Bourdain

My favorite TV show and the topic of my blog have collided, producing the finest 60 minutes of television since the Sopranos finale. Now that Sopranos is off the air, I'm down to routinely watching just three shows - No Reservations, Dirty Jobs, and Battlestar Galactica - and Battlestar is on hiatus right now. (Yes, Battlestar Galactica, and no, not the Lorne Greene/guy-from-"The-A-Team" version).

"Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations" is on the Travel Channel, Mondays at 10pm. You've probably seen it, if not, your should. Each episode, Tony travels to a different country and offers his New Yorker-edged, surly commentary on how the local culture is influenced by the local foods. He comes off a bit gruff at times, but seems to be a genuine person at heart. I think he'd be the kind of person I could sit an have a few beers with.

What makes the travel aspect of his show different is that Bourdain avoids the touristy areas or cliche attractions, and heads straight to where the locals eat. He has broken down my fear of street food (to some degree anyway) because it's what he claims is the most authentic local cuisines.
I'm just about finished with his book, "Kitchen Confidential" which gives a behind the scenes look at life in the kitchen of your favorite restaurants. Really, it's enlightening. You'd be amazed at what's going on back there.

Last night's episode featured Tony in Brazil, more specifically São Paulo. He met up with a couple of his Paulista pals and went to local markets, restaurants, street vendors, and bars. I noticed Tony drinking Brahma, Bohemia, Skol, I believe Antartica, and, of course, caipirinhas. He had Bolinhas de bacalhau (cod-fish fritters), linguiça cebolinha (sausage with onions), cheese on a stick, feijoada, and what looked like picanha. I've told you about all these things before in other posts, so you know that I miss them. He was mainly in São Paulo city, but took a side trip to São Sebastião, a beach town not too far from the city which we had been to many times en route to Ilha Bela. You can tell from the episode that he truly enjoyed being there. The genuine friendly nature of the Brazilian people, that I have tried to explain in the blog, comes through in the episode.

It's on again this Friday night, 8pm and 11pm. Check it out and let me know what you think.

First Day in SJC (August 17, 2004)

On August 17, it will be three years since we first arrived to live in Brazil. I had been there on at least 9 separate trips since January, 2004, but this was when we moved as a family to stay. I still remember the final preparations at home in the US and the ride to JFK airport where we were still straightening out our visa paperwork in the back of the car. We were all fairly nervous and excited about the big move. When we got there, our driver brought flowers for my wife to welcome her, and I think some candy for Edge. When we arrived at our house in SJC, our real estate agent and our soon-to-be best friends in Brazil where there waiting for us outside. This was the first time my wife and Edge had seen the house, and of course there was a lot of excitement as we toured the house. The real estate agent had stocked the 'fridge and pantry with food (some we had never heard of before). Then, Reinaldo (a local driver who also became our friend) spent the afternoon with us driving us around to the important local spots (Walmart, Carrefour, the malls, McDonalds for Edge). Then, if memory serves, I went to work in the afternoon! It was an exciting day I don't think any of us will forget.

(Your might remember the house from an earlier post: Alemeda dos Acaras, 23

Over the next few weeks, we explored SJC on our own, and started becoming locals.

Here's a video I dug up out of my archive that I made to entice our family and friends to come to Brazil.

Three years ago. I can't believe it. I still think of our time there very often, and miss it. It was a life changing event, and a period of our lives we can never forget.