It was time for lunch! Carol’s household help, Suely Damacena and Maria do Carmo Anunciação Jesus (Carmen) worked feverishly, but calmly with Carol to prepare an incredible first lunch. The guy on the plane, Mercio, had told us not to go for the tourist food, but to make sure and have real Bahian cooking. This was real Bahian cooking! And it was home-cooked real Bahian cooking by the most incredible Bahian home cooks!

We went downstairs to what was quickly becoming my favorite part of the house. During the latest renovation, the Cerqueiras had turned the ground floor of their home into a shangri-la, including an indoor barbeque grill and freeking PIZZA OVEN! (That was Daniel’s request, and it is named the Daniel Wilson James Cerqueira memorial pizza oven, even though it’s not really memorial.) There’s also a little service kitchen with dishwasher, sink, dishes, blah, blah, blah. . .full bath, all with unique fixtures and finishes. . .everything for the smart Brazilian family.

Carol served a delicious stewed chicken dish that just seemed Brazilian at the get-go. We also had incredible avocado salad (shown above) and blackeyed peas, of all things! Who would expect blackeyed peas to be in Brazil? They’re so Southern. They’re also the result of African influence and cuisine having touched both of our cultures. The relationship was subtle, but profound, as there were many foods in Salvador that were different, but totally familiar at the same time.

There was a bowl with a white meal-like substance, which Carol explained was manioc flour. Manioc is not a grain, it comes from the tropical cassava root. As we later learned in the Amazon, it is pressed repeatedly until all the CYANIDE is removed! It is then ground finely and becomes one of Brazil’s most popular condiments. The whole Cerqueira family loved the Manioc flour and it was served at most meals. Everybody tended to mix it with butter and eat it with the blackeyed peas, or in Daniel’s case, by itself. Later in the Amazon, we had it oven-cooked like croutons, and it was fantastic.

Carol told us that in Brazil, the big meal of the day was lunch, and that dinner was usually nothing more than tapas or a few bites grabbed at the counter. Nelson usually came home for lunch, and they’d have something nice. One of the reasons, I’m sure, that there weren’t that many fat Brazilians.

Speaking of fat: before we headed off on an afternoon outing, I was slated for a pedicure from Amparo. (Robo followed). I thought she could help my ingrown toenails (and his), which she did! I don’t know what Robo’s success rate was. He “said” it was better, but you never know how that kind of thing is, and he’s so gol-durned polite, he’d never complain. Look at the picture and revel in the hugeness of Ben! Robo somehow communicated to Amparo to make the “stinky nose” pose while holding my foot.  HAR HAR! The funny thing ain’t the foot.