My favorite foods in Rio

I’ve been back from Brazil for over seventeen days and have only shared two stories with you (or three if you count this). There's just always so much to do, and on top of all the usual stuff, Daniel and I are about to buy our very first apartment. Talk about time-consuming! First there were the open houses and now that we've found something, there's all the back and forth with lawyers, brokers and inspectors. There's also the strict and sudden budget that's been forcing me to cook non-stop. I haven't been getting too creative, although this Chard Saffron Tart has appeared twice on my dinner table already. It's so good that I haven't missed overpriced restaurant meals one bit!

In fact, I’ve only eaten out three times since I've been back. One restaurant isn’t worth mentioning, the other I’m sure many of you already know about, and the third, a lovely little seafood shack with turqouoise walls, just four or five tables and wonderfully fresh and flavorful food, should be added immediately to your must-try list. And if you're pinching pennies like I am, you'll be happy to hear that it's BYOB.

But now, back to Brazil. I hope you’re not getting sick of my South American stories because I still have many to share. And I know, I know, at the rate I’m going, I’ll still be telling you about my trip come June. Which is why I’m planning to post a list of my favorite food-related things about Rio, one at a time, every day, for the next week or so. I’m going to start today by telling you about Brazilian streetside bake sales.

New York has countless vendors selling all sorts of food on the street -- pretzels, hot dogs, and those insanely sweet-smelling nuts to name a few –- but what we don’t have are homemade desserts sold bake sale-style.

On any given day, walking down the street in Rio, you’ll see a small, humble cart or two pushed by someone selling homemade cakes. The selection is always pretty much the same, and some carts are obviously better than others, but for someone as addicted to dessert as I am, it doesn't get much better than a bake sale on the street.

It’s not like there is a shortage of sweets in Rio or anything. In fact, the city reminds me a lot of Paris with its fresh bread and huge selection of addictive pastries. But your day just somehow gets so much better when you’re walking down the street, on your way to the beach or something, and you spot one of these mini bake sales. Usually it happens after you’ve already eaten an enormous meal and aren't even hungry, so you just go over, you know, to have a little look. And then almost instantly, you’re handing over 2 reais while reaching for a huge chunk of this.

Cuzcus, a Brazilian sweet made with tapioca, is the treat I always end up buying when I spot one of these carts. Similar in texture to mochi, it’s a sticky and chewy dessert that's sliced into thick, chubby squares. It tastes kind of bland on its own, but really perks up when topped with a generous drizzle of sweetened condensed milk (I always ask for extra) and some coconut flakes.

If you plan on being in Rio sometime soon, be on the look out for these sweets on the street and make sure you try one, some or all of them. I of course recommend the cuzcus.

See you tomorrow for #2 on my list of favorite foods in Rio!

Água de coco, I miss you

Vacation is such a tease. You slow down, relax, and somehow manage to forget about the stressful life you usually lead. Then you get home and there's a car that needs to be moved every few days, a gazillion emails to sift through, piles of bills to pay, meals you have to make yourself, and workouts that are waiting to happen. By now I have four things on that list under control, but the whole gym thing has been especially tricky.

Why was it so easy just a few weeks ago to get to the gym at 7am and now it's next to impossible? It's still right around the corner, just a mere 25 feet away, and Matt, Al, Meredith and Ann are still there to cheer me on when I have five minutes left on the stepmill and really want to quit.

Oh that's right. There isn't any água de coco.

Whenever Daniel and I are in Rio, we try to start our mornings with a 2.5 mile run along this beachside road.

And this is always our reward when we're done.

Mild and slightly sweet, there's really no better post-workout treat than an água de coco. It's what gets me to the "gym" whenever I'm in Rio. As soon as Daniel and I reach posto 12 in Leblon, we order two, bem gelada, and take leisurely sips as our pounding hearts slow down and a salty breeze cools us off. Daniel always likes to tell me how água de coco is isotonic -- a natural Gatorade if you will -- which might be another reason I like it so much.

Tomorrow morning I'll try to get my gym routine going again. I'll work out for an hour and then head home for a cup of tea and one of my two usual breakfasts. But I'd rather run down a beach in Rio and reward myself with an água de coco when I'm done. Wouldn't you?

A very Brazilian New Year's Eve

Daniel recently said to me that Brazilians make a bigger deal out of New Year’s Eve than Americans. I disagreed with him at first, but now after ringing in 2000 and 2007 in Brazil, I have to admit that he’s right.

This year’s celebration started a few days after Christmas when we headed to Marcos's mountain house in Itatiaia. I’ve tried many times to describe this magical place, where Daniel and his friends have been going for the past 20 years, but words and photos don’t do it justice. You have to spend a night in the rustic main house or smaller surrounding cabins, all of which have an earthy scent reminiscent of sleep away camp, to really get a feel for it.

And in the morning, or at night if you’re adventurous, you’d have to walk carefully down a steep, moss-covered stairway to see the dramatic open space where a lush forest surrounds a pounding river and the huge, natural swimming pool it forms while racing by.

And then finally, you’d have to take a dip in the cold, fresh water, but true pros will tell you it’s best enjoyed after a few minutes in the wood-burning sauna. Then you’d understand the beauty of this place.

I loved my first visit to Itatiaia with Daniel, Marcos and Alba two years ago, but this time around, with 21 adults, 5 kids and 3 dogs (including a particularly feisty one named Bruno who a very religious housekeeper referred to as the devil personified), we were like one big crazy family.

