Back Trackin', Brazil Edition - Experiencing Capoeira in Salvador, Brazil

Capoeira is one of Brazil's gifts to the world. It is a martial art that vaguely resembles dance and is a product of the mixing of the cultures that is so much a part of what makes Brazil special. Capoeira can be traced back to movements brought by early African slaves. Salvador is considered the hometown for the development of capoeira, and you can find people "playing" capoeira in rodas (or circles) all over the city.

After lots of walking back and forth between my hotel in the very central Pelourinho district in Salvador, I noticed a lot of rodas in the streets. These were guys who didn't study capoeira, but learned it from their friends. There are groups like this in Salvador performing for tourists and showing off lots of acrobatic talent. I stopped to watch a little until they started to flirt with me (I blended in very well, maybe a little too well, in Salvador), and then I needed to go.

In the same square was this man:

We struck up a conversation, and I learned that he was in fact a capoeira mestre (master and instructor). By day, he sold capoeira-related souvenirs and trinkets in the square. One morning he called out to me, and we began one of our many stilted but surprisingly understandable Portuguese-English conversations. I have to admit that this was one of the fun and unexpected byproducts of traveling alone. I'm not sure that I would have met him if I was traveling with someone else.

After lots of back and forth, the Mestre (as I'll call him) decided to teach me how to play the berimbau, an important instrument in capoeira. When two people are in the circle "playing" capoeria, there are others outside keeping rhythm for their movements through instruments and song. The berimbau is probably the most unusual looking of the instruments because it resembles a bow and arrow.

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A great pic of a berimbau with names of its parts

It looks easy and simple enough to play right? WRONG! There's a lot going on at the same time (make sure to reference the pic for the parts of the instrument I describe):

-Holding the berimbau upright with just your pinky and ring fingers.

-Depending on the tone you are trying to achieve, putting cabaca close to body or away from your body.

-Making sure that you are striking the arame with the vareta at the right rhythm while moving a pedra (a little 'ol rock) back and forth

-Plus, if you really want to get down :), shaking the caixixi while you're doing all of this.

Phew!

Here I am taking a try! You don't see me grimacing through the pain of holding up the berimbau with my pink and ring fingers.

On one of my last days in Salvador, the Mestre invited me to see some of his students perform at the Mercado Modelo, an open air market for tourists (read: tourist trap but still worth the trip) in Salvador's Lower City.

I like seeing female capoeiristas since they are hard to come by. When women perform capoeria movements well, I actually think they look better than men. :)

Showing off for the tourists. Like me! :)

If you are interested in seeing capoeira full out, here are a few short videos.








Has anyone tried capoeira or any other martial arts? Have you ever met someone during a trip that helped you learn more about the local culture (thanks, Mestre!)?

In My Hood/Adopt a Block - South Elliot Place & Lafayette Avenue

Oh my! I haven't done an "Adopt a Block" post in awhile, so here it goes:

Today, I thought I would focus on two restaurants on the corner of Lafayette Avenue and South Elliot Place in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Again, I remember when these two restaurants weren't even there, and the food pickins' in the neighborhood were slim. How times have changed!

67 Burger and The Smoke Joint are situated diagonally from each other and a part of a little community of restaurants that dot the criss-crossing of Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street.



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I go to Smoke Joint when I don't really care if I am about to eat a full day's worth of calories in one sitting 'cause when BBQ tastes good, it's just good. I am always reading that many people think BBQ in New York is bad and just not up to par with what you can find in the South. Look, I just go with what my taste buds tell me. If the tastebuds like, then I don't care if the food doesn't compare to what you can find elsewhere. Shouldn't enjoying food just be free of judgment sometimes? My answer is "Yes!" Before I started eating meat somewhat regularly again, Smoke Joint was my meat guilty pleasure.

At Smoke Joint, I prefer their version of spare ribs. They tend to be bigger and have more meat on the bone. Go big or go home (or better yet stay home).

Husband J chose the baby back ribs, which are much smaller and leaner. If you want to be dainty, try these. I don't go to Smoke Joint to be dainty. Word.

The sides are lovely too. I tend to make sure I fit a veggie in by getting their collards which are not overcooked and have a smoky flavor to them. Also two words: Macaroni and cheese. Smoke Joint's version isn't bland, and the cheese has a salty sharpness to it. Yum...

I tend to wash all of this down with beer. It's BBQ. It's not time to be cute.

I didn't drink both of the these. The other is for Husband J. :)

If you get a chance to go to Blue Smoke, I tend to like going when it's warm. They open up the windows so that part of the restaurant is open air. You get views like this:

This large building is the Williamsburg Savings Bank Building, and it's the tallest building in Brooklyn. It was recently turned into condos (a very first decade of the 21st century thing to do in Brooklyn) and the ground floor event area, Skylight One Hanson, currently serves as the spot for the Brooklyn Flea during the winter. When I see this building, my heart warms because I know I am home or at least close by.

