Brasilian Vegans

If you ever plan on traveling to Brasil, for any amount of time, you HAVE to set up an Orkut account. It is a way to connect with fellow students, vegans, activists, music lovers - whatever, whoever. One of my (many marvelous) cousins has an Orkut account, which Brasilians are just mad over, and she lead me to some fantastic vegan communities. Even my dentist sent me an intro email with her Orkut information! Get Orkut!
Through one of those vegan communities I found this awesome Brasilian blog, Cantino Vegetariano. As the name indicates, it is not strictly vegan, but many recipes are vegan and all are clearly labeled. I follow about 15 American vegan blogs and that community is very tight knit and right now everyone seems to be making recipes from Veganomicon. Since I don´t cook all that often (but would like to), don´t have access to that book, and am more interested in whether or not Chavez becomes a dictator then whether a stray cat finds a home (which I hope it does) I need to carve my own niche. (I´ve discussed not having a blog identify before). I´m thinking my niche may be in creating veganized Brasilian food, and continuing to blabber on about my life, views, and frustrations. As I type I am experimenting with a milk (soy)boiled mandioca that will be topped with molasses (melado da cana). I saw the dish prepared on a Brasilian cooking show called Mesa Pra Dois. They also had some tapioca recipes, all the recipes were very typical of northern Brasil. I think (with my limited expertise) the tapioca can be easily veganized as well. I´ll also plan on making paçoca - which I love. Love. LOVE. I´ll let you know how the mandioc goes. (Mandioc, by the way, is a tuber also known as cassava).
I have LOADS of free time so you would think I would be cooking up a storm - but the maid spends most of the day in the kitchen so it is not to be. I have basically finished at Gotas de Flor com Amor, this Saturday is the last day of the ônibus/bookmobile. Why? Well, most of the younger children have started vacation - because while it is miserably cold and about 20 degrees in my future home city of Boston - it is just about summer time here. Which means I can eat yummy fruits and veggies that aren´t grown too far away.
There is lots I can do with my free time. I work out a lot - which is great because I eat a LOT. I spend time with my grandmother, today I spent the whole day with her and it was fantastic. When I walked out of the kitchen today, speaking to her in português, it struck me how lucky I am to be here. What else? I hang out with my cousins Sylvinha e Vanessa, I watch moves, I find a different pizza place each week. I´m obssesed with pizza, no cheese and lots of heart of palms. I just bought an insanely expensive pizza at Pizza Leona, a very chiq and delicious pizzaria here. Recently I have been warned that some pizza doughs contain powdered milk, so I have to be more militant in my questioning. Brasilians at times, seem to go out of their way to make naturally vegan foods not vegan (like a local bakery that adds pork fat to their french bread), and will lie about it! Beware vegans.
Other food findings......I´ve discovered that if I add ripe pineapple to my maracuja juice I don´t need to add sugar - which is great because one day a week I try to avoid all refined sugar (since I eat SO much every other day). I usually go through the trouble of making fresh juice each morning because the store bought stuff just isn´t as good. Since Maria, the maid, makes a mountain of beans when she cooks I´ve been turning them into patties and eating them for breakfast, along with the juice. Not very Brasilian (a typical bfast here is bread, with cheese and ham, and coffee) but I love it!