Sao Paulo Redux: Antique Fair!

Today I got the opportunity to indulge in one of my favorite activities when in a foreign country: visiting an antiques market. Now, there are two general types of antique markets in my personal opinion. 1) the antique market where for sale are real antiques, that cost a small fortune, and 2) a junk antique market where you could easily buy a little chatchka without breaking the bank. Fortunately/unfortunately, this was the expensive market. But that's ok, because space is a limiting factor for us, and let's be serious, I think I have brought back enough espresso cups from far flung locales.

Trinkets, trinkets, trinkets

Amaka, a friend here in SP, was a good sport and joined me for the afternoon. She has a thing apparently for small turtles. 

Are you my turtle friend?

Yes, you are my turtle friend!

There were just antiques out the wahzoo.

Crazy old cameras galore.

Didn't realize there was a market for bent silver spoons...

I am a sad stuffed animal.

If you think buying shoes is tough, try fitting your foot in one of these wooden ones...there's no room!

Brazilians are obsessed with these masquerading-as-food things called 'salgados', which basically is a blanked term for salty non-nutricious-food-like items. Stores sell them on every corner. Beware, they are not real food.

Now acaraje, is a totally different experience. I couldn't even begin to describe it, so here's what wiki has to say on the matter: Acarajé is a dish made from peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried in dendê (palm oil). It is found in Nigerian and Brazilian cuisine. The dish is traditionally encountered in Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia, especially in the city of Salvador, often as street food, and is also found in most parts of Nigeria, Ghana and the Republic of Benin. It is served split in half and then stuffed with vatapá and caruru – spicy pastes made from shrimp, ground cashews, palm oil and other ingredients. The most common way of eating acarajé is splitting it in half, pouring vatapá and/or caruru, a salad made out of green and red tomatoes, fried shrimps and home made hot sauce. A vegetarian version is typically served with hot peppers and green tomatoes. In Nigeria, it is commonly eaten for breakfast with gruel made from millet or corn.

Women in traditional (beautiful!) Bahian dress serving up a tasty lunch!

and then there is the phenomenon of a dessert that to the best of my knowledge is just frosting. In a cup. That's right. Frosting in a cup. Probably to counter-act the salt of the salgado. 

What a sweet afternoon.