If you’ve had your share of Bossa Nova, if you feel that you already know all the Tropicália big shots well, if you’re tired of samba, if you already listened all that matter from Clube da Esquina, or if funk ball is not your cup of tea, but you still want Brazilian sounds to rock your life, here are some picks of great musicians who deserve your attention. Not famous outside of Brazil, from different genres and generations, these guys made my life happier many a time. Enjoy.
Secos e Molhados – They are a band from the 1970s, a mix of glam rock and prog, inevitably and proudly gay, in a time that being all those things could land you in jail or worse, dead in the hands of the extreme right vigilantes. The band leader and singer, Ney Matogrosso, went to become a big star in a solo career, with a huge following of middle aged women. One of those Brazilian mysteries that is hard to explain: how a flaming gay singer becomes a hero in a openly homophobic environment? Now he makes (well) more traditional Brazilian music, and still has that incredible voice. Recommended album: “Secos e Molhados” (1973).
Most Brazilian lullabies and children songs are scary like hell. Some of them are not exactly child-appropriate. Or human-appropriate.
Check this hit parade:
The big classic “Atirei o Pau no Gato”, that says: I hit a cat with a stick, but he didn’t die. Mrs. Chica was surprised by the cat’s cry.
What about the morbid “A Canoa Virou“: the canoe turned down, because someone let it happen: [name of the kid] didn’t know how to row. If I were a little fish and knew how to swim, I would rescue [the kid] from the bottom of the sea.
Or the even scarier “Nana neném“: sleep baby, because Cuca (a forest monster) will come for you. Mammy is in the plantation and daddy is working.
Or the vaguely racist “Boi da Cara Preta”: Black-faced ox, come for this kid that is afraid of grimaces!
Or the gloomy “O Cravo Brigou com a Rosa”: Carnation fought with Rose, under a set of stairs. Carnation got hurt and Rose lost her petals. Carnation got sick, Rose came visit. Carnation fainted. Rose began to cry.
You can also try “Ciranda, Cirandinha“, that says: “the ring you gave me was made of glass and broke. The love that you had for me was not enough and vanished”.
Or “Samba Lelê”: Samba Lelê is ill, his head is broken. What he really needs is to be spanked.
You’ve got the spirit.
You don’t have to have a PhD in Psychology to realize you might want to keep your kids away from this songs. Instead, look for Paulo Tatit’s brilliant work – such as “Palavra Cantada” and “Pé com Pé“. Or maybe, go for Chico Buarque de Hollanda’s “Os Saltimbancos”. Also, check the Cocoricó TV program soundtrack. This (low quality) video of a Cocoricó’s sketch shows some of the main characters, chickens, singing their omnipresence and offering translations of “hen” in different languages.
Caipirinha – a mix of sugar cane spirit (cachaça), crushed lime, white sugar and ice – is a big hit among foreigners that visit Brazil. It is pretty much everywhere in the country and many Brazilian families own the special wooden mortar used to prepare the beverage. Caipirinha and its variations, such as caipiroska (with vodka) or saquerinha (with sake), are just a tiny sample of popular Brazilian drinks.
Follow me in the discovery of other national specialties. Most of them carry cachaça (also known as pinga, aguardente de cana, caninha or “a brava“/”the nasty one”):
Batidas – This mix of cachaça, fruit, ice and lots of sugar is a favorite in the kiosks that line the Brazilian coast. You name the fruit – maracujá (passion fruit), coco (coconut), morango (strawberry). In fact, caipirinha is just one more type of batida.
Meia de seda (probably named after pantyhose because it is a girlie drink) – Those with a really sweet tooth can try this mix of 1/3 of gin, 1/3 cacao liqueur (made with the fruit, not cocoa), 1 spoon of sugar and cinnamon (some recipes abolish the gin or substitute it by rum). Sort of old-fashioned, a souvenir of the golden fifties.