The sun didn’t shine the entire time we were there, so it was easy to linger at a long, tiled table over lavish lunches and dinners every day.

There was feijoada, Brazil’s national dish, a parade of pastas including a Brazilian lasagna that’s layered with ham, and a big batch of caipirinhas served from a pressure cooker.

And for dessert, we always sipped cafezinhos while nibbling on goiabada (a sweet guava paste) and queijo minas (a cheese that's similar to fresh mozzarella), one of my all-time favorite Brazilian desserts.

There were more than a few rounds of cards throughout the weekend, although I think everyone will agree that Bullshit (introduced to the group by Emily and Richard) was the real crowd-pleaser. As for the rain, it did keep some people out of the river, and caused almost everyone, including one of the dogs, to crowd into the sauna together.

And then came New Year’s Eve, the last night we all spent together at the house. At 11pm, various people were taking naps, others were hanging up bunches of balloons, Daniel and Richard were taunting eachother with silly games that made it easy for me to imagine them as 8-year olds together, and in the kitchen, Gisela was cooking lentils. For a second, I thought it was going to be a fairly mellow New Year’s.

But as midnight crept closer, people started disappearing into rooms and re-emerging in all-white outfits which are worn to ensure a peaceful and lucky new year. It took me a little while to shed my own cozy clothes which felt so necessary in the unseasonably cold weather, but finally at 11:55, I ran back to my room and changed into a white, strapless dress, the only piece of clothing that hadn't gotten wet yet during the weekend.

Just a few minutes later, fireworks began going off and there we were, all dressed in white, huddled together hugging, laughing, and dancing as the sky lit up, rain fell and a new year began.

Music blasted, champagne was poured and everyone took turns visiting a table where the lentils (which signify wealth), sat next to a big bowl of grapes and a flickering candle. According to tradition, you must eat seven grapes (with pits), making a wish on each one. And to ensure that your wishes will come true, you must hold onto the pits for the entire year. Considering all the champagne we drank that night, I'm surprised that those seven little suckers are still rolling around in the pocket of my purse. But you better believe they’ll be there till 2008.

I figured that the lentils and grapes were supposed to hold us over till the next day, but then at 2am, another huge feast began, this one a complete and total surprise to me. While we’d all been dancing and celebrating, our resident chef Alba, was back in the kitchen, this time making bacalhau, a traditional salted cod dish that’s often served on holidays, pork loin, and salpicão, a Brazilian salad with shredded chicken, carrots, mayonnaise and crispy fried potatoes.

And then there we were again, all the adults, some of the kids, and all the dogs – well-fed and half-soaked from the rain. And so very feliz.

Back from Brazil

Daniel and I got home from Brazil yesterday. The rain was relentless most of the trip, but the way I see it, that just gave us more time to eat. Plus, would you want to slip into a teensy Brazilian bikini after having meia-luas for breakfast, feijoada for lunch and moqueca for dinner? I didn't think so.




I have many, many stories to share, but I need to organize all my photos and translate a whole lotta chicken scratch first. Stay tuned!

Manka's

People often ask me to name my favorite restaurant. Many come to mind in New York and beyond, but if I really had to choose one place, it would be Manka's in beautiful Inverness, California.

When I heard that Manka's burned down the day after Christmas, I was completely shocked. I thought of my brother who has worked there for the past six years and how he is now out of a job. I thought of the owners Margaret and Daniel, two of the most inspiring chefs I've ever met. I thought of all the people like myself who have been lucky enough to visit and all of those who still have not.

I first visited Manka's three years ago for my Mom's 53rd birthday. Although she, Daniel and I were taking the red eye back to New York later that night, we decided to drive the 45 minutes from San Francisco to Inverness for one final meal. Together with my brother we feasted on King Crab legs dipped in butter, devoured fatty lumps of housemade bacon set atop watercress from a local stream, drank one of the best white wines I've ever tasted, ate a dizzying amount of dessert and so much more. On our way to the airport, I was giddy, certainly from all that wine, but also because of the meal I'd had. It was the type of eating experience that makes a person feel truly happy to be alive.

But it was the place itself, which I can hardly believe is no longer there, that made Manka's so special. It was rustic and cozy and always made me feel instantly soothed. Food quotes were painted on the walls and the floors creaked. And meals often started with mugs of spicy apple cider in front of a big, roaring fire.

When I worked on Food Network's first web series Eat This with Dave Lieberman, I pushed hard for us to visit Manka's for a segment on holiday food (if you watch the clip, click on episode 3).

As we spent hours huddled in the kitchen filming, Margaret fed our crew mini rolls stuffed with that housemade bacon. And they, as I had hoped, instantly fell for the place.


I've been reading about the fire since I arrived in Brazil last week and just saw in this New York Times article that Margaret and Daniel have vowed to rebuild. And when they do, I urge all of you to go and visit. You´ll be so happy you did.

Aside from that, things are good here in Rio even though it's been raining for the past 6 days straight. I have many stories to share of our New Year's Eve celebration in the mountains with 21 people, 4 babies and 3 dogs and our marathon eating in the cidade maravilhosa. But I'm kind of getting used to this whole relaxation thing, so I think you might have to wait till I'm back to hear about all of that.

Happy New Year!