Brazilian Treats

You know that you like food (or are maybe crazy) when you find yourself walking 45 minutes, pregnant and in heels (what was I thinking???), in 38 degree weather, to get some.  Specifically, Brazilian food.  And that's exactly what I found myself doing yesterday afternoon.

I had gone downtown to get a free hair appointment through a mystery shopping assignment I had taken on.  And since I was going to be close to a little Brazilian café that sells a Guarana soda that Jerome loves, I offered to go pick up a couple for him.  He asked me to also stop in at a nearby Portuguese bakery to pick up some Portuguese egg-style tarts, known as pastel de nata.  These are delicious little sweet tarts with a custardy egg filling.  He assured me that both were a short walk from the hair salon.

I found myself cursing him on my way back to the car after a 20+ minute one-way walk. In heels. Pregnant. In 38 degree weather. Have I mentioned that??  Had it not been 38 degrees out, I would have stopped to pick up some delicious poutine at La Banquise, which is, in my opinion, the best place anywhere to find poutine.  But even I (even pregnant!) couldn't stomach the thought of eating poutine in that kind of weather (though the place was still packed).

Anyhow, the point of this post is that the little Portuguese bakery where Jerome sent me was a little mine of delicious Portuguese (and Brazilian) foods.  Jerome's cousin grew up in Brazil and his mom's best friend is Brazilian.  He's been there a couple of times and has had many chances to sample delicious Brazilian food from time to time.  Both his cousin (Isabelle) and mom's best friend (Maria) always bring us yummy treats from Brazil via France.  And Maria always makes us tasty Brazilian food when we visit Paris, including her famous feijoada. Feijoada is a delicious Brazilian stew, for which Maria imports half of the ingredients from home.

So yesterday, as I was waiting to pay for my little egg custard tarts, I noticed that the restaurant counter to the left sold feijoada. And I knew that bringing home some feijoada would more than make up for me leaving Jerome home alone with Logan all day.  Maria, I have to admit that it wasn't quite as good as yours, and was made with kidney beans instead of black beans.  But it was still quite delicious. I ordered two portions, but thank goodness the guy didn't hear me. As he passed over one portion, I realized it was more than enough for the two of us, and it even provided left-overs for Jerome's lunch. For the bargain price of $9.

I also picked him up a chorizo sausage, winning wife of the year award for all of my treats (my words, not his).  In any case, all of this to say that if you like Brazilian/Portuguese food and are in the area of Rachel and St. Laurent, this little shop is worth a visit.  I didn't get the name of it, but it's on the north side of Rachel, just slightly east of St. Laurent. Enjoy :)  We finished our last custard tart this evening.  And I am now on a mission to find recipes for both the tart and the feijoada before the new baby comes.  Ones that can be made without importing ingredients from Brazil.