Aluá - There are several recipes for this drink popular in the Northeast states (Bahia, Ceará and Pernambuco, among others), that may or not be alcoholic. You mix one pinapple´s peel, two litters of water, brown sugar, cloves and grated ginger. The skin of the pineapple should be kept in water for a whole night to get fermented. The longer it remains in water, the more alcoholic the beverage. This water is strained and mixed to the other ingredients.
Cachaçapura – Cachaça, the Brazilian counterpart of rum, is made of the fermented sugarcane juice. There are probably a few thousand of brands, some extremely refined, some too bad to be mentioned. A recent contest promoted by cachaça experts chose the best artisan brands produced in the state of Minas Gerais (which basically means in Brazil). The winners were Diva (from Divinópolis, a white cachaça), Pirapora (from the city of same name, an aged cachaça) and Áurea Custódio (from Ribeirão das Neves, a premium cachaça). Also Playboy magazine published a cachaça ranking (here ordered from first to fifth place): Anísio Santiago/Havana (from the city of Salinas), Vale Verde (Betim), Claudionor (Januária), Germana (Nova União) and Magnífica (Vassouras). They are all from Minas Gerais, apart from the last one, from the state of Rio. And here you find a large list of Brazilian cachaças, including their origins and alcoholic degrees.
Think Green – This complex cocktail, by Rogério “Rabbit” Barroso, considered one of the best Brazilian bartenders, was one of the finalists of the latest edition of the World Cocktail Competition. It includes Bacardi, Marie Brizard Lemon Grass, Midori, champagne and pineapple juice.
Porradinha – A classic among college students. Grown-ups tend to be ashamed of drinking this in public. You should fill half a metal cup with cachaça. Add a small amount of Sprite or some similar soda. Cover the cup with your hand, lift it and hit the table (that movement could be described as porradinha). The volume of the drink will grow quickly, so drink it in only one sip.
Submarino - Typical of the Southern states, mixes a dose of Steinhäger (a beverage made of juniper) and a cup of draft beer. Originally, German immigrants would drink both spirits separately, but simultaneously. In Brazil, we turn the cup with Steinhäger face down inside a larger cup. Then pour beer inside. The Steinäger “escapes” into the beer.
If you don’t drink alcohol, there are a few Brazilian drinks that have merits of their own:
Guaraná – The national soft drink is made of guaraná, an Amazonian fruit that is an energy booster – it has twice the caffeine of coffee beans. Guaraná, the soda, has very small amounts of guaraná, the fruit, though, unlike guaraná powder, sold in vitamin shops.
Guaraná
Juices – In the Amazon, try the ones made of cupuaçu, bacuri or açaí. In the Northeast, the options are limitless. Mango, cashew (the fruit, not the nut on top of it), siriguela, jaca (jackfruit), cajá. All of these are available in major cities all around the country (made of frozen pulp, in most cases).
Garapa – For those with a sweet tooth, the sugar cane juice is available in street markets practically everywhere in the country. Sometimes lime or pineapple are added to the beverage.
Now that you have all you need to be an accomplished Brazilian barman (or woman), check my post on great Brazilian dishes. After all, you don’t want to drink on an empty stomach.
You applaud the pilot when the airplane lands. You also applaud the band after the national anthem is played.
You wear the national soccer team T-shirt when you are abroad.
You watch all the matches of the World Cup among friends and family. Or in your working place, if necessary. The experience includes beer, swearing, crying and insulting the mother of the referee.
You wear really pointy shoes with high heels (well, if you are a girl).
You are in a foreign beach and you are the only straight man wearing speedos.
You drink coffee at least three times a day. Religiously. And you never heard of decaf. Or chicory coffee.
You despise the Wright Brothers – Santos Dumont invented the airplane!
You have at least one pair of Havaianas flip-flops.
You have already worn fitinhas do Bomfim (ribbon supposedly blessed in Nosso Senhor do Bonfim church, in Salvador. You make three wishes while you tie the knots. They will be granted when it gets rotten).
You think you can speak Spanish. You pronounce Portuguese words with Argentinian accent and believe Spaniards will understand you. It can be very embarrassing.
