Sabor BRASIL

Specialties from Minas Gerais Marcel De Brot* very country has its typical cuisine, this being an E important characteristic that together with others such as the music and literature, composes the culture of a people. Some culinary traditions are very much admired and 66 relished throughout the world, having advanced beyond their frontiers. This is the case of the French, Italian, German, Japanese, Chinese, Arab cuisines, as well as of many others. The Brazilian cuisine is no ce seen in dishes such as the has many other wonderful dishes less important. On the contrary, tucupi and the tacacá. The that use what the sea has to it offers a vast array of delicacies. midland also has its secrets, offer. In São Paulo there is a In the Northeast, its roots are among them pequi, guariroba mixture of influences coming connected to the sea and to the and so much more. For thou- from Portugal, Italy and Japan. sertão, the arid inland. Here we sands of kilometers of coastline The colonizers brought with them find crab, fish, shrimp, coriander, from North to South, food basi- traditions that were passed down dendê oil, coconut milk, dry cally comes from the sea. There from generation to generation. meat and manioc flour. In the is a great variety of ingredients Minas Gerais has a sepa- South we find the delicious and local recipes. In Bahia we rate history. For many centuries churrasco or barbecue, maté, have acarajé and vatapá, in the state underwent a mixture of good wine and a vast European Espirito Santo, a fish stew called Portuguese, Indian and African inheritance. In the state of Pará moqueca, In Pernambuco and tastes. In addition, of course, to and the Amazon region, an Ceará, shredded meat with that which nature offered locally. infinity of cultivated and wild fruits mashed manioc offers special As Carlos Drummond de and a strong indigenous influen- delight. But the Northeast also Andrade would have said, how- *Journalist, musician and poet, he is the editor in chief of the Brasilia office of Hoje em Dia newspaper and editor of Caderno Brasilia. Specialties from Minas Gerais ever, the cuisine of Minas Gerais is in reality many cuisines. It has For those who think that Minas Gerais influences from Bahia in the cuisine is limited to pork loin, ham, North, Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo in the East, Goiás in the cheese bread, tutu and tropeiro beans, West and São Paulo in the South. this is just the beginning. This influence is manifested in convergences and improve- ments. And it acquires a new dimension with its bread and cheese cookies were made in farms to incredible variety of recipes containing simple earthly use cheese leftovers. A humble people with an ingredients such as cabbage, summer squash, jiló, abundant table: that’s the way of the mountains. okra, Barbados gooseberries, fern sprouts, sonchus Women compensated for the isolation of a time and chayote. Also pequi, parsley, chives, safflower, without airplanes, cars or roads with creativity in saffron and so much more. The cuisine of Minas the kitchen. They produced all kinds of things with Gerais also developed such specialties as angu, whatever was available in the garden. Breads, cracklings, vaca atolada and pork ribs with canjica cakes, tidbits and sweets, jams, preserves, and rice with suã. Never mind the chicken with okra, sausages, meats softened in lard, manioc flour, to name but a few. sweet and sour manioc starch, corn meal, eggs For those who think that Minas Gerais cuisine and butter. These are all words that the people of is limited to pork loin, ham, cheese bread, tutu and Minas are intimate with. 67 tropeiro beans, this is just the beginning. The To admire and relish the typical cuisine of Minas chemistry that developed throughout history includes Gerais is to go back to a not so distant past of ingredients from Africa, Portugal and from the village. simple life in the country, mines, sugar plantations And it always happens in the simplest way possible. and endless grasslands. But its people, known for Almost everything comes from the garden. The use their good prose, lively conversation and infidelity of pork reveals a bit of the creativity of the slaves. created more than simple recipes. They invented a Feijoada, with rice, cracklings, cabbage and manioc regional cuisine, as if it were a country of chimeras. flour bears proof of this. There are those who Nowadays the cuisine of Minas Gerais deserves a guarantee that feijoada was inherited from the chapter apart in the national cuisine. A chapter of Portuguese. It was as well, since the pork snout, unforgettable tastes, colors and variety. And with a ears and tongue were already used in the ancient special scenery composed of wood stoves, clay Portuguese cuisine. But there is no doubt that ovens, iron pots and wooden spoons. miscegenation was responsible for this mixture of What truly characterizes the Minas cuisine is black beans, pepper and all the less noble pork cuts. the relaxed environment in which it takes place, The leftovers of the sugar barons became a festive however, making the kitchen the most important meal appreciated all over the country by all social place of the house. Friends, relatives and other classes. But give unto Ceasar what visitors are all received in the kitchen. The smell of is Caesar’s. Feijoada is originally from Rio de Janeiro. coffee reminds one that the people of Minas Gerais It spread to Minas Gerais though the Portuguese like to receive their guests by offering the best they and African Negroes and became deeply rooted in have and enjoy good conversation accompanied the culture. by tasty homemade tidbits. Minas cheese, that godly delicacy, was born The cultural traits of this people are one of the by chance, as a way to use the milk surplus. Cheese reasons that made such literary geniuses as The Taste of Brazil Guimarães Rosa write about them highlighting the richness of their simplicity. The land of JK, Tancredo Neves and Tiradentes could have been no other way. The first one built Brasilia and brought hope. The second marked the end of the dictatorship with the victory of cunning that destiny, ironically, did not allow him to savor. The third, back in the days of the Empire, questioned the confiscation of one fifth of all the gold extracted in the country and became a martyr of the national independence movement. These symbols of Minas Gerais remind one of the historical significance that the state has for the country. And they may help to explain how the Minas cuisine gained so much importance in the national context. How an off-record comment, a whisper or a treacherous word can synthesize the ability of those from Minas Gerais to network from behind the mountains to beyond their frontiers. Just like their 68 recipes, perfected from generation to generation and offered first to the country and then to the world. Being from Minas, I firmly believe that the cuisine of my land serves humanity just like Scottish whisky, Russian vodka, Cuban rum, Mexican tequila, Italian pasta, the various types of French cheese, Arab spices and so many other delicacies to eat and drink that characterize the different peoples and their cultural traditions. And I haven’t even mentioned cachaça, the best and most authentic Brazilian drink that to be good must come from one place only: Minas Gerais. It should be appreciated pure, without lemon, and must have been handmade in a copper still, preferably in the region of Salinas. It is what we call an appetizer; it whets the appetite for the delicious dishes to come. The food of Minas Gerais is more than a group of delicacies: it has the taste of human warmth, of wisdom, of simplicity. It is artistic. It has the taste of an unforgettable pleasure. And for those who were born there and are away, it tastes like home..

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