AT THE TABLE - FOOD AND FAMILY AROUND THE WORLD - BRAZIL

A FAMILY DINNER WITH AYRSON HERÁCLITO, JOCEVAL “VAL” SANTOS, AND TIAGO SANT’ANA

While Scott was visiting Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, Brazil, his local friends, Ayrson and his husband Val, invited him to dinner in their home. Both Ayrson and Val are in their 40s. Ayrson is a nationally acknowledged fine artist, curator, university art professor, and Candomblé practitioner. Val is a Pai de Santo or Candomblé priest and is on staff at the federal university. They have been together for about 15 years. For many years they have shared their home with another dear friend and artist, Tiago, who is in his mid-20s and is a photographer, art curator, and researcher for graduate-level academic standards for the National Ministry of Education.

Cost-of-living economics are difficult in Brazil. Rising monetary inflation has been a major factor in the last few years. Prices are at their worst in urban areas. Therefore, traditional nuclear families, blended families, adult children living with their parents or blood relations, and nontraditional family units are all common (Globo, 2014; Sinterp, 2014).

The evening’s dinner was only one course and was somewhat atypical for a Bahian meal, which usually centers around rice, beans, some form of manioc, small amounts of animal protein, vegetables/salad, and often another carbohydrate (Hamilton, 2005; Wilks and Barbosa, 2012). Ayrson prepared an Asian-style stir-fry that, although not part of the standard regional repertoire, did reflect a Bahian culinary sensibility. Strong Afro-Brazilian culinary traditions and technical methodology predominate in this state and throughout most of the northeast (Vianna, 1955, 1979; Cascudo, 1977; Freyre, 1976).

Since all three men of this household work both for themselves and for an outside entity, time management with meal preparation and dining is important to all of them. Once or twice per month they tend to take time to plan and prepare a celebratory meal with multiple courses or dishes. Often the meal is geared to local popular or religious festivals. Then the menu is often planned relative to the nature of the holiday and its customary foods. Otherwise, they tend to prepare 30-minute meals; one-pot dinners; occasionally purchase street food, such as acarajé (black-eyed pea fritters) or pizza; make do with leftovers; or simple sauté, as in this case (Fajans, 2008; Hamilton and Hamilton, 2007).

There are some households and restaurants that update traditional dishes. Lately there has arisen a growing minority of foreign options such as sushi, pasta, pizza, and multinational quick-service establishments. While the dinner had a foreign gloss, the manner in which it was made—with local ingredients and native techniques and in deference to local tastes—reflected its Bahian rootedness. Instead of using fresh beef, carne do sol, a preserved beef similar to corned beef that dates back to colonial cookery, was chosen (Frade, 2012). The group drank Cajuína with dinner. Cajuína is a regional artisanal soft drink made from cashew fruit with a natural effervescence and light sweetness. Cashews grow with a soft custardy fruit attached to the nut. It can be fermented and has a slight similarity to kombucha, though not as fizzy (James, 2010). After dinner, beer and coffee were served.

That day and evening Val had some responsibilities at his temple and with a film project in which he was involved. Tiago was out when Scott arrived at their home. Therefore, Ayrson was the designated chef for the meal. While he was cooking, Ayrson offered a snack of boiled peanuts that he had purchased at the open-air market where he had shopped for dinner. Throughout Salvador, particularly in the city center and in working-class neighborhoods, there were several markets frequently with outdoor stalls for selling produce, fruit, regional prepared products, and fish. Meat is frequently purchased from butcher shops. Several of the local markets and their stalls became a hub anchoring activities and traffic flow for various neighborhoods, causing this shopping method to be quite commonplace (Ickes, 2013).

Alternatively, Walmart has built a national chain of American-style supermarkets named Bom Preço (Good Prices). Perini is a smaller upscale local chain for gourmet regional, predominantly Iberian, products and some Central European products. In the past several years a few health food stores have begun to crop up on the local landscape in middle- to upper-middle-class districts of the city.

Ayrson is quite deft in the kitchen. This apparently comes from both his teaching from his mother and grandmother growing up, sacred culinary training as a Candomblé practitioner, and his aesthetics and skill as a practicing artist. To prepare himself and his work area, he had set out a variety of small bowls to contain his mise en place, those partially prepared or measured ingredients for his recipe. Everything was neatly arranged to organize his work and facilitate the procedural steps of cooking. Their kitchen is quite large, containing a small dining table and several long countertops.

The surfaces were either of ceramic tile or stone, the norm for the tropics where molds and bacteria could easily grow if consistent cleaning and scrubbing were left undone. A large pile of large institutional stockpots, gamelas (wooden bowls), and serving dishes were stacked in the far corner of the room. These items were used for their large parties and for the preparation and serving of religious meals and offerings that Val often prepared for his temple. Between the stove and the sink they have a lazy Susan that holds olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, hot sauce, a head of garlic, a lime or two, an onion, a piece of ginger, and a few types of chili peppers. In the kitchen and at the stove Ayrson’s work style was neat, orderly, and precise.

