Fish and Filet and French Food, Oh My! : Fri Jan 1, 2010

Barb drove South from Trapiche to a local fishing village called Pontal da Barra. They keep their village as authentic as possible. The streets are narrow and the houses long. The village is on the lake and the houses on the lake look like this: the first part (near the street) is a store and the back the house where the family lives (and overlooks the lake). The lake is Lake Mundau. It empties into the ocean and the people fish the lake and sell their beautiful filet for their livelihood. Just down the road from the village the fresh water lake empties into ocean.

We had lunch at the restaurant Peixarae known for its fresh fish. The restaurant mirrored the buildings in the village in that we entered from the street on solid ground and as we moved to the back of the building, we moved to the lake. We found ourselves on a back porch balcony over the water with a fantastic view of the lake and the islands in the middle of it. There were stairs that lead down to the lake and more stairs leading into it. We took pictures and tried to feed the fish after we ate (they did not like our leftover rice). You could pull your boat right up and walk up to eat if you wanted to. I imagine that is how the fishermen bring the fish to the restaurant. We were going to be eating the freshest fish.

We order two plates and shared. One was shrimp and one was a local fish. They were awesome. The fish and shrimp are cooked in creamy sauces and the fish dish was the best in terms of the taste of the fish. The shrimp dish also had a local fish in it, but it was more salty and though good, it was not as good as the other. All the fish had bones in it because it was fresh and healthy fish. The shrimp were large and tender.

They also served mashed potatoes with it (again creamy goodness) and we ordered an appetizer that was fried mantioc, a local staple. When fried, it is like potatoes, like fries, but so much better. Faranha, which was a local grain that Barb called sawdust, was also served with our fish and it was delicious. It did not taste or even feel like sawdust, it just looked like it. It was mixed in with dishes. We even had desert. We ordered three doce leches. Ernani had caramal of course and we had a chocolate and I had a coconut which was awesome. I had what I think was the best. It was so sweet, but so good. I told them I could eat this all day. It was the one of the best desserts I had in Maceio besides the goyaba shake.

 After a long, late, leisurely lunch, we returned to our car and drove through the village a bit to see what an older village looked like. As we were driving, I saw that hanging from every balcony were beautiful hand made table clothes, place mats, sweater, and quilts. Before we left, I had googled Maceio and discovered a site that talked about a market South of the city where the women made filet lace.

According to this website, http://www.maosdeminas.org.br/images/NovaBFM.pdf  :

“Pontal da Barra, an old district of Maceió (AL), started as a fishing village where the fishermen’s families lived on what they took from the sea and the lake. Today it is one of the most famous tourist resorts of the region, and its pavements covered with locally produced handicrafts attract lots of tourists. The filet lace follows the lines of a grid, the same process as for fishing nets, and the artisans tell us that the work of the filanzeiras – as the artisans are known – from Pontal da Barra are famous throughout the country and in many countries in the world.”

The women use coconut and banana fiber for their thread. They weave muti-colors pieces and they weave whole pieces entirely in white. We saw baby clothes, belts, head bands, shirts in addition to the table decorations. We bought bookmarks. I bought a belt that I could also use as a headband. We bought place mates for ourselves and for gifts.

I had recently begun to crochet, so I was very interested in how the women made these beautiful crafts. They were true artists. The creativity and quality of their work was stunning. One local woman was making something and Barb asked her if I could take her picture. She said yes and I have a picture of making a shirt. We talked to her and she told us this was how she made the money to pay for her utilities.

By the time were ready to leave the sun was setting and the shops were closing for the day. If I had one small regret, it would be that we did not go back, but someday we will go back.

Since the sun was setting, we headed back to our car and drove through the village and back to the main highway. Barb took us over the long bridge that crossed the Lake as it emptied into the ocean and then turned around and we headed North back to Maceio.

She dropped us off at the apartment. We had had such a wonderful day with her and looked forward to more days with her.

We spent that evening with Eduardo, Flavio, Thais, and Paulo. Eduardo took us out to dinner. We went to Café Palato, a fancy cafe inside an upscale supermarket that was basically a smaller version of Central Market, the large Texas chain of supermarkets that are heaven on earth for the grocery shopper with discriminating tastes. It had everything, every variety of cheese, wine, meat, box dinner, vegi, you name it they had it. The restaurant was in the back corner and packed. We waited a while to get a table, and when we did, I had a wonderful salad with goat cheese.

As a vegetarian, I am picky about salads. So many people think ice berg lettuce is lettuce. It is not. It is not. It is worth saying that twice. Romaine, oak leaf, red, green. Those are lettuces. They actually have vitamins in them and a good, healthy taste, unlike that iceberg stuff that can freeze in the fields for all I care. They used real lettuce and made their own dressing. It was raspberry vinaigrette. And, did I mention the goat cheese? Yes, I know it was not really a Brazilian meal, but I was ready for some Vegetarian fair. And they added fresh berries and walnuts. It was wonderful.

And then we had what was pure heaven and the best dessert all week. Cream of goyaba, They brought about a goyaba hollowed out and inside was heaven heaven heaven. They took the fruit and made a cream out of it and I would kill for that recipe. I was stuffed from all the good food that day, so I tried one Ernani and Rebecca shared. But, I liked it so much Eduardo got one just for me. I made Ernani help me. Heaven.