To all my Fly moms out there I hope you had a lovely day yesterday.
Since my mother was in town for the exhibition reception we spent her Mother's Day in her FAVORITE part of Philly, Little Brazil. This small section of Castor Avenue in the northeast is peppered with little restaurants and grocery stores dedicated to the goods of Brazil. Not only does my mother enjoy buying up all the goodies that come just a little more expensive in Maryland, she also enjoys taking in the smells of food and the sounds of people speaking Português over the futbol game on the televisions of every store we enter. All of which reminds her of home.
We ate my favorite Brazilian snack, pastel, which is a deep fried pastry filled with cheese, chicken, shrimp or beef. This one pictured is beef. Then we headed down the block to a little bakery that had pão doce, which is sweet bread and this one is sprinkled with coconut and swirls of cream. THEN, we had lunch. Ok, now I am not a fan of buffets and I was really hesitant on this one (I'm a big buffet germaphobe), but this little place that only seats about twenty people at a time had the best authentic Brazilian food I've ever had state-side, after my mother's of course. I learned it's not really a buffet. You fill up your plate with everything you want and then you pay by the pound. The plate of food pictured was only $6.50 and it was way more than I can eat. I had a hearts of palm salad over a greenleaf salad, feijão tropeiro, little steaks with onions and peppers, and plaintains. Oh and a Guarana to wash it down. YUUUUUUUMMMM!!! Then for dessert, not that there was really any room for it, we had quindim (a sweet made with sugar, eggs and coconut), cocada and doce de leite. I was so greedy!!
