"You who knew him, gentlemen, can say with me that nature appears to be weeping over the irreparable loss of one of the finest characters humanity has been honored with. This somber air, these drops from heaven, those dark clouds that cover the blue like funeral crepe, all of it is the cruel and terrible grief that gnaws at nature and at my deepest insides; all that is sublime praise for our illustrious deceased."
Book: The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Joaquim Maria
Recipes: The Brazilian Table by Roberts and Roberts
Batida de Banana
Brazilian Garden Salad
For the vinaigrette
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp lime juice
5 tsp orange flower blossom (optional)
Reserved orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
6 tbsp olive oil
For the salad
1 cup peeled and julienned chayote
4 cups lettuce
2 cups watercress
1 cup peeled, sectioned orange, reserve the juice for vinaigrette
1 (14 oz) can of hearts of palm, drained and sliced
Whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients and toss with the salad ingredients.
We couldn't find Chayote. We couldn't find orange blossoms. My Cuban roommate used to use hearts of palm in her salads, but she got hers from a jar. I liked hers better than the canned ones that I used yesterday. Also, we were feeling like a light meal so just had salad, but we imagined this would be very good with shrimp or a lightly grilled fish or chicken (that structure that I used there, "or... or... " that's called polysyndeton. I just learned that today and I have to teach it to my AP students tomorrow).
Batida de Banana
2 bananas, sliced (make sure they are ripe and sweet)
1 cup Cachaça
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
Cinnnamon and banana slices for garnish, if you want to be fancy
Dump all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Sprinkle with cinnamon and prop a toothpick of banana slices over your glass if you want to impress the locals (I was impressed.).
Kitchen helper Jay was in charge of making this. Any time a drink is mixed for you rather than by you, it's even more delightful. And this drink was super-yummy to begin with. The local liquor store sells Cachaça but they were fresh out of it. No idea when they will get more, but I should stop by all the time and check (subliminal message: ...and buy ever more of our other products while you wait). We used Myers's Dark Rum and a hand blender (not quite as smooth as a blender, but it got the job done). This is a recommended drink for times when you have to get a bunch of kids to pass a really difficult test.
About the book:
I haven't really started it yet. Just read the first page. I like this line though, "I am not exactly a writer who is dead, but a dead man who is a writer, for whom the grave is a second cradle." Apparently, he isn't posthumously publishing his memoirs, he is posthumously writing them. Intriguing idea. I am looking forward to reading more.
The music provided was Songs of Ary Barrosa (b. November 7, 1903 — d. February 9, 1964). He was one of Brazil's most successful songwriters in the first half of the 20th century.
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