You learn how to carry your purse in a way nobody will be able to open it or drag it away. You choose fake jewelry that really looks fake. You lock your house with several keys. You take with you the sound system when you leave your car.
You have prejudice against Portuguese and Argentinians. Well, it’s sad, but it is a fact.
You kiss your acquaintances (of opposite sex) in the face twice when you meet. Women also do the 2-kiss ritual among them.
You visit daily the neighborhood bakery. To buy fresh bread. To drink coffee. To have lunch. To buy cigarettes, or ice cream, or a pint of milk, or chocolate. To chat with the chapeiro (the guy who makes warm sandwiches – they are invariably entertaining). To talk to the Portuguese owner. To watch TV (they are fairly common in padarias). To drink cachaça. To put a few chairs in the outside and play samba with your friends (while the girlfriends dance).
Boy meets boy in San Francisco. They live happily ever after (11 years and counting) and at some point, two years ago, decide to move to Niterói, next door to Rio de Janeiro.
This is the story of American Jim and Brazilian Luiz, a well-traveled couple that is particularly well-positioned to evaluate Brazil’s gay friendliness. “We have always been “out” as individuals and as a couple”, says Jim. “Living in San Francisco afforded us a tremendous amount of personal freedom to be ourselves and to express our affection for each other in the street and other public places. Throughout our travels (Thailand, Greece, Turkey) we have had to adapt our conscious and unconscious habits around each other to fit the local scene/custom. Although we generally get spotted as a gay couple because we simply do not edit our every gesture – we are often guilty of looking into each others’ eyes for longer than a brief moment at restaurants and we wear matching wedding bands, for example. We have never had a problem and we have never had to defend ourselves – ever”.
In this interview, Jim Shattuck describes the joys and challenges of his gay experience in Brazil.
Deep Brazil – Rio is considered one of the gay-friendlier cities in the country. Right?
Jim Shattuck – We have found Rio and Niterói to be very gay friendly. Never a problem. There are gay people everywhere and everyone else seems to be quite at ease with it all. Although it could be said that as an older couple we do not attract the attention a younger and flashier couple might.
Luiz and I have always been completely out when it comes to introducing me to extended family members as well as meeting friends of friends. I think that our honesty and personal integrity (and the lack of hiding anything) has proven to be disarming and perhaps a bit challenging to others. Even those we thought might have reacted with a negative, prejudiced attitude have embraced us. Our philosophy is to be ourselves and let the others struggle, if they feel the need. We seem to have gained and kept the higher ground in this regard.
Even Luiz’s mother, with whom he had maintained a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” relationship for over 40 years, has since embraced us wholeheartedly. (He is an only child.)
DB – Can you display affection in public? After all, Rio is particularly open to inter-genders physical contact and there is a lot of flesh exposed everywhere.
JS - The level of public displays of affection (PDA) here is incredible. Kids suck face on the bus, in the shopping mall, on the sidewalk – everywhere. I get it that they cannot go home and do this in the presence of their mother and grandmother – but it is really over the top compared to other places I have been. In contrast Luiz and I are definitely not allowing ourselves total freedom in public. I must admit that I miss the PDA we were used to in San Francisco. There are times when Luiz and I will walk with our arms around each other or will exchange brief kisses hello and goodbye, but in general we assume more dramatic displays will draw fire (perhaps not). On the other hand there are a LOT of gay spaces (bars, clubs, cafés, beach areas, etc.) where there is greater safety in numbers and we feel more free to be affectionate publicly.
Gay Ipanema, Rio
DB – There is no such thing as Gay Marriage in Brazil. How tough was it to immigrate and guarantee certain rights (common assets, for instance)?
JS – This is an important area of difference between Rio/Brazil and San Francisco/USA. Luiz and I were living in San Francisco when the mayor there declared that public officials could extend marriage licenses to same-sex couples. We took him up on his offer and got married at City Hall on February 14, 2004 (Valentine’s Day in the USA). Long story short – the California state Supreme Court nullified all those marriages (4,000+) because the mayor did not have the authority to issue them – but more importantly, the US federal government has NEVER recognized so-called same-sex marriages for purposes of immigration.
