Kitchen culture clash

There’s nothing better in my book than a rich seafood moqueca in the Bahian style.  Brazilian cooking with its use of coconut milk, fried bananas, salty meats, and desserts from every conceivable tropical fruit is amazing.  Luiz won me over on our first date eleven years ago with a rolito of spiced hamburger stuffed with ham and cheese served with augratten (ish) potatoes and collard greens like I had never experienced (couve).  Later, when he made a bacalhoada in a clay pot – forgedaboutit – I was sold.

I love Brazilian food. But I also love the light, so-called California Cuisine that I enjoyed for 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area.  That type of food is best described as: what you see is what you get.  Carrots taste like carrots. You can tell which particular mushroom went into the mushroom sauce.  Vegetables have texture.  Flavors combine harmoniously without getting lost in the overall dish.  Meat is featured, but is a limited portion on your plate.  In general salt and fat are not used to boost flavors.

Herein we have the rub. My husband and mother in law would like nothing better than to please me with delicious regional Brazilian cooking.  Every day.  I, on the other hand, would like to eat a cruciferous vegetable once in a while.

We have had to strike a balance.  Luiz or his mother cooks a delicious meal that invariably congeals in the refrigerator into a layer of beef fat and otherwise edible ingredients (which I may beg off from) and I cook a meal of stir fried crispy vegetables and chicken bits served in a light sauce over brown rice (which they may beg off from).  We agree to disagree.

Crunchy vegetables do not translate.  If you were to take a cru de ta platter (even with a kick-ass dip) to a Brazilian party, the host would bag it all up at the end of the evening and send it home with you.

It has been my experience that Brazilians like what they like.  And it relates to what their grandmother used to cook.  Thai food? Mongolian BBQ? Ethiopian platters of incredible flavors? Burmese delicacies? Simple Mexican guacamole?  --  Sorry  -- it has not been my experience that my friends here are open to these new and delicious options.

But hey – I live here.  The food in the grocery store reinforces the particular narrow band of Brazilian flavors.  Exotic ingredients are not to be found.

My joy has been to investigate the local flavors: fruits, root vegetables, cooking with coconut milk, grilling with rock salt, and finding all things delicious for sale at street food vendors – anywhere, anytime.

The culture clash continues, but I am enjoying the back and forth.