2019-09-01 Woolworths Taste

TRAVEL

thefestivitiesbegan.Thechicken,basted
ina coconutperi-perisauce,wasflame-
grilledtocrispyskinneddeliciousness
andservedona bedof Zambeziana-
soakedfries.It wasaccompaniedbyan
arrayof excitingsidedishes:arrozde
coco(coconutrice),quiabocomcamarao
(okrawithprawns),mucuanicomcamarao
(cassavawithprawns),feijaˉo nhemba
(black-eyedbeanstew)andfinally,
myhands-downfavourite:mucapata
(rice with split peas and coconut).

It wasmoreof a culturalimmersion

thana meal– timeandspacetravelling

viathetastebudsthroughthemedium

of barbequedchicken.After all that,

a napis a necessity.

Refreshed,wekickedofftheevening

withsundownersatDhow(4 Ruada

Marracuene).OverlookingtheBayof

Maputowitha perfectvistaof thenew

landmarkKatembeBridge,it’sa décor

shopturnedcocktailbarandrestaurant

and is obviously much loved by the city’s

jetset.There’sa Greek-influencedmenu

witha twistof tropicalMozambique,

andlikesomanygreatMaputo

establishments,theypridethemselves

ontheircocktails.Trythecheese

spanakopitadrenchedinhoney,andthe

pineappleprawncocktail,servedina

hollowedpineapple.Whenthesundips

underthebridge,thehousemusickicks,

andthebeautifulpeoplestarttoshuffle.

It’sa quintessentialMaputoexperience.

Bynow,it wasFridaynightand

everyonewasheadingtoFranco(the

CentreCulturelFrancoMozambicain,

basicallytheMozambicanchapterof the

AllianceFrançaiseonAvenidaSamora

Machel)foroneof theirbiggestevents

of theyearfeaturingBrankofrom

BurakaSomSistema,a DJof much

acclaim from Lisbon, who has made his

namebringingtheAngolansoundsof

Kudurototheworld.We’renotoften

exposedtotheseLusophonetreatsback

intheRepublic,butthere’ssomething

intoxicatingabouttheBrazil,Angola,

Mozambique,Portugalcombination.On

thestreetsof Maputoona balmyFriday

night,thecrowdwascosmopolitan,

totallyintegrated,andthemusic

absolutelybanging.Suddenlyit was1 am

andI wasstandingnexttoClinton,the

photographer,undera treeinFranco’s,

watchingthepeoplemoveinunison,

bothof uswonderinghowwechanced

uponthecoolestgigwe’dbeentoall

year– inthemiddleof Maputo.

Thenextmorningstartedat a

substantiallyslowerpace.Westrolled

uptheroadfromHotelJacarandatoa

coffeeshopcalledNautilus(24Avenida

deJulho)fora cortadoandpasteisde nata,

andendedupgettingstuckintoa whole

rangeof crunchypalmierpastries– all

burntsugarandbutter.Afterpacking

our things, we headed to the new

Clockwise from above: The deck at Dhow; caiparinha time; spanakopita and honey.

116 TASTE SEPTEMBER 2019

“Brunchconsists

ofplatesofhuevos

rancherosand

Cubanitosteak

sandwichesonfluffy

Portugueserollswith

a steadystream

of Americanos”