This month we showcase the rich diversity of the country as well as the cuisine, from outstanding Brazilian restaurants – Thai Restaurant at the Casa Grande Hotel Resort & Spa, Maksoud Plaza, and from Transamerica Ilha de Comandatuba.
Brazil is an enormous country with great diversity when it comes to their cuisine, from their national dish of feijoada (a black bean stew with a mixture of meats), to coconut-based dishes of the northeast, as well as Asian inspired dishes. This month we showcase the rich diversity of the country as well as the cuisine, from outstanding Brazilian restaurants. From Thai Restaurant at the Casa Grande Hotel Resort & Spa in Guarujá, São Paulo, we have a mouth-watering appetizer, from Maksoud Plaza in São Paulo, we have tempting recipes for Shrimp Bahia Style and Brazilian Chicken Soup, and from Transamerica Ilha de Comandatuba in Ilheus, we have delicious Bahian entrées and desserts which feature coconut and dendê oil. Muito obrigada to all of our chefs for making this edition so very tasty!
Thai Restaurant at the Casa Grande Hotel Resort & Spa in Guaruá, São Paulo, Brazil. (www.casagrandehotel.com.br) Please read our article on Thai in our Restaurant section.)
Kung Sarong (Fried Shrimps with Herbs wrapped in Wonton Skins)
Ingredients
1 teaspoon chopped coriander roots
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon ground black peppercorns
1 teaspoon fish sauce (Nam Pla)
6 each de-veined jumbo shrimps
6 each fresh wonton wrappers (wonton skins)
1 each egg yolk
1 teaspoon wheat flour
2 cups vegetable oil
6 teaspoons *Sweet chili sauce
Preparation:
Pound the first three ingredients together until a paste is formed and mix with the fish sauce (Nam Pla). If using a blender or processor, add the fish sauce to the first 3 ingredients and blend until a paste is formed.
Marinate the shrimps in the above mixture for 15 minutes.
Wrap the shrimp in a wonton wrapper and seal with a paste made from the egg yolk beaten with wheat flour.
Heat the oil and deep-fry the Kung Sarong until they are golden.
Serve as an appetizer with the “Sweet chili sauce”.
Sweet chili sauce
Ingredients
5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 cups water
4 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon salt
½ tablespoon fresh red chili pepper (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons garlic (finely chopped)
Preparation:
Combine the sugar and water in a pot and boil over medium heat until it becomes syrup. Add all the others ingredients, simmer for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat. Serve cold. Add more chili pepper if you like your sauce very spicy.
From Maksoud Plaza, www.maksoud.com, in São Paulo, we have 2 delicious recipes.
Shrimp Bahia Style (1 serving)
Ingredients
6 medium sized shrimps, shelled and divined
1 small onion cut in coarse slices
1 ripe tomato skinned and seeded
1 green onion with stalk
1 stalk cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons tomato concentrate
1 cup coconut milk
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup fish fume
1 green lemon; juice only
salt, white pepper and cumin to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ounce of combined green, red and yellow pepper, skinned and cut into large squares
Preparation:
Shell and de-vein shrimps and season with salt, pepper and cumin. Set aside the white wine. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and mix in shrimps, onion, peppers, tomato, cilantro, and green onions. Add wine, fish fume and finally the tomato concentrate, coconut milk, salt, pepper, cumin and lemon. Cook for 7 minutes.
Brazilian Chicken Soup (6 servings)
Broth Ingredients
chicken carcasses (without legs, wings or fillet) washed with
vinegar and lemon. Include chicken feet also washed with vinegar and lemon
1 whole onion unpeeled
3 cloves garlic unpeeled
3 stalks celery
1 medium leek (white part only)
1 bay leaf
1 bunch parsley leaves with stalks
1 dash of salt
freshly ground white pepper to taste
8 pints water
Soup Ingredients
30 ounces chicken breast meat without skin (if you prefer you may use dark skin meat such as upper leg, for example)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 minced onion
2 cloves garlic minced
2 stalks celery, cut into small cubes
½ stalk leek (white part only) cut into small cubes
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 cup rice
2 tomatoes peeled, seeded and cut into small cubes
4 coarsely grated carrots minced parsley and green onions to taste
olive oil and salt to taste
Broth preparation:
In a large saucepan, mix in all of the ingredients. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Keep boiling for half an hour and then pass the contents through a strainer. Continue cooking the broth on low heat to concentrate the flavor and the seasonings. Be careful to not allow too much of the broth to evaporate.
Chicken soup:
Cut chicken meat into small cubes.
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and add onion and then the garlic. When the onion becomes transparent, add the celery, leek and thyme. Keep simmering for a while and then add the chicken, rice and broth. Add salt to taste. When the rice is cooked, add the tomato, grated carrots, parsley and green onions. Bring it to a quick boil, and then add olive oil to taste and serve.
