Sao Paulo, Brazil. Can you imagine it? The beach, the breeze, the never-ending attitude of celebration of life. Sao Paulo has a wonderful, fun-loving culture and I got to interview one of my friends from there to see what it is really like.

Anna Conte, a friend from high school, is from the melting pot that is Sao Paulo, Brazil. She tells me that Brazilian culture has been a huge influence on her life, “From speaking in Portuguese daily, to the kinds of food I eat, the music I listen to and even my family values.” Within this influence I wanted to know more: what types of food does she like? Does she have a favorite dish? Who cooked in her family? Anna’s mom has been the main cook in her life and has a range of dishes from feijoada to Italian lasagna. This range of cooking really helped Anna appreciate all the different cultures in her life. But without fail, there was always white rice and black beans, “…a Brazilian household staple.”

That is certainly something that I have learned studying the culture: how key rice is to every dish. Anna remembers her holidays like this:

“In my family, we always wound up celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve. We’d start the evening out around 6-6:30 with our dinner which generally consists of a ham, farofa, rice with raisins, lots of fruits, (mostly because in December in Brazil, you’re in the peak of summer so it is HOT).
In February, we celebrate Carnival – which is essentially the Brazilian version of Mardi Gras. It’s 3 days of non-stop celebration and excitement.
In June, there is Festa Junina which brings a lot of fun and great food to the country. It’s a celebration of the harvest and the 3 Catholic Saints, Saint Peter, Anthony, John.”

One thing I’ve always wanted to do is to visit some country in South America that celebrates carnival. My family is from New Orleans and Mardi Gras is so much fun so I can only imagine Brazilian Carnival. One thing though, if you’re in New Orleans, the people have lots of opinions about what is “good” New Orleans food; I asked Anna what her opinion was for Brazil. She contemplated then remarked,

“That’s hard! In my opinion, everything is pretty good. I really think that good food though, is anything made with love. The Brazilian culture really embodies that. Cooking is the way a lot of the country shows their affection and you can tell when you take that first bite. The hands that prepared that meal did it with all the kindness in their heart.
But a coxinha and a caipirinha on the beach in Brazil, you really can’t get better than that!”

Indeed, you cannot get better than a cocktail on the beach.

So, whether you are new to the game about Brazil or been hitting up Brazilian steakhouses all your life, what really matters is the people. You celebrate holidays with them, you make and enjoy food with them, and you connect with them. The people, like Anna, are what makes Brazil, Brazil. And the people in my family are what makes us the Vincent’s. That’s what food does. It brings people together from all walks of life and all kinds of experiences.