Cooking in Rio de Janeiro – A Brazilian Cooking Class With a Difference

When we arrive at the compact, down-to-earth Copacabana eatery, Tasco de Lido, the other three couples in our Cook in Rio cooking class are already chatting away cheerfully as they sip drinks. Bob Marley is blasting on the stereo and the restaurant’s vivacious owner and Brazilian cooking course instructor chef Simone Theisen is singing along as she preps for today’s class. Cook in Rio is going to be a little different to cooking classes we’ve done in other cities. Good different.

In almost every place we’ve settled into for two weeks at a time on our year-long grand tour of the world, I’ve done a cooking class – while Lara has endeavoured to learn a local craft or art or learn about the culture and history of a place. My objective was to learn to cook some local dishes as there are few things like food to give us an insight into a place and its culture.

In Rio de Janeiro, we struggled to find a good Brazilian cooking course, but then Lara connected with chef Simone, owner of a casual, colourful Copacabana restaurant called Tasco de Lido, who invited us to try her Cook in Rio cooking class. The next thing we knew, we were doing coconut shots and sipping caipirinhas on a fun cooking class with the vivacious young chef, that turned out to be like no other cooking class we’ve done so far on our trip.

Cook in Rio – A Brazilian Cooking Class in Rio de Janeiro with a Difference

“The best way to understand a culture is to go into the kitchen,” chef Simone says to the group, as the class gets underway, “People are what they eat.”

And without further chatter, we get stuck into cooking.

Fried Manioc

The first thing we’re going to learn to make in our Cook in Rio cooking class is fried manioc, which chef Simone says is like cassava or yakka and is an essential part of Brazilian cuisine and Brazil’s food heritage. We’re going to fry the manioc.

We gather around the tiny kitchen that doubles as a bar, and Simone assigns a couple of people the task of chopping the manioc (which has already been boiled) into small pieces, so it can be fried.

Simone turns on the heat and pours some vegetable oil into the pan and instructs the group how to tell when it’s reached the desirable temperature of 400 degrees – a match thrown into the oil will spontaneously spark!

Once it does, the manioc is ready to go in and chef Simone instructs us to fry the manioc until it’s crisp.

Simone demonstrates how to put the manioc into the pan and scoop around the edges to turn the manioc over inwards (not out!) to prevent the oil from splashing over the edge. She asks a couple of members of our group to do the rest, filling two pans with manioc. When the manioc is done, we taste it and it’s delicious – like chunky (sweet) fried potato chips.

A Recipe for Batida de Coco (Coconut Shots)

“Do you drink?!” chef Simone asks our little group. Heads nod eagerly.

Simone says she loves to have a drink while she’s cooking, especially while she’s preparing the mise en place. She encourages all cooks to do the same, so she teaches us how to make batida de coco or coconut shots, a local favourite.

Batida de Coco Recipe

Chef Simone’s recipe for Batida de Coco or coconut shots are made in individual glasses.

Ingredients

½ glass of Cachaça
½ glass of coconut milk
1 tsp fine sugar
1 tbsp cream
Coconut flakes for garnishing

Instructions

Simone combines the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shakes it vigorously, then pours a little into each small shot glass and sprinkles coconut on top of each glass.

The coconut shots are potent and delicious!

Cumari Pepper Dipping Sauce

Next up, chef Simone shows our little Cook in Rio group how to make a versatile pepper sauce using Cumari peppers, which are wild Brazilian peppers in the habanero family. She has the Cumari peppers pickling in vinegar in enormous jars on the bar.

Cumari peppers come in red, green and yellow (strangely, yellow is the strongest) and Simone shows us how to combine the fresh peppers with vinegar, salt, lemon, and olive oil, which will be served in a dish to be used as a dipping sauce.

Farofa

“Food is the most important thing in human life,” Simone says, as she begins to teach us how to make the next dish, called farofa.

“And sex!” another cooking class participant adds.

“Yes!! And sex!!” Simone agrees, with a laugh.

“I never cook if I’m angry, as that emotion transfers to the food,” Simone reveals.

Next up, we’re going to learn to make farofa (pictured above). For the farofa, Simone tells us, we’re working with fish, garlic (one clove per person), two onions, and bananas, which will be added at the end.

The base of farofa is the onions, Simone says, as she assigns a couple of people the task of chopping them.

“If you cry when you chop onions, swallow some water,” Simone recommends, as she puts two pans with oil on the stove while a couple of our fellow cooks in Rio chop the onions.

“The onions must smell sweet,” Simone says.

“In Brazil, if you’re cooking and your neighbours don’t know it, then there’s something wrong. This is the reason Brazilians cook – we want everyone to know!” Simone says with a laugh.

“In the old days, people who had money had food,” she explains. “It didn’t matter if you were black, white or brown, because in Brazil we’re very mixed. But we always had lots of food at our parties – too much! – because it’s important to show off!”

When the onions start to brown, Simone adds garlic.

When the onions “really start to brown”, she adds manioc powder, about 100 grams for two people, triple for a dinner party or group of 8 people such as ourselves.

If the onions are still too wet, Simone advises to add more manioc powder, as the finished dish should be dry.