Transamerica Ilha de Comandatuba, www.transamerica.com.br, is located in the city of Ilheus, in the northern state of Bahia, and it is situated on its own island with 21 km of pristine white soft sand beach. The chef has graciously provided Luxury Experience Magazine readers with very typical dishes from Bahia. The recipes were provided in Portuguese, so we have translated the recipes into English and are presenting them in both versions for our readers. Vatapá, Bobá de Camarão and Moqueca de Peixe are rich main courses featuring coconut milk or fresh coconut and dendê oil, a special oil that is very strong and is used predominantly in the cuisine of the Northeast of Brazil. Cocada Branca, Pudim de Leite and Quindim are “doces” which means sweets, or desserts. Cocada Branca is made from sweet white coconut meat, made into pattie shapes and are usually sold by Bahian women in the streets, as well as in Sweet Shops and served at parties. It is my favorite sweet, and I always buy them whenever I can. Pudim de Leite is a pudding, that is also called Crême Caramel. Quindim is another very popular sweet made from egg yolks and coconut, and are my friend, Eloa’s favorite dessert.
The Main Courses
Vatapá (10 portions)
Ingredients
15 French rolls, grated
250 ml dendê oil
600 ml coconut milk
350 grams dried-shrimp (300gr ground and 50g reserved to put in whole)
200 grams peanuts, roasted, skins removed and ground
100 grams cashews, toasted and ground
salt to taste
1 litre cold milk
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
4 large onions, cut into slices
Preparation:
2 hours before, put the grated bread in a bowl, add enough of the cold milk to cover, and wait until the milk is absorbed by the bread. Later, put the bread in a blender with the coconut milk, beat and then reserve. In a large pan, add the dendê oil and heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and cook until golden, then add the peanuts, cashews and dried shrimp and simmer. Later add the bread mixture and continue cooking, stirring constantly. Add salt to taste, and if you prefer, you can also add hot sauce. Add the ginger which will perfume and aromatize the dish. If you like, add more dendê oil and add the whole shrimp. Continue cooking until the mixture begins to leave the sides of the pan.
Bobá de Camarão (10 Portions)
Ingredients
1,300 kg medium shrimp, cleaned
700 grams cooked mandioca (yucca or cassava that has been cooked and blended in a blender with enough water and salt to make a smooth paste)
100 grams dried-shrimp
200 grams onions, diced
200 grams tomatoes, ripe, seeds removed and diced
50 grams parsley, fresh, finely chopped
500 grams coconut milk
180 ml dendê oil
Prepartion:
In a pan add the dendê oil and the onion, tomatoes and shrimp and bring to a simmer. Add the creamed mandioca with the dried-shrimp and season to taste, (salt, white pepper or hot sauce), and then mix in the coconut milk and continue to cook over a low heat until the shrimp are cooked. Finish the dish with the parsley, taste and correct salt if needed, and serve with white rice.
Moqueca de Peixe
Ingredientes
800 grams fish, well cleaned
200 grams tomatoes, sliced in rounds
200 grams onions, sliced in rounds
100 grams green pepper, sliced in rounds
1 cup parsley
150 ml dendê oil
400 ml fresh coconut milk
salt and hot pepper to taste
Preparation:
In a large frying pan, place a layer of the seasonings (tomatoes, onions, green pepper, parsley), then a layer of fish, add another later of seasonings, and finally add another layer of fish. Add the dendê oil and coconut milk, and end with a stream of olive oil. Cook over low heat until the fish is cooked.The Desserts
Cocada Branca
Ingredients
1 kg fresh coconut, coarsely grated
1 kg sugar
10 grams cloves
10 grams cinnamon stick
Preparation:
In a deep large pan, add all of the ingredients and cook over a low heat, until the mixture forms a ball on a spoon. You want the mixture to be able to hold together. Drop tablespoonfuls of the coconut mixture onto a sheet of parchment paper to cool, pressing the coconut mixture slightly to flatten them out a bit. You may also place the entire mixture on the parchment paper in a rectangular shape, and cut it into squares when the mixture is cool.
Quindim
Ingredients:
1 litre coconut milk
500 grams fresh coconut, finely grated
24 egg yolks, beaten
150 grams unsalted butter
500 grams sugar
Preparation:
In a bowl, beat the coconut milk, grated coconut, egg yolks and sugar. Grease a tube pan with unsalted butter and “flour” the pan with polvilho doce (manioc starch), pour the mixture into the prepared tube pan and let it rest for 40 minutes. Place the form in a bain-Marie and bake at 180º C or 350º F until a knife inserted into the mixture comes out clean.
Pudim de leite
Ingredients
500 grams condensed milk
500 ml milk
200 grams sugar
14 eggs
Preparation:
In a tube pan, add the sugar and heat on the stove to caramelize the sugar. Carefully swirl the pan to coat the sides with the caramelized sugar.
In a blender, beat the condensed milk, milk, and eggs. Add the mixture to the caramelized tube pan, and bake in a moderate oven at 180º C or 350º F until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and then refrigerate. Serve cold with whipped cream.
Please read our other articles on Brazil in Destinations, Hotels & Resorts, Restaurants, Gastronomy, Chefs’ Recipes, Spas and Music Scene. You may also enjoy our articles the “Best of São Paulo” and “From Rio with Love” in Destinations.
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