Italian flavors are everywhere in Sao Paulo. As New York, Sao Paulo was the destination of thousands of poor Italian immigrants a century ago, most of them from northern Italy (Veneto and Lombardia). As time went by, they opened hundreds of pizzerias and restaurants. However, the Brazilian ingredients were not the same, the new generations blended with the locals and they hired locals as cookers. The result was that the food lost some of its authenticity, but it's still much better than the average American version of Italian food.
Here is my list of Italy inspired dishes in Sao Paulo:
1. Pizza. As in Italy, it is eaten with fork and knife and the dough is usually thin. However, here the pizza has much more topping and the cheese and sausage are different. Italian pizza is usually lighter and cheaper. In Sao Paulo you'll find unique pizza flavors as banana, chocolate and chicken with corn.
2. Pastas in general. Sao Paulo pastas tend to be softer, thicker and to have more sauce than the Italian counterparts.
3. Pasta alla Bolognese. Known in Italy as Tagliateli al ragù di carne. Here in Sao Paulo, this kind of pasta has a sauce made from ground meat and tomato. In Italy, three or more kinds of finely chopped meat are used to enhance the flavor.
4. Beef alla Milanese. You can find this authentic Milanese dish everywhere in Sao Paulo, just as in Milan!
5. Risotto. Risotto is a dish made from a special kind of rice and sauce whose consistency comes from the rice itself. The rice should taste as if it was a little bit under-cooked and the sauce must be quite wet. Most times, risotto in Sao Paulo is badly executed, using common rice and milk cream.
6. Beef Parmesan. I lived in Parma for six months and I never found it in any restaurant. There is a similar dish over there called Baked Eggplant Parmesan, but nothing similar to the coated beef floating in tomato sauce and cheese that you find everywhere in Sao Paulo.
Here is my list of Italy inspired dishes in Sao Paulo:
1. Pizza. As in Italy, it is eaten with fork and knife and the dough is usually thin. However, here the pizza has much more topping and the cheese and sausage are different. Italian pizza is usually lighter and cheaper. In Sao Paulo you'll find unique pizza flavors as banana, chocolate and chicken with corn.
2. Pastas in general. Sao Paulo pastas tend to be softer, thicker and to have more sauce than the Italian counterparts.
3. Pasta alla Bolognese. Known in Italy as Tagliateli al ragù di carne. Here in Sao Paulo, this kind of pasta has a sauce made from ground meat and tomato. In Italy, three or more kinds of finely chopped meat are used to enhance the flavor.
4. Beef alla Milanese. You can find this authentic Milanese dish everywhere in Sao Paulo, just as in Milan!
5. Risotto. Risotto is a dish made from a special kind of rice and sauce whose consistency comes from the rice itself. The rice should taste as if it was a little bit under-cooked and the sauce must be quite wet. Most times, risotto in Sao Paulo is badly executed, using common rice and milk cream.
6. Beef Parmesan. I lived in Parma for six months and I never found it in any restaurant. There is a similar dish over there called Baked Eggplant Parmesan, but nothing similar to the coated beef floating in tomato sauce and cheese that you find everywhere in Sao Paulo.
These dishes are delicious and best part is they are available at other places easily. Sao Pulao seems to be heavily influenced by Italians.
ReplyDeleteWow.. Good idea to mix two different dishes and ending up with one different recipe. This looks different and tasty from the traditional pulao. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Its worth sharing.
ReplyDelete