First great surprise of this trip: Sao Paulo is an amazing city. Before leaving London and whilst travelling Brazil, we kept hearing how horrible and dodgy it was. We almost decided not to go, but we had arranged to visit our friends Marcelo and Kelvin who just recently moved there from London. As our flight from Brasilia was coming into landing I could not believe how big the city below us was. It was night, we flew over a shimmering expanse of lights for about 15 minutes. And it took us over 2 hours by bus to reach Avenida Paulista, the main thoroughfare. Sao Paulo (Sampa for friends) has over 10 million inhabitants in its city area, including the metropolitan area the count gets up to almost 20 million.
Those who know me will be aware of the fact that I am attracted to large cities. In a way, the larger the better; smaller towns do not really appeal to me. What I like about big cities is the fact that they have hidden secrets; the mixture of history and immigration usually create an interesting climate for multiculturalism and cultural innovation. This concept is epitomised by a place like Sao Paulo. Immigration during the past century have brought to the city thousands of Italians, Lebanese, Greek, Africans, Germans and many others. The city now hosts sizeable communities of immigrants; besides the famous Bixiga (Sampa's Little Italy) and Liberdade (the Japanese neighbourhood) there are Chinese markets, Korean restaurants, German pubs and a Jewish district. And this is just what I noticed in a weekend.
As in my beloved London, Sao Paulo's multiethnic soul has produced a vibrant dining scene. Sampa's sushi is considered one of the best this side of Japan and the pizza is meant to be so good it can put many Italian eateries to shame. Plus there are excellent restaurants from as far apart as Russia and Uruguay, as well as from every nook and cranny of Brazil. A culinary tour of Sao Paulo would surely be an epicurean's delight. Unfortunately, two factors forbid us from partaking to this feast of cosmopolitan flavours. Firstly, we are on a rather tight budget, and Sampa is far dearer compared to the rest of Brazil. Secondly, we came over to visit friends, and so we were willing to go wherever they took us.
And I was glad we did. Maybe we missed out on Michelin-starred sushi, but we visited markets where we had some great street food. We tried acai, an Amazonian berry which is frozen into a pulp then served with fruit and granola; we had corn and sugarcane juice, delicious homemade cakes (with abundance of condensed milk....something else I am partial to), Japanese gyoza from Liberdade market and the best pasteis ever. Pasteis are deep-fried dough parcels with various fillings, my favourite was the evocative Romeo e Julieta, cheese and quince paste. However, the meal which will remain in my heart was the one we had at Rodizio de Pizza, an all-you-can-eat pizza joint. Rodizio means rotating, referring to the fact that the diner is continuously served seemingly unlimited food. These establishments are popular in Brazil, most commonly they offer meat (such as the legendary Porcao in Rio de Janeiro). In Sampa you can find pizza rodizio, soup rodizio, ice-cream rodizio and many others.
Surely the pizza served at rodizio is not what an Italian would expect! There are fairly simple pizzas, such as garlic and olives or chicken and sweetcorn, as well as interesting concoctions such as pizza baiana (with spicy prawns and extra chillies) and pizza mineira (with dried meat). And I could not believe it... they had sweet pizzas for dessert, delicious combinations such as white chocolate and coconut and bananas with dulce de leche. It was to me like Sao Paulo on a plate; the multiculturalism and inventiveness. But most important of all, it will remind me of my friends.
As in my beloved London, Sao Paulo's multiethnic soul has produced a vibrant dining scene. Sampa's sushi is considered one of the best this side of Japan and the pizza is meant to be so good it can put many Italian eateries to shame. Plus there are excellent restaurants from as far apart as Russia and Uruguay, as well as from every nook and cranny of Brazil. A culinary tour of Sao Paulo would surely be an epicurean's delight. Unfortunately, two factors forbid us from partaking to this feast of cosmopolitan flavours. Firstly, we are on a rather tight budget, and Sampa is far dearer compared to the rest of Brazil. Secondly, we came over to visit friends, and so we were willing to go wherever they took us.
And I was glad we did. Maybe we missed out on Michelin-starred sushi, but we visited markets where we had some great street food. We tried acai, an Amazonian berry which is frozen into a pulp then served with fruit and granola; we had corn and sugarcane juice, delicious homemade cakes (with abundance of condensed milk....something else I am partial to), Japanese gyoza from Liberdade market and the best pasteis ever. Pasteis are deep-fried dough parcels with various fillings, my favourite was the evocative Romeo e Julieta, cheese and quince paste. However, the meal which will remain in my heart was the one we had at Rodizio de Pizza, an all-you-can-eat pizza joint. Rodizio means rotating, referring to the fact that the diner is continuously served seemingly unlimited food. These establishments are popular in Brazil, most commonly they offer meat (such as the legendary Porcao in Rio de Janeiro). In Sampa you can find pizza rodizio, soup rodizio, ice-cream rodizio and many others.
Surely the pizza served at rodizio is not what an Italian would expect! There are fairly simple pizzas, such as garlic and olives or chicken and sweetcorn, as well as interesting concoctions such as pizza baiana (with spicy prawns and extra chillies) and pizza mineira (with dried meat). And I could not believe it... they had sweet pizzas for dessert, delicious combinations such as white chocolate and coconut and bananas with dulce de leche. It was to me like Sao Paulo on a plate; the multiculturalism and inventiveness. But most important of all, it will remind me of my friends.
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