Spirit of Brazil

It's no secret that we here at Bobofeed are huge fans of Brazil. And we've found that the best way to maintain a Brazilian high (other that a cachaça intravenous) is through her music.

We are true novices in this field. We have a rather massive collection of Brazilian favourites, but one can only listen to so much Sérgio Mendes! And after hearing eight renditions of The Girl from Ipanema, that standard gets a little tedious.
So, it was with great joy that we recently discovered a new podcast available for free download on i Tunes called "Spirit of Brazil".

[An aside here: we've discovered over the years that many of you who live in the PC world, as we do, (as opposed to Planet Mac), are convinced that i Tunes is available only to Mac users.]

WRONG!!

i Tunes is most definitely fully accessible to PC users, and should be embraced by you all. You will never set foot in HMV (sorry, Your Majesty!) again!

On the i Tunes site (assuming you have downloaded & installed it) head over to the i Tunes store. Once there, you will find a "power search" option on the right sidebar. Click on it, enter "Spirit of Brazil podcast" & go get'er!

We have just finished listening to podcast #42, which we were ecstatic over, and are currently grooving to #43. Each of these is between half and one hour long. According to our rough calculations, from this podcast subscription alone we have just acquired about 30 hours of great music. Do we need to remind you that it's FREE???

Over the last couple of years we have also subscribed to these great Brazilian music podcasts:

Brazilian Beatz podcast
Brazilian Music Connection
Quinquilharia!-podcasts
Radio Blonde

And if you're truly smitten, check out:
Learn Portuguese- BrazilianPodClass

Until next time,
Até logo!

Saturday Night on Yonge Street

There was SOO much happening around town last weekend it was impossible to keep up. Saturday evening we had a fabulous dinner at Starfish. Mmmmm- can never have enough oysters! We spared our hosts the embarrassment of photographing all our food, so it's one meal out we won't be covering here.

We took a lovely stroll home with the objective of passing by Yonge-Dundas Square. En route we discovered that Yonge Street was closed to traffic from Queen St to Edward Street, which made for a lively street party.

We paused out in front of the Elgin/ Winter Garden Theatres (above), where the posters were up for Rufus Wainwright's opera Prima Donna. It made its North American debut at Luminato, which wrapped the next day.

A little up the block the old vacant city-owned bank structure was sporting the Irish flag for some undisclosed reason.

Up at Yonge-Dundas Square the crowd was thick. They were there to see Iggy Pop, who was appearing as part of the weekend wind-down of the NxNE Indie Music festival.

We craned our necks, looking for a sinewy shirtless pixie on stage, but alas, he must be even shorter than we'd imagined. The rest of the crowd seemed pretty nonplussed about being unable to see the wizened old master of punk- they were just groovin' on the soundtrack & the street vibe.

As we left the square, we caught advance warning of the G20 chaos anticipated THIS weekend.

Le Château already had a pride theme going in their windows.

The Zanz was in full spleandour...

The T-shirt shops were as crass as ever...

The shawarma shops were as unappetizing as ever...

The portraitists were still waiting...

...and the College streetcar was full of folks on the move.

Samba Sole

So, last Sunday we had plans for a favourite dinner chez Bobofeed: Sole Meunière with Brown Butter & Capers, to be served with Red Swiss Chard & a biblical grain of some sort. But as you may have read earlier in the week, we became somewhat distracted in the afternoon hours by some serious booty shakin' on College Street, followed by a refreshing Caipirinha. It was simply not possible to say "até logo" to our nostalgia for Ipanema & radically switch gears to la cuisine francaise. Whatever to do?
Improvise, of course!!

Our favourite seafood cookbook describes "a la Meunière" as being in the fashion of the miller's wife. Well, we don't really know our Portuguese, but we suspect "sole in the style of the miller's wife" is probably something along the lines of "o linguado moleira" (although technically, that's probably "in the style of a female miller".) Let's not split hairs, shall we?

Sole Meunière involves giving the fish a light dusting in flour, quickly pan frying, then browning some butter & tossing in lemon juice & some capers. Spoon the butter mixture over the filets & serve.
Our Brazilian spin involved dusting the fish in manioc flour instead of the usual unbleached wheat flour. We fried as per the recipe, and browned the butter, but acidulated with lime juice. We did add some capers, but we augmented them with chopped-up marinated artichoke hearts (which stood in for hearts of palm, a more traditional Brazilian ingredient)

Brazilians will often serve collard greens as a side vegetable. We figured our red chard was close enough. But instead of also preparing a grain we opted for legumes. (beans are big, big, big in Brazil) So we softened some garlic in olive oil (should have been palm oil), added the chard ever so briefly, then poured in a little chicken stock & some Pinto Beans.

As we plated we got a little carried away & added some sprinkles of the courser manioc that's used to make Farofa. Farofa the "condiment" is manioc toasted with onions (and often chopped olives), and from our brief experience it tends to be served alongside a lot of Brazilian dishes.
In our case, the farofa flour helped thicken up the chicken stock a little, giving a great consistency to our side.
Actually, our "side" was more of an "under"

While we didn't have a bottle of red from Rio Grande do Sul state waiting in the rack, we did have this trustworthy Spaniard which suited our fare really nicely.

All in all, a success.
And proof that if you follow your heart & your instincts your efforts in the kitchen are bound to reward you.

Seen...

Ms. Lebowitz always serves up her truth with some humour.

World Cup Fever: Samba Blocko on College Street

We had a little inkling that College Street might be the place to be late Sunday afternoon.

We knew Brazil would be playing Côte d'Ivoire at the World Cup, and we figured there was a good chance that the Green & Yellow would prevail.

