A brief summary of the recent history of Brazil - Part 1

by Carlos Henrique do Nascimento

I remember how Brazilians, especially students like me, were engaged in the political facts when I studied at university. It was the very beginning of the 80’s, and by that time, the military commanders decided to return the power to the people, reinstituting the Democracy, which they had taken away from them almost two decades before that. This was called the “Abertura Política”, an important episode of our recent history.

For a twenty-year-old guy who always lived under the censorship and rules of that dictatorship, it seemed that a new life would start in our country. Something could be changed! At my school, we started to give strong attention to the political news; there were meetings among groups with different tendencies, and these groups could discuss politics!

 After years of silence, that was amazing. People were very disatisfied with our governors, at least those ones who were aware of corruption, bad politicians and military acts. The president of Brazil was João Figueiredo, a strict general from the Army, and the governor of São Paulo was Maluf, a symbol of corruption. What a couple! 

A brief summary of the recent history of Brazil - Part 2

by Carlos Henrique do Nascimento

People who had been condemned to exile, like Fernado Henrique Cardoso, José Serra and Leonel Brizola, could now return to Brazil. To our frustration, the “Abertura” was made gradually. The first State governors were elected after 18 years, in 1982. Even so, the Military prohibited elections for president. By 1984, several organizations decided to join the movement called “Diretas Já”. Millions of people went to the streets to ask for elections. Despite that, the Military ordered indirect elections: the Congress should elect the president.

 In 1985, Tancredo Neves was elected. He represented the symbol of a new era. The Brazilian Society convinced the Congress people to vote for Tancredo, a symbol of Democracy. Unfortunately, Tancredo died before his inauguration. The vice-president, José Sarney, took over the government instead. What a frustration! Sarney was an old-fashioned politician. He was in that position only because of the alliances they arranged to elect Tancredo. That was another black episode in our history. Instead of following the new ideals and promoting elections, Sarney managed to extend his government. He was elected for a four-year period, but he forced the Congress to vote for an extra year. Sarney was not worried about people’s aspirations.

 Brazilians were finally given the right to vote in 1989, and Fernando Collor was elected in 1990. Collor was elected because the media built him an image of honesty. When Collor was the governor of Alagoas, the television networks and the newspapers brought news of a man with good intentions and able to fight corruption. What a nuisance! After some months in power, several scandals were revealed. Collor used his position to get personal advantages. An official network of corruption was established. Due to problems in Collor’s family, his brother Leopoldo decided to reveal all the facts to the nation. Many companies had contributed to Collor’s election, and part of the money was used to buy cars, and to pay for personal trips and parties. After months of investigation, the Congress decided to vote for Collor’s impeachment.

 Vice-president Itamar Franco assumed the Presidency in 1992. There is nothing important to be mentioned about Franco’s governmemt. The most remarkable episode in his term was a fact that took place in the Carnival of 1993, when Itamar was photographed with a suspect lady without lingerie! The man with the enormous toupee should be forgotten.

A brief summary of the recent history of Brazil - Part 2

by Carlos Henrique do Nascimento

 In 1995, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was elected with a large margin of votes in his favor. His changes in the economics brought hope to our people. The landmark of his period, “Plano Real”, caused a decrease in the inflation rate, a problem that had seemed to be chronic until that moment. During his first term, Brazil had the illusion that everything was going the right way. With the support of Real, Cardoso was reelected for a new four-year period in 1998. To our disillusionment, several problems happened with the main econonic directives. Real lost its value and the unemployment rates increased. There was a crisis in the energy area, mainly because of a lack of investiment in the area. As a consequence, foreign investors abandoned the country. The nation had to take money abroad. As a result, it became a hostage of the International Monetary Fund – IMF. After Cardoso’s eight-year-term, his candidate José Serra lost the elections in 2002.

 Our present president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, has a special characteristic: he is the first person coming from a poor background to be elected President of Brazil. Best known as Lula, he promises several changes to figth misery, including millions of job positions and the end to hunger with the program “Fome Zero”. As a matter of fact, nothing has really happened till now. The impression that we continue under Cardoso’s governmemt is a fact. Lula has promised that, during the first months of his term, he had been trying to prepare the country to changes.

However, it is disappointing to realize that even after 24 years, Brazil continues with the same old problems. Significant changes are almost impossible to take place. Corruption is still frequently present. The large companies continue to dominate the economy while people become poorer and poorer. Our justice works properly only for those who can afford it. I cannot say with live in real democracy! If I had a time machine and could return to 1980, I do not know what I would say to myself!

