Fancy Food Show in Washington, DC

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At the Brazilian pavilion, serving—brigadeiros of course!

Last week I had the honor to work for the Brazilian government representing my country and cooking at the Washington Fancy Food Show, the largest specialty food and beverage marketplace in the US.

Up until recently Brazilians looked on with envy as Europe pavilions display some of the world’s most famous food brands. But with our surging economy, a prominent place on the world stage, and a few organizations (ABBA, APEX, and Ministry of Agriculture among them) determined to bring Brazilian food products into the US market, Brazilian companies seem to be poised for greatness.

With Telma Gondo (left) from Ministry of Agriculture, and Raquel Salgado (right) from ABBA (Brazilian Association of Food and Beverages Exporters)

It all came together at this show. If you spent some time meandering through the booths from all over the world, and planning your itinerary while tasting a million different foods, Brazil certainly scored big with international tastemakers.

Ambassador Mauro Vieira (wearing gray suit, blue tie) and all the Brazilian delegation

Shall we start with Açai, the antioxidant superhero from the Amazon? Washington Von Sauerbronn even demonstrated a few push-ups after eating a bowl of acai himself, proving the myth is right: it really boosts your energy.

A myriad of Brazilian fruit flavors came together at Doce Vida booth. You might have thought their smoothies contained sugar, but that natural sweetness is the essence of our fruit, pure and plain, sweet and rich. Buyers were amazed with these frozen pulps.

Still in the world of fruits, Frutos do Brasil, a company located in Goiás served the most exotic ice creams you can ever imagine.

Never heard of Araticum? How about Barú? Perhaps Cupuaçu? It was new to me too! It all comes in a Popsicle. I couldn’t resist trying a different flavor each day.

You wouldn’t expect to find chocolate among our products. Brazil is famous for cocoa plantations, but our reputation relied only on the cocoa, exporting the beans to the lands of Switzerland, Belgium, France, and Germany, to produce the final jewel. Well, guess what? Turn that page and start a new chapter for chocolate in Brazil. Harald, a company now based in São Paulo has won the most prestigious award in the industry at the Salon Du Chocolat with its cocoa liquor, not just one year, but two in a row (2011 and 2012). Its cocoa producer, João Tavares also won the award for best cocoa, which is the one used by Harald.

As a chocolate artisan myself, I have been loyal to a few European brands — until last week. Harald’s chocolate is just as wonderful as any Valhrona or Callebaut; since it comes from my country, I’ll wear the shirt.

There were other companies displaying our national shrines, such as cachaça, coconut water, coffee, and pão de queijo. As speaking of pão de queijo, I urge you to try its cousin, called chipa, in the shape of a horseshoe, and with a tad more cheese than the former.

I also discovered the shredded beef from Sampco Inc, a division of our mega meat company, JBS.

Long are the days when I’ll be pulling meat from a braised dish and spend countless hours stewing osso buco or any other pulled meat for that matter. Sampco has the solution for us. Among its many products, I cooked with their shredded beef, which comes in a 3 lb package, perfectly adaptable for room temperature shelf life. Add a bit of onion and garlic, about ½ cup of tomato sauce, and you’re done! Your next shepherd’s pie will only take 20 minutes to prepare.

Another fantastic company is Mar e Terra specializing in breeding and processing our native fish such as Pintado, Pacu, Pirarucu (also known as Amazonian Cod)

and Tambaqui, which is now my favorite fish in the whole world due to its natural layer of fat covering each flake of flesh.

Even if you don’t speak Portuguese, or don’t know how to pronounce these names, eating these fish will make you fall in love with Brazil.

I wish I could go on, and thoroughly describe all the products from these magnificent Brazilian companies present at the show, and what a joy it was to cook with their products. But with our short attention spin, I am lucky enough if you’re still here with me, so I will list them below, and invite you to browse each of their websites.

Just before leaving Washington, Embassador Mauro Vieira invited me to stop by the embassy and meet French Chef Gabriel Aubouin. He made my day when he told me that he cooks from my book quite often, and served my avocado crème brulee to former president Lula!