Right across the street from Smoke Joint, is 67 Burger. It offers everything from basic burgers to its own specialty burger creations, which can be made with turkey, veggie or regular old beef. One of my favorites has been the 67 Burger combining blue cheese and bacon. You can also build your own with toppings such as a crisp artichokes, cajun spice and avocados. There are no limits here. They serve beer and wine as well in case you don't want sodas or milkshakes. They also sell salad, but really why? It's a burger place. :)

This time around, I had The Southwestern burger: Chipotle mayo, Jack cheese, roasted peppers and scallions.

Can I say that 67 Burger's fries are fabulous, BUT the ones I got during this last trip were waaay too salty. This is coming from the woman who eats salt and pepper by themselves. Hello!

I also enjoy 67 Burger during the warmer months because you can eat outside. What I hate most about the winter is being cooped up, if you haven't figured that out already.

67' Burger's outdoor eating area. If you look closely you can see The Smoke Joint. :)

I do love this little corner of Fort Greene and the funny thing is that there are actually a couple of other places right on that corner worth a look, Mullane's being my favorite for decent bar food, beer and watching sports. I love this corner of Fort Greene!

I also know this is the New Year and many of you are focused on healthier eating after the holidays (including me), so I hope you don't mind that I wrote about BBQ and burgers. :)

Smoke Joint

87 South Elliot Place

Brooklyn, NY

67 Burger

67 Lafayette Avenue (at Fulton Street)

Brooklyn, NY

To a New Year!

Since my birthday post, I am sure that you gather that I like lists and goals and dorky stuff like that. I am sure then that you're probably not surprised that I make up goals for each New Year. Unlike the fun ones for my birthday, my goals for the next year include more serious things. Actually you are reading one of my goals for 2010 right now, which was to start a new blog. Check!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you some of the things I am thinking about for next year as they pertain to this blog, food, travel and life in general:

I am who I am as a blogger - I have definitely had my moments where I wonder why I am writing all of this on the interwebs, or why can't I be more like so and so blogger, BUT I'm coming to terms with me just being the blogger that I am. My pictures are far from perfect, and my posts may be too long, but this is who I am. If I changed the way that I blogged then it wouldn't be this blog, now would it?

Entertaining more at home - I started a conversation on Twitter about entertaining at home. It seems that people just don't do it as much anymore. I don't know if it's much worse because of living in New York City and not having a huge house, but my friends here just don't entertain very often at home (or maybe I'm just not getting invited? Hmm....). Perhaps I don't have get togethers because I tend to have to do all of the food prep, etc. Husband J helps with logistics, but there's no real help in the kitchen (Sorry, Husband J. It's the truth!). Either way, we are in a space in our lives where we can entertain, and we should. I hope to step up the game in this department this year and have our home be a place that will be full of laughter and growing friendships.

Move outside of my comfort zone blog-wise - I try to be pretty nice on this here blog, but I am hoping next year to talk about some more spicy topics. There will still be stories of travels past and present and lots of food, but I hope to try to address things that go deeper about how we experience food and travel.

Staying close to home - You all know that I am always thinking of new places to go, and they tend to be far away. I will admit to you that there are many places close to home that I have not been able to visit. I've only really been to the Hamptons/East End of Long Island once, and it was more of a drive by than anything. I can't tell you the last time I was in Philadelphia, and it's two hours away. I have a friend that just moved to Baltimore, and I really should go for a visit. This year, I want to take advantage of the places and experiences that I can have right on my doorstep.

Aprovecha! - I thought I would throw in a little Spanish here, but that's because I love this word. Aprovechar means "to take advantage of" or "to make the most of." I love that this is encapsulated in just one word in Spanish. English can be so cumbersome sometimes. :) Like most people, there are parts of my life that are great and parts that I would like to change. Next year, I hope to dwell more on the good aspects of some of the not-so-great parts of my life. Capice? While I may not be where I want to be in some areas, I hope to take the situation, refocus on its good aspects and use that new perspective to move forward personally and professionally or to just have more fun! Less than ideal situations may be opportunities in disguise.

Well, my dear readers, this is it for 2010. Not only do I wish you delicious food shared with loved ones and fun new experiences but also lots of opportunities to try something once! :)

Happy New Year!

