(^76) Ilheus
By far, the cheapest meal was at self-service restaurants. These, usually, offered a
large variety of food and even desserts. Customers could dish up whatever, and as
much or as little as they desired, as the price paid was by weight. Unfortunately,
these restaurants were usually only open between 12h00 and 14h00. This is
because Brazilians tend to have a big lunch and only a snack in the evening.
At night, we searched out the espetinhos vendors. One could find these vendors
just about everywhere: tending their portable charcoal barbeques, selling their
espetinhos (small kebabs). The aroma of the grilled meat usually told us exactly
where they were. Espetinhos could be skewers of beef, sausage, chicken or even
cheese. These skewers were served smothered in a hot sauce and a sandy, flour-
like concoction (which we usually skipped).
In the unlikely event one couldn’t find an espetinhos vendor, there were always the
acarajé traders. Acarajé was a dish made from peeled black-eyed peas formed into
a ball and then deep-fried in palm oil. This was by far the most famous street food
and served split in half and stuffed with a tomato and onion salad, a spicy sauce
and pasta made from corn (I think). Often shrimps were somewhere in the dish as
well.
Both these dishes were considered snacks and were immensely popular as they
were cheap. I preferred buying from the lady on the plaza as she didn’t deep-fry
her acarajé but cooked the ball in a banana leaf. Her acarajé also contained no
shrimp and had a more distinct coconut flavour. To top it all, chocolate cake was
usually available somewhere.
leana
(Leana)
#1