This cool video from YouTube appears to be sponsored by Nike

What we didn't know was that College Street was closed off for the Taste of Little Italy street festival.
Combine a closed off street & a bunch of happy Brazilian footie fans & you've got yourself an instant *blocko*, rowdy enough to rival those at Carnival in Rio!

Getting the party started

Taking it on the road

Back home we were still in the spirit & we were very thirsty from all the the sun & dancing.
What better solution than a nice refreshing Caipirinha!

Here's to Brazil's continued success!!
After all, we want a few more of these parties!

Almuerzo at El Barrio

We popped into this brand new cantina in Kensington for a bite of lunch yesterday.
(Apparently they've only been open for ten days!)
It was a perfect afternoon to be sitting in a shady open-air café; the day was hot & a steady breeze was blowing through, keeping things cool.

The space is an old fruit market. Historically in Kensington the storefronts were added in the front yards of the original buildings to bring them right out to the sidewalk. This is readily apparent at El Barrio where there is a lower paved dining area and an elevated service zone up the front stairs & through the entry of the original structure. The street frontage is entirely made up of garage doors, perfect for summer, but we wonder what their plan is for the cold months.

The decor is economically modern, cleaned up enough to give it a contemporary feel, but retaining enough of the rough & ready to keep its Kensington street cred.

The menu is described as "Spanish/ Moroccan tapas" & features an interesting array of light fare.

We started with a pitcher of Moroccan Iced Tea, a refreshing quaff simply composed of Moroccan black tea, lemon & mint.

One of the sandwich options was "Chicken Schnitzel" with roasted peppers, caramelized onion & eggplant on a pita. Although burdened with a rather unfortunate description (perhaps "chicken Milanese" would sound more appealing?) it was very tasty & was served with a piquant & tangy hot sauce.

The traditional Spanish dish of baked eggs with red pepper, onion & chorizo in tomato sauce was also excellent.

Service, presumably by the owners, was a little scattered, but they were accepting applications from potential wait staff while we were there- perhaps once they have a little professional help in the front of the house they'll find their proper stride.

We'll definitely be back to check out more of the menu.
(As long as it's a warm day!)

Update: Spring 2011- this restaurant has closed down. Looks like they never did find their stride!

Mariah where are you?

Seen.... Parkdale June, 2010

Seen

Parkdale
Set dressing,June 2010

Oysters to Go

Street Shuckin' in front of New Seaway Fish Market, Kensington Market

Seen...

Wavin' Flag

Kensington Market. Sunday June 13, 2010

Italian and Brazilian Collaboration = WOW!

Architect Gaetano Pesce has collaborated with Brazilian footwear company Melissa

and came up with this incredible design.
These "booties"can be altered to your own specifications from flats to sandals,
with the help of scissors (!)
though our preference would be to just let then be.

Now if they would just pay a little attention to us guys.

The Municipal Meadow: Green Roof at Toronto City Hall

The new Green Roof at Toronto's City Hall opened in conjunction with Doors Open, the city's annual architectural showcase, on the weekend of May 29th & 30th, 2010.

The roof is only the first stage to be completed in the ambitious plan to revitalize Nathan Phillips Square, the public plaza that fronts Toronto's iconic City Hall.The City has recently implemented North America's first bylaw requiring the inclusion of green roofs

on new buildings, over some objections from the development industry; Obviously City Council felt it must lead by example.

The green roof is a fantastic space, a transformative re-imagining of what was for so long a forlorn place.

The furniture groupings are very stylish and were being used when we visited for everything from group lunches to solitary naps. We're not sure how functional the canopies are, but they do add a vertical element that is otherwise missing from the space. (Obviously, being an existing roof, it was not possible to plant trees except in very limited areas)

There's a great variety in the planting material used. We think it's most successful in the areas that have the feel of the prairie. It's such an unexpected juxtaposition: the unruly wildflower meadow framing the view of Richardsonian Old City Hall or the banking towers further downtown.

And of course, up against the striking forms of the council chamber & the administrative towers, the beauty of the architecture is enhanced in a way that the former monochrome concrete plaza was never able to do.

Lisa Rochon, architectural critic at the Globe & Mail, raved about it all- read her review here

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Toronto's City Hall is a masterpiece of mid century Scandinavian Modernism, the result of an international competition that was won in 1958 by the Finnish architect Viljo Revell. It opened in 1965 and has been a symbol of the city ever since.

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Above is the processional ramp from the square to the green roof. Originally designed as a vehicular means for dignitaries to formally access the Council Chambers, it was rarely if ever used. Now it makes a fine broad foot path to the meadow. (and we love the punk photography session underway when we visited)

As mentioned earlier, Nathan Phillips Square is undergoing a well- deserved revitalization.

Unlike Europeans, North Americans seem uneasy with the concept of large open paved spaces. From the start, Nathan Phillips Square was forced to host a silly bit of lawn flanking Queen Street, a space that is (unsurprisingly, considering the foot traffic) utterly unable to sustain grass. To further the damage, over the years additions have crept onto the vast plaza, the unfortunately sited Peace Garden and the large "temporary" stage being the worst offenders. In the renovations underway, the Peace Garden will shift to the far western edge of the site, already a green swath that connects Queen Street in the south to Armoury Street in the north. This will completely free the plaza between the reflecting pool & City Hall. In addition, the plaza paving will be drawn down all the way to Queen Street, allowing an unbroken flow between the street curb & City Hall.

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The plaza revitalization is going to take some time to complete. But no need to wait- next time you're in the area make a point of checking out our new municipal meadow, a beautiful addition to Toronto's public realm.

(More details here from the architects about the ambitious plan to revitalize Nathan Phillips

Square)