Best of 2010 - Food

When I thought about doing a Top Ten/Best Of series for this year, I thought that it would be totally easy. Yet when it came to food shots, I didn't realize how hard it would be. How I can distill a half year's worth of food blogging into ten pictures. Should I go with pretty food pics or my favorite experiences? Decisions, decisions, decisions....I just decided to throw in a little bit of everything: some of my favorite dishes this year, some new food experiences that I had and stuff that was just plain pretty (if I do say so myself). Again, all of this is in no particular order. Good food is just good food. Isn't that right? :)

Burger from Good Stuff Eatery in Washington, DC

The Sweet & Salty Cupcake from Baked, Brooklyn, New York

I have said it before, and I'll say it again: I think about these cupcakes all the time.

Breakfast fruit platter, The Samaya, Seminyak, Bali

Yes, I know that this is a plate of fruit, BUT it's a PRETTY plate of fruit!

The "Special" at Babi Guling Ibu Oka, Ubud, Bali

Peach Tatin, Colicchio & Sons, Manhattan

The Rijstaffel at Chandi, Seminyak, Bali

Marinated Sea Scallops, Pickled Swiss Chard Stems and Aji Dulce Peppers

Gramercy Tavern, Manhattan

The lamb burger at The Breslin, Manhattan

This made me believe in meat again (sorta).

The Indonesian breakfast at the Samaya, Seminyak, Bali

A lobster roll from the Red Hook Lobster Pound pop-up restaurant at Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn, New York

I hope Red Hook Lobster Pound does this again next year. This time, I think I'll need more than one trip over there.

Do you have a favorite meal from 2010? Where did you eat it, or what did you cook?

Best of 2010 - Travel

Hi, everyone!!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. For those of you on the U.S. East Coast (or traveling towards or from there), I wish you safe travels. Getting home yesterday was not as harrowing as I thought it would be, but I am still amazed at how businesses choose NOT to shovel their sidewalks. I was climbing over some major snow just to get our building's front door. Yikes! Rant over...

I'm still pretty shocked that 2011 is really staring us in the face. One of the fun things (to me anyway) about this week are the year end reviews of the past year, so I thought I would do the same for this blog. I was lucky to be able to go to a few new places this year: Las Vegas, Bali and Arizona. I thought I would show you some of my Top Ten favorite pictures from these trips...in no particular order.

The fountain show at the Bellagio

I was glad to finally see this in person after way too many viewings of "Ocean's 11." There was no DeBussy playing in the background though.

The mock Statue of Liberty outside of the New York, New York casino, Las Vegas

I'm still not sure how I feel about Las Vegas as a whole. Going there as a married 30-something that doesn't really stay out late anymore is probably a lot different than going when I was in my single, hard core partying 20's. The most fun part of being there for me was meeting many of my blogger friends from Weddingbee, but I enjoyed the over-the-top architecture and scale of the casinos.

Bale Kambung (Floating Pavilion) of Taman Gili in Semarapura, Bali

Lake Batur, Bali

Goa Lawah (aka the Bat Cave), Padang Bai, Bali

While this is not the greatest picture, looking at this and remembering the low hum of all of those bats clustered together and the smell (OH, the SMELL) has to be one of the more memorable moments of our trip to Bali.

Seminyak Beach, Bali

Religious celebrations are a part of everyday life in Bali. From the small offerings at the doorsteps of homes and businesses to the temple celebrations lasting well into the night, religious observances are everywhere and inescapable. I enjoyed learning more about Balinese Hinduism and often being able to experience it first hand.

Sedona, Arizona

My first trip to the Southwest was so worth it. Seeing these majestic red rock formations was definitely one of the highlights. I'd love to explore this part of the country again.

Sunrise over the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

More of the Grand Canyon (Can you tell that I loved it?)

There were lots of pictures to choose from, and I am sure that I am missing something in this list. I am glad to have been fortunate enough to have these experiences this year. Here's hoping for an even more adventurous 2011!

What were some of your favorite moments travel or otherwise of 2010? If you like any of these pictures, I'd love to know your favorite.

Next up: My Top Ten Food Shots of 2o10.

Merry Christmas!

Hey, all!

I just want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas holiday and a belated Hannukah too (or Chrismahanukwanzakah for those that celebrate that). I've actually already opened some of my presents early (the ones from Husband J), and I am very excited about them already (a Flip & a Kindle!).

I'll be back next week with reflections on this year and thoughts about next year! Can you believe it will be 2011? I can't!!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

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Also since Kwanzaa starts Sunday, Happy Kwanzaa! :)

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Travel Partner!

That would be Husband J! In addition to being so supportive and wonderful (particularly when it comes to blogging), Husband J is really my most favorite person to share a meal or a travel adventure. Here are some of my favorite moments with Husband J from this year:

A rice paddy field in Bali

Pura Sarswati, Ubud, Bali

The Grand Canyon

Happy Birthday, Husband J!