However, here in Brazil the law allows for those in a “stable union” access to legal immigration, regardless of sex. This law is WAY more advanced (providing equality) than anything on the books in the United States. Were we to have been living in Brazil and sought to emigrate to the US, it would not have been possible for me to sponsor Luiz for immigration.
Further, the law in Brazil provides partners in civil unions access to each other’s pension benefits, property transfer at death and other legal protections still specifically denied by law in most of the United States.
One thing that makes me more hopeful for progressive change here in Brazil is that laws apply across the country when enacted. In the US individual states have a high degree of independence and authority over much of “family law”. So progress is state by state.
Brazil has many legal protections regarding discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Rio and Niteroí have additional legal protections in place regarding housing and job discrimination.
While our day to day reality in San Francisco was more open and free (Google Folsom Street Fair), and the LGBT community has a great deal of political power there, San Francisco is singularly unique in this regard – worldwide. To compare too closely is to be unfair. I choose to focus on the rights and liberties afforded by the federal governments – and to compare these. Seen from that point of view we are enjoying a more stable and protected relationship/life here in Brazil.
DB – Any particular anecdote of violence or disrespect?
JS – We have not been on the receiving end of any negative reactions (knock wood). But I will share one anecdote: I was interviewing for an English teacher job at a private school in Niterói. (I have a Permanent Resident Visa and a Carteira de Trabalho [work permit].) Given my experience working with adolescents and youth in the US and their commonplace offensive slang disparaging gay people, I said to the program director: “I need to say that I am a gay man and that I have no interest in being on the receiving end of homophobic remarks on the part of students. If you think this may be a problem then we should probably stop right now. If, on the other hand, you think this will not be a problem, then I will consider working here. But I will walk out the door at the first hint of personal offense.” The program director did not flinch. She assured me she thought it would not be a problem and that we should try things out. I have since been working at this school with students young and old without incident for nearly a year. In fact, there are several gay students who have been thrilled to have me speak so plainly about all subjects using language that does not presume heterosexuality on the part of all students.
You can learn more about Jim, Luiz and their lives at Jim’s blog.
You most certainly heard of, or even tasted, churrasco (barbecue) and feijoada (a complex meal that includes a stew of black beans with pork and several side dishes, including rice, collard greans, pealed orange, cassava flour, red pepper sauce and our national distilled beverage, cachaça).
Now, can you tell me what a buchada de bode is? Or pato no tucupi?
Here I list 10 classics, not necessarily easy to digest, but amazing windows to Brazilian culture. The links lead to recipes, whenever possible in English:
Cuscuz – Despite having the same origin as the Moroccan couscous, it looks and tastes way different. In São Paulo, where I come from, it is made with corn flour, olives, tomatoes, eggs, peas, sardines and has the look of a decorated cake.
Barreado – Typical of the coast of the southern state of Paraná, it probably originates from the Portuguese Azores islands. This meat stew served with rice is prepared in a very peculiar way. It is cooked in a clay pot for around 20 hours – the time needed for the meat fibers to be dissolved in a thick sauce. The pot is layered with banana leaves and its outside is covered with hardened manioc flour paste, in order to avoid the heat to escape. Keep reading
Secos e Molhados – They are a band from the 1970s, a mix of glam rock and prog, inevitably and proudly gay, in a time that being all those things could land you in jail or worse, dead in the hands of the extreme right vigilantes. The band leader and singer, Ney Matogrosso, went to become a big star in a solo career, with a huge following of middle aged women. One of those Brazilian mysteries that is hard to explain: how a flaming gay singer becomes a hero in a openly homophobic environment? Now he makes (well) more traditional Brazilian music, and still has that incredible voice. Recommended album: “Secos e Molhados” (1973).