SERVING AND EATING

Although the meat was preserved with salt and there was also soy sauce in the recipe, the preparation did not taste saltier than it would have in an average Chinese restaurant. Ayrson decided to plate each of the dinners to add a flourish and bit of formality to the meal. This allowed him to equally portion out the food and reserve a plate in the kitchen for Tiago, who had not yet come home, in anticipation of his return. Home-based meals were the norm for most people, particularly for dinner. Local foods are relatively reasonably priced, yet the overall rising cost of living and the familial nature of local commensal habitus fostered shared family meals. Tiago arrived halfway through the meal, collecting his plate and joining the group at the table.

Ayrson indicated that he and Val tended to cook individually or collectively, sharing the food preparation and cleaning tasks. Tiago also helped but in a more ancillary role. Both Ayrson and Val are quite adept in the kitchen and are deeply grounded in the local regional cuisine. They seemed to have achieved an equitable balance in the division of labor and planning around their three respective working lives and responsibilities.

While drinking and eating habits vary from house to house, there are certain commonalities. Many Brazilians do not drink tap water. They have a two-chambered terra-cotta water filter, or in some circumstances they have a water cooler. Many people drink bottled soda, usually purchased in two-liter bottles. These soft drinks are often American standard brands, frequently in diet versions, although similar local options exist for less money. The most popular local soft drink is guaraná, a very sweet soda based on the highly caffeinated seeds of an Amazonian viny plant. If soda is not offered, fresh fruit juices generally sweetened with sugar and diluted with water, cheap local beer, and coffee, iced or hot, are the norms. Thus, the luxury of the 480-milliliter bottle of Cajuína was a treat either for a Sunday meal or for company.

TABLEWARE AND DESIGN

Since these men all have an affiliation or direct relationship to both Afro-Brazilian secular and sacred culture and the fine arts/design fields, their home decor and the material culture therein is reflective of the synthesis of folkloric traditions and modern design. In their home it is just as common to be served from industrially produced unglazed terra-cotta, either artisanal handmade wooden gamelas or ceramic alguidás bowls/dishes, as it is to see a modern-style manufactured plate. Locally, in addition to a history of handmade utilitarian ceramics, there are several styles of simple lines of inexpensive everyday china, silver, and glassware that are geared to commercial use, working-class, and marginally employed or alternative consumers (Querino, 1928).

Within the native Bahian culture, there are some foods that are served and eaten as handheld snacks or do not require utensils, such as acarajé and beiju (manioc flour crepes). Some people, often those who identify as black and are over 50 years of age, will often prefer to eat with their hands. In this case any soupy or broth-based preparations are served with mingau, a manioc porridge created from the broth, thickened by the addition of farinha (toasted manioc flour) or farofa (a seasoned version of farinha). The stew can be shaped into a ball and relatively gracefully consumed out of the hand. Otherwise, standard utensils are set at all tables. Meat is often not trimmed of gristle, silver skin or fat to the degree that it is trimmed in United States. Poultry tends to run free, yielding a flavorful and sometimes stringy product. Therefore, toothpicks and inconspicuous teeth cleaning at the table occur in almost every home and in restaurants (Cascudo, 1977; IPHAN, 2005; Vianna, 1955).

Local table decor frequently reflects the folkloric lace-making handicraft traditions within the state and the larger northeastern region. Many homes of varying incomes use either lace tablecloths or runners to adorn dining tables. As Scott, the visitor, prepared to set the table, he was told that there was a runner that he could lay out on the table. Since the group was not initially sure if they would truly all eat together (in Tiago’s absence), they elected to leave the stone tabletop free of embellishments. Napkins were made from folded paper towels. At larger, more festive meals, cloth napkins are often used. The only other table decoration was a tall water pitcher that had been filled with local greens and a few cut flowers.

Simple, utilitarian glass globe wineglasses were placed on the table for drinking. In addition, there was one inexpensive white mass-market ceramic bowl to serve the stir-fry from, tropical-themed bamboo and stainless cutlery, and four hip rectangular white ceramic plates. The medium-sized bowl was the only serving plate on the table. Chopsticks were also an option since the meal itself was Asian, but the group opted to use the cutlery. All of these objects used to serve and eat the meal were utilitarian and quotidian.

The one tool that clearly reflected regional gastronomy was the cuscuzeira for cooking the rice. In Bahia a version of couscous (cus-cuz) was made as a savory accompaniment from coarsely ground cornmeal or as a sweet dessert from tapioca, coconut, and sugar. In this instance, a bain-marie was used to steam the rice. The main dish was cooked in an aluminum sauté pan that mimicked a wok in shape. To serve the rice, it was tightly packed into one of the small bowls and inverted as a half-sphere of rice onto each of the square plates. When the group sat down, the stir-fry was equally divided between the four plates.

COMPORTMENT

Although this was somewhat of a casual dinner, the act of plating the food and having the Cajuína served in a stemmed wineglass added a level of pomp to the meal. Val had telephoned with his estimated arrival time during the food preparation period, thus anchoring the dinner hour. When he came home the two men greeted each other with a kiss and an embrace and shared brief accounts of their respective days. Val washed up and changed quickly into more comfortable clothing for dinner. Ayrson smoked a cigarette while waiting. Once the group sat down to eat, a brief blessing in a manner consistent with Candomblé worship was made to ancestral spirits, ending with the Yoruba synecdoche ajeum (concurrently, “food, eat, sustenance”).

Baianos are rife with local customs and superstitions. One of the most common is that when leaving someone’s home as an invited guest, you must not touch or open the door(s) to leave the house. If you do, the implication is that you will never return again. Thus, the act of being served and cared for within someone’s home is quite prevalent. Because Scott is the guest tonight, most everything is done for him. Simple tasks that could be easily managed—making one’s plate, obtaining or filling a glass—are generally completed for the guest as a gesture of hospitality (Vianna, 1979; Souto Maior, 1988).

Midway through the meal Ayrson’s cell phone rang. He answered it, briefly excusing himself from the table. He let the caller know that he was eating and agreed to call later on. The dinner was full of good humor and laughter. The conversations ranged from Val’s current independent film project as an actor to terreiro (the ceremonial shed where rituals are performed) and Candomblé temple affairs to Ayrson’s final exhibition opening for the recent Bahian art biennial, Bienal da Bahia: É Tudo Nordeste. He explained that whereas the bulk of the show had been hung in town between galleries, community centers, and public spaces, this final exhibition was in Cachoeira, the former colonial center of sugarcane and tobacco plantation agriculture. The show’s themes reflected this connection to colonialism and slavery. Ayrson had a singular focus as a curator on this phase of the larger project. All other exhibits had been defined by a hierarchal collaborative structure built on consensus. By the time Tiago had arrived, the conversation had moved on to the recent visit of Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, the alaafin (emperor) of the Oyo state in southwestern Nigeria. This had been the first dignitary of West African royal extraction to visit Bahia. The visit had a great deal of cultural significance vis-à-vis economic incentives and politicking that affected the local national and religious communities.

When Tiago came in, he washed up and changed his clothing before sitting down. He ate some of his food, got up, and paced in front of the window. The other two men used this interlude to share a cigarette. It was lit at the table. In courtesy to the diners, it was immediately carried away to the large bay window that looked down the hillside to the multilane pretzel of streets and traffic below. They took turns leaving the table to smoke a bit, passing it between themselves as they moved from one side of the room to the other. On a table/desk along one wall in the middle of the room opposite a small sofa was a disc player/radio. It was silent throughout the meal.

The layout of the physical living/dining areas was a large, open rectangular room with no partitions. The front door opened onto this space in the southern corner of the room, with the doorway to the kitchen along the same wall at the opposite corner. The large window dominated the wall on the other side of the room. There was a clear view of A Fonte Nova, the recently rebuilt stadium and entertainment venue that hosted the local World Cup soccer competition. Ayrson’s sculpture, photography, and paintings as well as some work of colleagues/friends and numerous folkloric objects reflecting regional culture, Afro-Brazilian identity, and Candomblé religious practice accented the room. The floor was simple, made of worn wooden parquet. The walls were alternately painted red or orange, and the ceiling seemed to be 12 feet in height.

Once Tiago finished eating, he went into his room for a brief period. The sharing of the cigarette seemed indicative to how this couple shared the household chores in an egalitarian manner. The two collectively decide what the menu will be for shared meals and who will shop, cook, and clean up. Tonight, Val cleared the dishes from the table and began to wash things in the kitchen. Tiago worked on straightening the dining area. There was no dishwasher. Ayrson returned the phone call he had received earlier. He then offered coffee and beer. He and Scott chose coffee, and the others split a liter bottle of beer. The group returned to the table to consume these beverages. Now that no one was eating, smoking was allowed at the table.

In homes where there are women, gender tends to define the cooking and cleaning roles in these settings. Often an older woman will work alongside a teen or young woman, apparently imparting knowledge and obtaining help for those tasks that require greater stamina, agility, or energy. In Candomblé culture, while there are hierarchies in the kitchen and a designated chef, usually a woman, there is a fairly egalitarian division of labor that can expose both men and women to the daily culinary workload, with certain tasks skewed by gender. The exposure of a shared work ethic in the sacred environment and the quality of the relationships that exist among these three men created a harmonious dynamic in the kitchen and at the table (Moura 2004; Lima 2003).

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Farmers’ Markets

Although there have always been markets for produce around the world, the idea of a farmers’ market is a little different. The implication, though not always the reality, is that the produce is grown locally and sold by the person who grew it or the employees of that person. This ensures that the profit doesn’t go to retailers or middlemen. Interestingly, these markets have also become social occasions, complete with music and entertainment. Shoppers go as much to meet people as they do to buy food. Farmers’ markets have expanded exponentially across the United States, often opening in urban areas where fresh produce might be otherwise difficult to obtain.

By Scott Barton in "At the Table : Food and Family Around the World, Ken Albala editor, Greenwood,(an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC), USA, 2016. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

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