Being in Brazil

I am now at the closing end of a four-day trip to Brazil. Although I meant to spend the entire time in the Northeast of the country -- João Pessoa and Recife -- I ended up spending a full day in Brasília as well. 

Brazil is an immense country, almost a continent unto itself, with geography and population as varied as that of the US. At just shy of 200 million, Brazil trails only China, India, the US, and Indonesia. The distance from Belém in the far north to Porto Alegre in the far south is almost the same as the distance from New York to Los Angeles. The northeast of the country (Nordeste) is located on the big curve of Brazil/South America into the Atlantic Ocean. The population lives largely in a series of big and increasingly prosperous cities on or near the coast. The interior of the region is much dryer and is also the poorest part of Brazil -- a region known as the Sertão. 

The Northeast differs from the South in that the influence of later European and Asian immigrations (Portuguese, but also Italian, German, Dutch, Lebanese, Chinese, and Japanese) is much stronger in the southern states. The history of Brazil, in many ways, began in the Nordeste, and some of the oldest and finest monuments of Portuguese colonial times remain in this region. João Pessoa, Recife, and the neighboring city of Olinda all are filled with marvelous old churches and other monuments going back to the 16th century. Unfortunately, the brevity of my trip did not allow me to experience much of this side of the region. 

When I think of Brazil, several things come to mind immediately:

1.  Coffee - Brazil remains the world's number one coffee producer and few nations have seen their history so shaped by the crop. A meeting rarely occurs without coffee.  These are not the small-swimming-pool sized lattes and other such things that are common in the US (although you can find those here, too). Brazilian coffee is served strong, small, and sweet, in espresso-sized doses, often in tiny plastic cups. Whoever makes these plastic cups must have a very lucrative business! 

A typical Brazilian coffee

2.  Beaches - Although I haven't seen statistics on this, I would guess that a very high percentage of the Brazilian population lives within two hours of the Atlantic or Caribbean coast. Much of the coastline is beautiful sand beaches. Here in the Northeast, beachside hotels are full over the "winter" holidays. Both Recife and João Pessoa have miles of beautiful beach. While they do not compare in grandeur or pretense to the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, they are flocked with thousands enjoying the beautiful Atlantic. Unlike the North American Atlantic coast, which is subject to hurricanes, the Brazilian coast is tranquil. Unfortunately, the famous Boa Viagem beach here in Recife has in recent years been subject to shark attacks, and swimming is now forbidden. 

Boa Viagem Beach in Recife 

3.  Fruit - if there were a fruit olympics, where nations competed over the beauty and variety of their fruits, I would probably give Brazil the edge (with stiff competition from Indonesia). The sheer variety of fruits in Brazil is stunning, many of which do not even have non-Portuguese names. Almost anywhere you go, the list of fresh fruit juices is a lengthy one. These are indeed fresh juices, not the Tropicana idea of fresh, blended right before you drink them and often served in a small pitcher with a spoon for stirring. Most are served unsweetened in their natural state. I've sampled more than I can count in my visits to Brazil, ranging from the conventional mango, papaya, and guava to more exotic caja and maracujá  others whose names I do not recall). A trip to Brazil would be incomplete without sampling Guaraná, the most famous soda of the country, flavored with the guaraná fruit of the Amazon. 

The cajá or "hog plum," which is in season in Brazil (from Wikipedia)

4.  Food - Brazilian cuisine is varied and regional. Feijoada, a stew of black beans cooked with various kinds of meat, eaten with various vegetables and accompaniments, defines the cuisine of Minas Gerais and the Rio-São Paulo corridor. In the Northeast, beans are also plentiful, but are usually brown, more like black-eyed peas. Grilled meat -- churrasco -- is also popular across the country, and Brazilians have very specific tastes as to their favorite cuts of meat. Churrasco is incomplete without a good red wine, usually of Argentine or Chilean vintage, although the southernmost states of Brazil are producing increasingly respectable reds. Northeastern Brazilian cuisine makes heavy use of shrimp, other "fruits of the sea," and coconut milk. No visit to Brazil is complete with consuming an enormous quantity of pão de queiju, or cheese bread, made from tapioca flour and a white cheese. 

unloading coconuts in the early morning for sale on Recife beaches