Portuguese Language Blog

Today we’re going to do a reading comprehension exercise using a great blog by American journalist Seth Kugel, who writes a travel blog in Portuguese for iG. He’s also an inspiration to all of you learning Portuguese, since Seth learned Portuguese as an adult and became fluent, and now writes his own column entirely in Portuguese!

São Paulo ou Nova York: Qual a melhor pizza do mundo?

Quando um nova-iorquino se muda para São Paulo é impossível evitar a pergunta: “Qual das duas cidades tem a melhor pizza?”. Ou, mais comum: “A pizza paulistana é a melhor do mundo, né?”.

Uma observação somente: os nova-iorquinos também acham que a pizza deles é a melhor do mundo. E daí temos um problema, porque as pizzas das duas cidades são muito, muito diferentes.

A diferença mais marcante é a grande quantidade de ingredientes que os paulistanos colocam sobre a pizza. Em Nova York, é queijo, tomate e mais um ingrediente (pepperoni, por exemplo), no máximo. Nos meus primeiros meses em São Paulo, quando comi pizza portuguesa, baiana ou vegetariana – com mil ingredientes em cima de cada uma – , minha resposta sempre era: “A pizza de São Paulo é muito boa. Só que não é pizza.”

Read the full post here and try to answer the questions.

Questions

1. What are the differences in prices for pizza in São Paulo, New York, and Naples?

2. How do Paulistas eat their pizza?

3. What do Paulistas put on their pizza as a condiment that may seem strange to Americans?

4. How do you say “slice” in Portuguese?

Read More…

Empadas are one of my favorite Brazilian snacks, though they shouldn’t be confused with empanadas from neighboring Latin American countries. They’re like quiches, and look like teeny tiny pies. They can be filled with just about anything – meat, cheese, fish, heart of palm, chocolate, fruit, you name it. Empadas, also known as empadinhas, originally come from Portuguese cuisine, and date back to medieval times.

Today, we’re going to learn how to make cheese empadas.

Receita de empada – Empada Recipe

Click here for the full written recipe from Sadia, and watch the video below! Even though the video was made for native Portuguese speakers, it seems designed to be kid-friendly, so it should be easier for Portuguese learners to understand.

Instructions

Part I

Numa vasilha, coloque a farinha de trigo, a margarina e o sal. Misture com as pontas dos dedos até formar uma farofa. Aos poucos, adicione as gemas e 1 ½ colher (sopa) de água. Sove a massa até que ela fique uniforme. Leve à geladeira por 30 minutos coberta com plástico-filme.

Part II
•    Numa vasilha, misture o leite, o queijo, a margarina e os ovos. Reserve.
•    Abra pequenas porções de massa em forminhas de empada pequenas (4 cm de diâmetro). Asse em forno médio preaquecido (180 ºC) por aproximadamente 3 minutos.
•    Retire as forminhas do forno e recheie cada uma delas. Leve-as novamente ao forno por cerca de 8 minutos ou até que as empadas estejam com a superfície dourada. Na hora de servir, salpique a salsa.

For the recipe in English, click here!

If you travel in Brazil, make sure you try out empadas at one of the many empada chains you’ll find in big cities. My favorite in Rio de Janeiro is Dona Empada X, but there are plenty of places you can find them, including at the ubiquitous juice bars.

My mom, as well as many other Brazilian moms, have a mania (pronounced mah-knee-ah, NOT may-knee-ah), or habit, of seeing fruit that’s going bad and turning it into something it can become while going bad… So as not to waste it. I realized this past weekend that I’m starting to develop the saammee habit. Sunday morning, as I was eating breakfast, I realized someone had hidden a few bananas deep into our fruit/bread/anything really basket and they didn’t look too appetizing. So I looked into our cabinets and fridge, and realized I had ingredients to bake a banana cake! And I did… I found a great little Bolo de Banana recipe online and added my own adaptations and it came out pretty good!

Here’s the recipe I used with Brazilian names and measurements and all, and then the English speaking/American version -

Bolo de Banana da Poly

Ingredientes

• 1 xícara (chá) de açúcar
• 2 xícaras (chá) de farinha de soja (mas pode usar de trigo também!)
• 1 xícara (chá) de leite
• 1 colher (sopa) de fermento em pó
• 5 colheres (sopa) de margarina
• 2 ovos grandes
• 4 bananas cortadas em fatias
• açúcar e canela para polvilhar

Modo de Preparo

1. Misture bem o açúcar, a farinha, a margarina, o ovo, o leite, o fermento, e uma das bananas com uma colher em uma vasilha média
2. Coloque a massa numa forma untada com margarina e polvilhada com farinha de trigo
3. Por cima, distribua as bananas cortadas
4. Finalize polvilhando bastante açúcar com canela
5. Leve para assar em forno médio por 20-30 minutos

Poly’s Banana Cake

Ingredients

• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups soy flour (but you can use wheat flour too! We’re just on a “healthier options diet” at home)
• 2/3 cups milk (can be 2% or whole… anything less might not work out too well)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 5 tablespoons of margarine
• 2 large eggs
• 4 bananas cut in slices
• sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on cake

Directions

1. Mix the sugar, flour, margarine, eggs, milk, baking powder and one of the bananas in a medium bowl
2. Place the mix in a baking pan that has been greased with margarine and powdered with flour
3. Distribute the bananas over the mix in the pan, covering the entire cake
4. Finish by powdering sugar and cinnamon (preferably mixed beforehand), to taste, over the bananas
5. Cook on medium heat in the over for 20-30 minutes (my oven’s really small, so it was ready in 20 minutes!)

If you try it and like it, let me know!! Maybe I’ll post more “uh-oh, my fruit’s going bad” recipes here soon if you do!