Sao Cristavao Fair.

On Thursday, my Portuguese class (all three of us students) and our teacher, Laura, went to the Sao Cristavao Fair in Centro. The fair features a variety of stores, foods, and other events that are typical of the Northeast of Brazil (think Bahia). While most of the shops were closed, our group was able to drink and dine at one of the many restaurants located inside the center. After being pulled in many different directions by the silver-tongued hosts that stand outside each of the restaurants (it’s incredible how they try to lure you in), we found one that seemed to be worthy of Laura’s standards. We had some Guarana Jesus (the “Coca Cola” of Bahia—it tastes like bubblegum, and not in a good way. I recommend Guaranaviton, or some other natural Guarana drink), and lots and lots of different meats, farofa, rice, and beans. We ended our meal having some tapioca—a type of pancake made with tapioca, which is topped with different combinations of doces (sweets) or queijo (cheese). We tried one with queijo and doce de leite, and another called romeo and julieta (it’s a famous combination of guava and cheese in Brazil; it sounds a little strange, but it’s actually really really good).

Side note—while I haven’t exactly been enjoying the abundance of meat in Rio, the sweets are pretty amazing. They have one that is called pudim de leite; it’s like flan but it’s made with eggs, condensed milk, and carmalized sugar. And the ice cream—so many fun flavors like fig, guava, torta limao, and other exotic fruits that can only be found in Brazil.