meninos!

Today we're going to travel a little. I'm going to take you on a tour with BananaTravel. I'm Momo and I'm your guide today.

At first we hop on the plane and fly ALL the way from Finland to the Sunny shores of Rio de Janeiro (the river of January) and Amazon . I could tell you about our funny songs on the plane when we flew over Casablanca or our adventures at the Ilha Grande jungle but let's stick to the food.

We have now arrived to Rio but let's keep on moving until we reach the Ilha Grande!

..Aand here we are! You can see our hotel there if you take a closer look (The white building on the right side). However, let's stick to the food and step inside Bananas can cook it kitchen! (or bananas pode cozinhá-lo) Let's see what we have here...I think it's time to cook...

...Feijoada! Practically, feijoada is a stew made out of beans that is started a day ahead. There are as many feijoada recipes as there are cooks so feel free to suit to your liking.

Feijoada

1 kg of black beans (if you can't find them, kidney beans will work out just fine)

water

7 bay leaves

1 kg of smoked ribs

200g of beef

200 g of Krakow sausages (or salamis..or both)

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

oil

1 tspb of cumin

fresh coriander/cilantro

salt

black pepper

6-12 gloves of garlic

1.Start a day ahead and put all the beans in a big bowl and cover with water, use a lot of water since while beans soak, they're gonna suck it all!

2. On the next day, take out the biggest pot you can find and pour your drained beans inside. Then pour some water on them until they're fully covered and wait 'till they boil. Add the ribs and bay leaves now, so they will cook nicely.

3. While the beans are boiling, cut the meat, pepper, g

arlic and sausage and fry them in a pan of oil. When you've done this, add them into your boil. (you may need to add some water)

4. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it boil on a medium heat for LONG! (or if you're really hungry, 'till the beans are soft)

5. Serve with rice and green salad. In Brazil they

serve it with french fries and white rice and manioc flour, farofa (which I'm allergic to:<) So if you wanna dive deep in Brazil, try that!

..Mmmm...that was tasty! Next time we are heading to...WAIT! that's a secret

'till we meet again

Tchau!

- Momo