Every Brazilian deserves to visit Amazonian and taste it. This is a statement that is even more intense when we put our feet in this one that is the largest rainforest in the world. Covering almost half of the entire national territory, the tangle of rivers, vegetation and species, with the knowledge of local communities, transforms us and fills us with life.
I was in the Amazon several times and in different states. This time, for the CNN Viagem & Gastronomy I returned to the forest with the following question in mind: What are the flavors of Brazil?
The first part of this response was in the state of Pará, in which, from oysters to acai, passing through the pirarucu and fruits like bacuri and taperebá, I tried a little of the Amazonian flavors. This is because the forest can be a good start to understand our traditions and seek different learning.
After traveling São Caetano de Odivelas and Belém, the search for national flavors left Pará towards Amazonas, more specifically in the heart of the jungle, in the exuberant Anavilhanas National Park . The second largest river archipelago in the world, it extends 100 km in an area of 350,000 hectares filled with 400 islands.
Throughout Rio Negro, the first episode of the special season CNN Viagem & Gastronomy: Flavors of Brazil It was completed by river baths, traditional banquets in the sand with fresh fish and invaluable value experiences in riverside communities.
Anavilhanas and Hosting in the Forest
The Anavilhanas National Park presents us with the best of the Amazon, with the right to authentic experiences and memorable meals with what the forest gives us. The gateway occurs in New Airão municipality about 2:30 am by car or 50 minutes of Hydroavião de Manaus. If you prefer to fly, the views from above are nothing less than fascinating.
The whole route is an adventure, but the goal was to reach the woods for a single hosting: the Castanheiras landing a residence on the edge of the three -bedroom stream that is perfect refuge for the discoveries of the surroundings.
From Porto de Novo Airão, we took a speedboat and in 10 minutes we are on the deck of the house, all built in wood and with rustic soul, without losing comfort. Idealized by three friends, Thiago Cavalli , Roberto Vietri and Thiago Fontoura the project was born so that the singular experiences lived by each of them in the Amazon were shared with other visitors.
Pouso das Castanheiras, whose name honors the centenary chestnut trees, is in a private reserve of environmental preservation of 26 hectares. The context here is clear: to serve as a means of interaction with the forest as respectfully as possible.
Rooms have air conditioning and hot showers, but in addition to the furniture carved by local hands and eaten with regional ingredients, luxury is even feeling the temperature of the forest throughout the day, listening to the animals and being visited by macaws and monkeys. Is to feel, learn and surrender to a Naked and raw Amazon .
Between fish and fruits
All of this is reflected through the table. THE dining room and the kitchen are the heart of the house where conversations are inspired by nature and Amazonian ingredients are the stars. A team helps prepare meals, from coffee to dinner, all included in the daily rates.
The welcome have already started like this: a toast with cachaça Araçá-boi fruissant and Panc Vermouth, agroforestry in Manaus that recovers the soil, produces food and gives agroecology courses. For lunch, I entered the kitchen and helped prepare a jacket regional delight in which the fish is dry and we ate like a hidden.
One Smoked Pirarucu Carpaccio It served as an entrance, highlighted by Chutney de Cubiu, also called the Indian tomatoes, prepared on the spot. From the garden, I grabbed a jambu leaf and fried it to accompany the entrance next to nuts.
The garden even takes us beyond: the landing of the chestnut trees has a agroforestry located in a secondary forest area that has already received mowing.
That is, this part of the forest is in regeneration, where the idea is to plant a consortium of different species that help to develop. The result is greater biodiversity for both lodging and survival of local peoples.
Here, I helped replant some seedlings that had not endured the past drought. The chosen one was a soursop tree, the first I planted in the Amazon. It was one of those moments when I felt part of the whole. As small as the gesture, it has a grand impact.
Riverside communities and cassava flour
Once in Anavilhanas, the Visit to riverside communities along Rio Negro It becomes an almost compulsory activity after understanding the context of the forest. The trip gets tastier when we do this community tourism where we help and strengthen the local population.
Within the Rio Negro Sustainable Development Reserve, on the right bank of the river, the Santo Antônio Community It was founded in 1980 to preserve the traditional way of life of the riverside. It is one of around 19 communities that are part of the reserve, which embraces an area of over 100,000 hectares.
THE Community is open to visits And who received me was Dona Rose, local leader who teaches how to make cassava flour. Made artisanal in the small property, flour is inseparable from the community’s income and cultural identity, as well as several others along the Amazon.
Once harvested, cassava is peeled and placed in an engine to be ground. “Hence comes the pulp, which will be transformed into flour. This pasta goes to the sieve to be loose and then to a very hot wood oven to toasted, ”explains Dona Rose.
On the oven the wood is a kind of plate, where the dough is gradually deposited to be moved in a back and forth movement. It should bake for more than 20 minutes until it is very hopscotch.
After immersing the process, nothing fairer than enjoying the product at a lunch in the neighboring community, Tiririca which has a Single Restaurant Where chicken, egg and flour form one of the most appetizing requests.
Going to the communities can be part of the script, where boat rides, river baths, trails and walking to the Madada caves in the middle of the forest, full of roots and logs, are also possible in Anavilhanas.
After a night’s sleepy night by the forest sounds, the days here can start with a traditional x-cabiquinho, Amazonian sandwich with tucumã, fried pacovan banana, curd cheese and butter.
But to end with a golden key, the nights between August and February, a dry season, when a beach next to the land of the chestnut trees comes up, are reason for a piracaia .
The ceremony is marked by the roasted tambaqui on the ember, where we should eat it with our hands sitting in the sand. It is a true banquet that crowns the transformation that the Amazon causes us.
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The Post in Anavilhanas, Cassava Flour and Pisces show Authentic Amazon APPEARED FIRST ON CNN BRAZIL V&G.
Source: CNN Brasil
Johanna Foster is an expert opinion writer with over 7 years of experience. She has a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects. Her work can be found on some of the top online news websites, and she is currently lending her voice to the world stock market.
