Massive Morel

I went for a walk and was scanning the banks and hedgerows for edible goodies, as usual, when this monster loomed before my eyes! Having previously poisoned myself with fungi, I was naturally very paranoid that I had correctly identified the beast, but mycology forum posts have confirmed that it is definitely an edible black morel. Now I have to decide how to cook it...

Thanks to Embratur

...for sending me a mini Brazilian food journey, when they heard about my distressing tale, below.

I got some malty Palma Louca lager, some lovely smooth, chocolaty ground coffee (Taylors of Harrogate's Café Brasilia), and some Guarana soft drinks, which remind me of coach trip service station stops in the Amazon. Plus some recipes and the photos from a foodie trip around Brazil. I loved the beer and the coffee, but the trip pics just made me jealous!


Thanks, guys! :)

Brazilian Food Journey in London ...that I missed

I've been feeling sad (actually quite distraught) that I'm missing the carnival in Rio and Salvador, but was looking forward to the little ray of sunshine that was the MediaPlace 'Brazilian Food Journey' event at Favela Chic, in London. Embratur, the Brazilian tourist board, were sponsoring the event. So, I eagerly bought my train ticket and planned my journey so that I could get there right from the beginning. Unfortunately, someone jumped in front of a train, so a series of delays, lost conductors and cancellations ensued over the next few hours. When I finally arrived at Favela Chic, the event was over and all the food and drink was gone!! :'( All that was left was the remnants of this table of fruit, which looks like it had been a fabulous replica of a Bahian cocktail stand.

I tried my best to have a Brazilian night anyway, and enjoyed the live Brazilian band, authentic Brazileiro atmosphere, and one or two or three caiparinhas. I was still gutted, though!


Meanwhile, I am currently uploading the story of my own real-life Brazilian food journey to this blog, below. I was away for 3 months, and have so far completed the 1st week of blogs, so keep checking back - more is being added every day.

Fragrant Pomegranate

I was inspired by the scents and flavours of the Arabic pastries, and by having pomegranates in the larder. The consequential imaginings of North African/ Tunisian fruit salad made my mouth water, but I did not have all the ingredients necessary (pomegranate, dried dates, banana and other suitable fruits that you might have in stock, with rose water, orange flower water), and wasn't in the mood to chop fruit. So, I just cut a pomegranate in half, and sprinkled the cut edge of one half with orange flower water and rose water, then tucked in with a teaspoon. Delightful! It worked a treat, was fresh and fragrant, and evoked the flavours of the Orient. Makes a refreshing snack.

Arabian Mornings

Pirran (brother, fellow food adventurer) arrived back from Qatar this morning, and had brought my requested merchandise - Arabic coffee and dozens of pastries. The coffee is made with unroasted, ground coffee and a variety of spices and other items, such as lichen (!) and cardamon. Pirran bought it from the souk, where they mix the coffee to order, from the various sacks of aromatic ingredients. I knew he had come up with the goods before he gave them to me, because the amazing smell of the coffee fills the room in an instant, despite it being in sealed plastic bags.

It is drunk in a glass, without milk or sugar, and it is addictive. Especially when used to wash down the sweet, buttery, fragrant pastries and sweetmeats, which are flavoured with rose water, pistachios, almonds and pinenuts.

The coffee and pastries together are an ideal breakfast combination, and are a taste of dusty, sunny, mysterious places.


I'm also grateful to Pirran for transporting the coffee though customs, because it just looks so dodgy...

Elderberry Wine and Friends, South-West France

Not really cuisine from the far corners of the planet, but definitely a gastronomic triumph, and some might find it adventurous...

My best mate Perry's been cosying up for autumn and having some culinary adventures in his own kitchen in France, with the help of wood-burners (yes, plural) and Unglum the cat (whose fave food is tomatoes, by the way). Italian heart stew, pizza dough flatbreads puffed up over a barbecue for kebabs, Moroccan meatball and egg stew, blood sausage omelet and freshly-collected oysters have been some of the mouth-watering delights on the menu over the last couple of weeks.

