Friday Postcard: Breakfast in brazil

Hi all,

If the word “breakfast” conjures up images of a cup of coffee and an Eggo ® waffle, you really should experience breakfast in Brazil.

Here, whether you stay at a hotel, a pousada (a small hotel, like a B&B, usually owned and operated by a family), or even a hostel, breakfast is generally included.

And a full Brazilian breakfast is a joy. Typically, you will smell it several steps before you see it. That dark, thick coffee, the fresh bread. (Although we have a sometimes bewildering variety of food in the States, we really don’t do bread very well.)

So you follow your nose.

Food in Brazil is plentiful and cheap, so you are likely to encounter quite a spread. This is not a continental breakfast at the Dayz Inn.  You certainly find coffee and fresh-squeezed juices like orange and watermelon. (How come we never thought of watermelon juice? Seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it?) There will be pãozinho (little loaves of French bread) and probably also crappy American-style bread and maybe a sweet cake or two. Cold cereal and milk. Sliced ham and cheese so that you can build your own sandwich. Maybe scrambled eggs and cut-up hot dogs if you are staying in a hotel catering to Americans. (I never ate hot dogs for breakfast back home, but they seem to think we like them with our eggs.) You’ll find fresh fruit, by which I mean it was likely still attached to a tree or vine earlier that morning. Meloncia (watermelon) and abacaxi (pineapple) are common.

But my personal favorites are mamão (papaya) and a spreadable white cheese called requeijão (pronounced “heh keh ZHOW”). We really have nothing like it in the US. Cream cheese is probably closest, but cream cheese doesn’t really spread all that well, as you know if you’ve ever tried to get it evenly distributed on your bagel. Requeijão is a delightfully gooey, tasty spread that is perfect with pãozinho and ham.

The table you see here in the picture was laid out for me when I stayed at a little pousada in Paraty. Unfortunately I cannot recall the name of the establishment. I should mention that I was traveling alone and this spread was just for me!

Makes it worth getting up in the morning.

(Paraty, by the way, is a great side visit from Rio, maybe 3 hours by bus. It has rock beaches, sand beaches, a natural pool sheltered by rocks, and loads of waterfalls nearby, where the young guys like to go rock surfing. If you come to Rio, think seriously about visiting Paraty.)

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