Special display of cod, sardines, and olive oil |
Salted Cod |
As the demand for beef all over Brazil drops, the market for fish increases. Grocery stores put out special displays of various types of fish, including shark, fresh sardines, and primarily bacalhau, which is salted cod. Brazilians love to fix bacalhau anytime during Lent but especially on Good Friday. The traditional way that Brazilian women prepare salted cod is to desalt it, and then bake it with whole black olives, small potatoes, and generous trickles of olive oil. This dish of bacalhoada is often decorated with hard boiled eggs before it is served.
Easter Eggs Overhead and Everywhere! |
If you do decide to invest in a chocolate Easter egg, I would say there are three ways by which you can choose your egg. They are:
Medium Sized São Paulo Soccer Team Eggs |
Smilinguido Eggs |
Prestigio Eggs |
Preparing for an outdoor Passion play |
The grand finale of all of this - Carnaval, Lent, and Easter eggs- is Semana Santa, or in English, Holy Week. This series of celebrated days begins on Palm Sunday. On this particular Sunday every year, we see people carrying palm fronds arriving at Catholic churches for a special morning mass. Palm Sunday is a bad day for any bush or tree that has palm-like fronds. There used to be a short palm tree here in our neighborhood, and every year without fail people cut off all but its very highest fronds on Palm Sunday. The poor tree fell over and died several months ago, so this year it is resting undisturbed.
Cement Figure at Morada de Deus |
St. Judas Catholic Church |
Today, Easter Sunday and the last day of Semana Santa, literally started off with a bang. Right around 6 a.m. Catholic churches all over town set off firecrackers in anticipation of the early morning masses that were to come. We live two blocks away from the St. Judas Catholic church, and noticed that by 7:30 a.m. cars were arriving and people were walking from nearby streets for the last special mass of this Easter season. If our calculations are correct, the next big religious holiday in Brazil will be Corpus Christi here in sixty-one days.
That was very interesting. You have a very engaging style! :-) I am proud to report that tuna ice cream has never passed these lips! I would love the opportunity to try a Prestigio egg, though... I enjoy your blog. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteLove, Mary
p.s. I will never forget the Morada de Deus Tangerines! Or the bacon flavored onion rings. That was the best picnic ever!
Good article. Keep up the good work.
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