Escrito por Aurea às 07h24 PM
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A NEW TRIBE: FOODIES - Part 1

A NEW TRIBE: FOODIES - Part 1

The word foodie was coined in 1984 in the English newspaper The Observer. It describes people who have a maniacal interest for everything related to sophisticated food.

They consider culinary as important as painting or architecture or music. Therefore, they spend a lot to make their “masterpieces”, such as “Lamb with black mushrooms and pesto”. The author of that recipe spent R$ 114.800,00 in his stove, an Ilve Majestic made in Italy that has more than one similarity with the mythical Ferrari (it is also red).

“A Ferrari goes from 0 to 100 km/h in six seconds. My stove is mightier, it goes from 40 to 240 ºC in less time”, tells proudly his owner.

He also explains the difference between a foodie and a gourmet: “A gourmet likes to eat well, while a foodie lives to eat and cannot understand people that eat only to kill hunger. We find pleasure preparing exquisite recipes, recipes that are pleasant to vision, taste and nose. We are fascinated by everything linked to cooking, from stoves and tools to spices and oils. We disdain rice and beans, omelet, grilled chicken and other ordinary things. We consider eating miojo a crime, as serious as the use of aluminum pans.”

 Escrito por Aurea às 01h09 PM
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A NEW TRIBE: FOODIES - Part 2

A NEW TRIBE: FOODIES Part 2

The foodies also like to go to the market at early morning or late at night, so they can read the tags exhaustively and scrutinize all the products deeply.

How many are they? There are not many figures available, but there are some clues. The event Boa Mesa, one of their favorites, had 4.500 visitors in its first edition, 1995. The last one, held in 2003, had 45.000 attendants. Some experts estimate their share of the market at around 3 billion reais each year.

                                                                          

In my opinion, the foodies are one more symptom of a new trend in São Paulo and other big Brazilian cities: people are staying at home more. That is the reason why there are so many individuals interested in home theaters, architecture, decoration, and so on. As the streets become more and more unsafe; people try to stay at home more and more, where at least they feel safe. Why should we spend a lot of money in an expensive car which can be easily stolen? It is much safer to spend money in furniture, so some people invest in home theaters and other things like that, just like the foodies do, so as to find new interesting things to do.

Adapted from Revista AOL

Alfredo Pereira de Carvalho

 Escrito por Aurea às 01h08 PM
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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE FOODIE

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE FOODIE

1. Thou shalt not cook nor eat rice and beans, omelet, grilled chicken breast or whatever simple dish. Thou shalt not even know the meaning of the word miojo.
2. Thou shalt not save money or personal effort to equip your kitchen. Thou shalt treat all your utensils with greatest care.
3. Thou shalt cite phrases of famous writers concerning the pleasure of food at least once a day, such as “The most sincere love is the love for food” , from Bernard Shaw.
4. Thou shalt use the microwave oven as furniture. In extreme cases, to boil water only.
5. Thou shalt cultivate, even though in thy balcony, thy own kitchen garden, with spices and herbs.
6. Thou shalt be able to distinguish 20 different kinds of rice, 30 kinds of olive oil, 9 kinds of lettuce, 50 kinds of pasta and 200 kinds of cheese.
7. Thou shalt have thy own culinary library.
8. Thou shalt not buy at ordinary markets. Real fresh food can only be found at municipal markets or Gourmet-shoppings (by the way, very expensive).
9. Thou shalt know by heart the names of all the great chefs on the world and their restaurants.
10. Thou shalt plan thy trips abroad with a good restaurant guide and at least one year in advance, so thou can get a place at the El Bulli (Spain), French Laundry (California) or at Alan Ducasse´s restaurant (Paris).

         Meanwhile, the latest figures released by IBGE show a decrease of around 30% in the per capita consumption of beef and 57% in the per capita consumption of chicken. When I think about the “Ten Commandments of the Foodie” and the latest data of IBGE, they remind me of the French Revolution, to be more specific the phrases attributed to Maria Antonieta: “If they do not have bread, let them eat brioches!”. I have the feeling that the way things are now, they are going to explode sooner or later.

                                                                                          

Adapted from Revista AOL.                      

       Alfredo Pereira de Carvalho

 Escrito por Aurea às 12h57 PM
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