Next, we peel the bananas, chop them into small pieces, throw them in with the onions and manioc powder, add salt, and fold (never mash!) the ingredients together.

We try the farofa. It’s very different to anything we’ve tasted before, and very tasty!

Arroz (Rice)

“Brazilian men love their Mum’s food so if the girlfriend doesn’t cook better than the Mum, then he won’t marry her,” Simone explains. “When she goes to the parents’ house and they cook and the Mum says “why don’t you cook the rice?” it’s a test!”

First, we wash the rice. Next we put the garlic in oil in a pot. When it starts to smell fragrant we add the rice to the garlic and oil for around 5-10 minutes. Water goes in next – 1 cup of water for each cup of rice. We add salt to taste then put the lid on, leaving it off a little, to simmer.

Caipirinha Recipe

“Are you ready for caipirinhas?” Simone asks the group.

“Yes!!!!” everyone responds enthusiastically.

“Traditionally, Brazilians have one or two caiparinhas as an aperitif,” Simone tells our obviously thirsty group.

“In Brazil, we only use limes, Cachaça, and white sugar to make caiparinhas. With Cachaça we only use citrus fruits,” Simone instructs. “If you want to use strawberries, then forget about the Cachaça and use vodka instead.”

Simone distributes the ingredients among the glasses, hands out pestles to a couple of participants, and instructs them to muddle the limes. They start muddling.

“I want lots of lime juice!” she instructs.

Simone fills each glass with ice and then pours Cachaça into each glass.

“If you’re not used to pouring liquor then just count to five as you pour!” she suggests.

Simone puts a glass on top of each glass and shakes each one before adding a straw. It’s messy, but it works. Yum! They’re perfect.

Caipirinha Recipe

Chef Simone’s easy caipirinha recipe.

Ingredients (per glass)

2 tsp sugar
1 lime
1 part Cachaça

Instructions

Spoon the sugar into each glass.
In a mortar and pestle, muddle the limes and pour the equivalent of one lime into each glass.
Fill each glass with ice.
Pour in one part of Cachaça.
Put a glass on top of the glass and shake. (Repeat).

For more tips to making Brazil’s national cocktail, see our post on perfecting the classic Brazilian caipirinha.

Seafood Moqueca

Next up, we learn to make the main dish, seafood moqueca, a Brazilian stew with a coconut milk base that today we’re making with fish fillets and shrimps.

We use Whiting fillets but Simone says you can use any white fish, just not black skinned fish, which Simone says has too much iodine.

Simone instructs a couple of the guys to slice the capsicums (bell peppers) and onions finely, and throw them into her wok-like pans (they’re something in between a wok and deep skillet or frying pan), creating some space in the centre for a generous amount of palm oil.

“Mix it all up,” Simone advises. “Then stir-fry and keep stir-frying until it sizzles and the oil has disappeared.”

Once the oil sizzles, Simone instructs the guys to lower the temperature and pour in the coconut milk and water, sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste, add the fish fillets and shrimps, cover them with the capsicums that have been cooking, and add a big pile of cilantro (coriander) before covering the pan with a lid.

Seafood Moqueca Recipe

A straightforward recipe for a Brazilian seafood stew.

Ingredients

4 red and yellow capsicums (bell peppers)
1 onion
palm oil
½ cup coconut milk
½ cup water
black pepper to taste
sea salt to taste
white fish fillets
shrimps
cilantro (coriander)
juice of two lemons

Instructions

Slice the capsicums and onions and throw them into a wok, skillet or deep pan, creating some space in the centre of the capsicums to pour in a generous amount of palm oil.
Stir-fry the capsicums and onions until the oil sizzles and reduces.
Lower the temperature, pour in the coconut milk and water, and sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste.
Push the capsicum and onion to the side, add the fish fillets and shrimps, then cover them with the capsicums.
Top the seafood with a big pile of cilantro (coriander) before covering the lot with a lid to simmer.
The stew will be ready when the capsicums are soft and the coconut sauce has reduced, and wonderful aromas fill your kitchen.

“You’ll know when it’s ready!” Simone tells the group.

“I enjoy cooking,” Simone says, as she instructs a few of us to make another batch of caipirinhas. “It’s a way to show off an important part of my culture, our culinary culture.”

“I’m proud of being Brazilian, coming from a mixed culture,” Simone elaborates as we all sip our second caipirinhas while we wait for our lunch to finish cooking. “In Brazil we feel ‘mixed’, not ‘black’ or ‘white’. And people only begin to understand this when they eat our food, because our food is mixed.”

When the moqueca is ready, Simone dishes it up with the rice and farofa. The pepper sauce is served as a condiment on the table for us all to help ourselves.

We all pull out seats and sit down to eat. Everything is wonderful. It’s all deliciously-simple, hearty, home-cooked Brazilian food; nothing more, nothing less.

Like Simone, and most of the Cariocas we’ve met, this unpretentious meal is a reflection of character – warm, welcoming, and making you feel instantly at ease.

Simone’s Cook in Rio class is a cooking class that may not be big on rules or formality, but it’s big on fun. And that’s a great insight into the Carioca culture right there!

Cook in Rio
www.cookinrio.com
Tasco de Lido
Rua Donald Carvalho 154, Copacabana
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil