The Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotissueurs last August 25 celebrated a traditional summer feast, the “Rio by the Bay Fellowship Dinner” at the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in Marigondon, Mactan Island (www.plantationbay.com). Every year, this international gourmet society hosts at least five fellowship dinners for its members and each event is a gastronomic feast which features the various cuisines of the world. This organization was founded in France in 1248 and during the month of August, it is summer in Europe.
When we hear the word “Brazil”, it means football, samba, Portuguese language, Roman Catholics, the Amazon Rainforest and the ultimate party destination, the Carnival in Rio de Janiero. Your favourite food columnist knows very little about the food of Brazil simply because there were very few occasions in the past where I could dissect the nuances of its cuisine. There was one restaurant that specialized in Brazilian food (located near the Sacred Heart Church) but closed na.
To be familiar with exotic cuisines, I look for food videos like No Reservations (Anthony Bourdain), Bizarre Foods (Andrew Zimmem) Food Safari (Maeve O’Meara) and Iron Chefs. It would be best to travel a country like Brazil and eat Feijoada, a stew of beans with beef and pork, considered the country’s national dish, but there are budgetary constraints.
The next best thing is a Brazilian buffet dinner. I had several glasses of my favorite sparkles, Champagne Lhuillier Brut (service was very quick to refill) while I was taking photos of the following cold entrees: Brazilian Empanadas, Brazilian Seafood Salad, Salada de Cebola (Onion Tomato Salad), Kidney Beans Salad, Red Beets Salad and my favorite, the Camarao ao Catupiry (Shrimp w/ Cheese & Heart of Palm). Soup was Aubergine Soup, a very rich concoction of various vegetables in chicken stock and when paired with the Empanadas (my comfort food), it was so tasty that it makes you want to dance the samba!
For the hot entrees, we had a selection of Chicken Xim Xim (Chicken Stew), Pork Roast a la Villa Rica (Apricot Stuffed Pork), Onion and Steamed Rice and the Vermelho Recheado Com Farofa (Baked Red Snapper) plus a short trip to the Carving Station for the succulent Grilled Brazilian Chuck Eye.
There was the Seafood Grill Station with all those lovely Prawns, Rock Lobster, Salmon and Mussels which makes your mouth anticipate their freshness. I could not resist a bit of the mussels and the rock lobster when the lovely lass dressed in Carnival in Rio attire prepared a glass of Pfaffenheim Reisling. Simply irresistible!
Weather was a concern for the staff of Plantation Bay Resort since Cebu had rains occurring almost daily the previous weeks. I was into my second glass of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape and a slice of medium rare beef when the unthinkable happened... it suddenly rained. But only for a minute because my good friend Plantation GM Efren Belarmino had re-established his links with the heavens and we had good weather for the rest of the night. Come to think about it, we always had good weather in Plantation Bay every time we have a La Chaine event. Pwera buyag!
Choices for dessert were a selection of fresh fruits, Caramel Custard and various cakes (Coconut, Mocha, etc.) and the dance extravaganza of the Carnival in Rio de Plantation began. You really do not have to travel far to experience the festival fever of Brazil. All you need is the team work between the Board of Directors of La Chaine and the management and staff headed by Plantation GM Efren Belarmino, Executive Chef Vinz Karlsen and Assistant F&B Manager Jimmy Martinez to accomplish this...a bit of cash, excuse me, to finance the effort, plus the blessings of the Amighty!