My OperaSan Genaro Party
Monday, October 13, 2008 3:04:29 AM
São Paulo is a very interesting city. So modern and so muilti-traditional... I say multi because we received colonies from almost all over the world, here. But still, we have some more common nationalities, here: Italians, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabs, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, all these are very common here in the city. And with these people, also came their rich traditions, culture and, what's best, food!
And even better than all these stuff is that we have lots of festivals made by these cultures. The Strawberry Festival, which I told you guys I've been to, was basically made by Japanese. Some weeks ago, I was walking in one of the downtown neighborhoods, and I found a Korean Festival (which, of course, I wasn`t able to leave without having bought some rolls of Korean sushi and a couple of awesome pancakes filled with brown sugar).
Last night, me and some friends went to an Italian Festival (San Genaro Party).
Besides listening lots of Italian music (they're so cheerful and lively that one just can't stay there without clapping hands, humming or even singing together), we were able to eat delicious food.
I had some traditional spaghetti, with tomato sauce, topped with grated cheese and a slice of Italian bread. My friends had one of the best things one can have in these Italian parties: Fogazza. Not to be confused with Foccacia, this one is not exactely a bread, but a kind of deep fried soft dough, filled with cheese and tomato. For dessert, we all decided to not go Italian, but Dutch. In almost all street parties, there's a stand selling Dutch Waffles, as we call it, which is a waffle dipped in a dulce de leche sauce.
But being in an Italian party, I could not leave it without some good Italian desserts, and I bought two of them. The first one, which is in the picture, is the Sfogliatelle. It is a kind of croissant (I just hope Italians don't see me comparing it to French dishes...), filled with sweet Ricotta and raisins. Really good, I must say. But I didn't find a good recipe of it, yet...
The other one I bought, I ended up eating before I could take a picture (Shame on me!). It was Baba au Rhum, which was originally Scandinavian, then spread in France, and finally crossed the borders to Napolis. It is a soft cup-cake, dipped in honey and rum, or any other sweet juice, and most of the times, filled with vanilla cream. I have found a recipe, although it is in Italian, in the Penisola website. I think I will try it one day. Baba au Rhum is really delicious!
After eating all the pasta and the waffle, and with my two Italian desserts in a bag, I came back home, happy and well fed. And willing to find another festival in the city...
See ya!
- Higa
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