This is the elderberry wine the dude's been working on for two months, after collecting the berries in his garden. Perry carefully completed each stage exactly by the book, to avoid the risk of his precious potion turning to vinegar instead of alcohol. Success! It was all worth it. Now he has litres and litres of potent, fruity wine to get through. Lucky he's got good friends to help him out! See tasting notes below.

The beautiful results of weeks of careful work.


"It tastes really fruity, but not in a dodgy way, a bit like really weak ribena, but it smells wonderful. I think it should become amazing, because everything I've read says it should be undrinkable before Christmas at the earliest - maybe it's just my vin de table standards! It is certainly pretty strong even at this early stage - all I had was the glass in the picture and I really felt the effect strongly as you can probably tell from my email." - Perry Lancaster

South American Food Adventure

Flying visits to Argentina and Uruguay, followed by full-on two month adventure from the south to the north of Brazil.

Watch this space!

I'm currently writing up the adventure from my notebooks, and you can follow the story in the posts below. More of the trip is added everyday, along with some of my thousands of photos. Would you like to know when it's the whole account is finished? Email foodadventureblogupdated@gastropod.co.uk

My time in South America is now an incredible set of memories, which I will treasure for the rest of my life. Everything - good and bad - happened in extremes. On the plus side were 1000s of caiparinas, wonderful rich fish dishes and fried piranhas (caught by us) in the Amazon. These joys were offset by a violent mugging, illness and visa problems - the perfect adventure cocktail!


The most incredible 'costella' - massive beef ribs cooked for hours over a fire. Mouthwatering. Regrettably, I only managed 4 helpings of the tender meat and crispy, salty, melting fat. Mmmm!



Me (2nd to left) and Biddy (right), with the completely lovely guys that ran our favourite cocktail stand, in Porto Seguro.


Here's a taster from my notes...

20/04/08, Iguacu Falls:

"I am stunned that it is only a week since I left Europe. Days of travelling and waiting about and limited computer access have meant a rather neglected blog. Nevermind.

I am finally enjoying chilling out in the sun, and write this from a youth hostel´s poolside, near the Iguacu Falls. We´ve been to some real backwaters, where tourists are unheard of, as well as some horrible, filthy, crowded, threatening towns. We´ve been cold, dirty, hot, sticky and dusty, as well as contented, delighted, hungry and stuffed. It has all been fascinating, but tiring, so it is a wonderful treat to be clean, by a pool and in tropical countryside. My only set of warm clothes - which I wore solidly all last week - are at the cleaners, and tomorrow I am off to see the falls from the Argentinian side, as well as white water rafting under and around them."


The Iguacu Falls, the next day - A-MAZ-ING!

"Today I got my first bit of sunning in, ate a clementine straight from the tree, saw bananas growing, and watched a tiny hummingbird!

Right gotta go. I´ve seen and tasted a lot more than this but will have to update the blog another time, because I´ve got some urgent caiparinas to attend to.

P.S. so far, pizza, pizza everywhere, with bready bases and the cheese only lightly melted. It´s often hard to find other local foods among the pizza joints."

...but the food became increasingly delicious as we got further north. To give you an idea of the distance we covered and of where I'm currently up to in my blog, below, our itinery was roughly:
Argentina - Buenos Aires =>
Uruguay - Colonia, Montevideo, Punta de Este, Treinta Y Tres, Melo =>
Brazil - Bagé, Porto Alegré, Foz d'Iguaçu & Iguaçu Falls, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizante, Ouro Preto, Rio de Janeiro, Ilha Grande, back to Rio, Porto Seguro, Itacaré, Salvador, Morro de Sao Paulo, Manaus & The Amazon, then finally back to Morro de Sao Paulo and Itacaré. We were so sad to leave! :'(