Street food served with spirit
With World Cup fever soon to hit, chef Andy Bates heads to Brazil for his new series, Brazilian Street Feasts. Sarah Marshall joins him in Rio for beach burgers, caipirinhas and even some samba dancing
Camels are not an unusual sight in north African deserts, but when the distinctive humps are spotted on the sands of Rio’s Praia do Pepe beach it’s an altogether different phenomenon.
Yet Marco Antonio Maciel and his 6ft 6″ camel on wheels, built with the help of the local Mangueira Samba school, are just as much a part of the landscape as wide-brimmed parasols, garish beach towels and girls in eye-watering ‘cheese wire’ bikinis.
Every day, Marco walks up and down the beach dressed in a keffiyeh (headdress) and a long tunic, selling 1,000 esfihas (Middle Eastern parcels filled with ground meat, chicken, or vegetables) from a hot plate in his camel’s rear.
He’s one of the many local characters that bring Brazil’s colourful street food scene to life in a new TV series with British chef Andy Bates. As the country gears up to host the World Cup this summer, it’s the latest in a wave of new programmes dedicated to all things Brazilian.
Andy Bates with Marco Antonio and his camel
Following the success of programmes in the UK and America, 36-year-old Bates, who started out running a pie stall in London’s Whitecross Market, has spent four weeks travelling through Brazil looking for street snacks – and the masterminds behind them – that get the country’s taste buds tingling.
I’ve joined him in Rio for the final leg of filming to get a real flavour for the ‘carioca’ (Rio native’s) lifestyle.
Already, Andy has salivated over Gloria Gonzalez’s Uruguayan barbecued meat and chimichurri sandwiches – a favourite of Anthony Bourdain – at Ipanema’s famous Posto 9, learned how to make a caipirinha at a music stall in the back streets of Santa Teresa, and even danced samba on stage at the Sunday Feira das Yabas – a festival of music, dance and food lovingly masterminded by Afro-Brazilian women.
He’s a good sport, ready to embrace any mayhem, mishaps and marvels that come his way.
“There’s no one specific dish that really sums up this country,” says Andy, now sitting on the back of Marco’s camel, with reins in his hands. “But it’s the people and their passion that really stand out.”
One of Andy’s favourite characters is wonderfully off-the-wall Rafael, a 26-year-old entrepreneur who sells “cosmic” Hareburgers to hungry beach-goers, grabbing their attention by playing a wooden flute.
“I use mushrooms from space and special cosmic cheese,” says Rafael, throwing his hands upwards to the heavens. Although he admits the cashew nuts which provide a crunchy topping are “just from the Amazon”.
Of course, there have been culinary ups and downs during filming; while Andy describes the lobster, caught fresh and served on a surfboard in Praia do Forte as “out of this world”, the prehistoric-looking Bodo fish he was offered in the Amazon tasted like “a mixture of mud and game”.
But Andy has found ample inspiration to create a collection of recipes, which he hopes viewers will try their hands at this summer.
“I want people to have a go at some of these dishes in the kitchen, then sit back and enjoy the World Cup matches with mates,” he says.
So even if England get knocked out in the first or second round, at least we’ll finish the tournament with a pleasant taste in our mouths.
BEAN FRITTERS WITH PRAWN AND MANGO CEVICHE
(Makes 10-12)
For the ceviche:
250g raw tiger prawns, deveined
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
Juice of 2 limes
1 large mango, peeled, stoned and finely diced
1-2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1 ripe tomato, deseeded and finely chopped
Small bunch coriander, finely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper
For the fritters:
2tbsp dried shrimp
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 x 400g cans black-eyed beans, drained
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3-4tbsp plain flour
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Sea salt
To serve:
Hot pepper sauce
Lime wedges
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the prawns and blanch for one minute.
Drain the prawns, roughly chop and combine with the remaining ceviche ingredients. Season to taste and refrigerate until needed.
Cover the dried shrimp in boiling water and leave to soak for 15 minutes until softened.
Drain, then blitz in a food processor with the onion, garlic and chilli until finely chopped. Add the beans, blitz until smooth and season to taste.
Tip into a bowl and gradually add flour until the mixture forms a stiff dough.
Dip two spoons in a little oil and shape the mixture into 10-12 rough oval shapes.
Heat the oil for deep frying to 160C and fry in batches for eight to 10 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and season with sea salt while still warm.
Split the fritters open, stuff with the ceviche and serve with hot pepper sauce, lime wedges and a cold beer.
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