Brief (personal) bio
I was born and raised in Brazil. I've lived most of my
pre-adult life in the city of
São Paulo,
which is Brazil's largest city and among the 10 most populous metropolitan areas in the world. I
moved to
Toronto to pursue graduate studies,
and I have been enjoying the diversity of the city very much. I've always felt that Toronto has a unique
quality of allowing foreigners to feel welcome and at home within a short period of adaptation, even
more than other cosmopolitan cities in the Americas that I've been to (including New York City,
Chicago, and San Francisco).
One of the most amazing features of cosmopolitan university environments, such as the one at
the
University of Toronto, is the opportunity to meet
a wide variety of interesting people. The most unexpected person I met in Toronto was
Ioana. For this reason alone, I will always
cherish the fact that I decided to come to Toronto.
For the past years, I've dedicated most of my waking hours to my work. While I consider myself
fortunate to work in an area I have fun with and feel excited about, it has a downside. Namely,
I don't dedicate enough time to other areas of my life such as hobbies and chatting with
friends and family. Below, are some of the things I do when I manage to get my mind off of work.
Cooking & Eating
I love food. Good food, bad food, raw food. Vegetables or meat. Solid or liquid. I
love food.
Since our budget as students is limited, we have strived to satiate our taste-buds either at moderately
priced "Mom & Pop" eat-outs, or at home, cooking our own meals, with an occasional fancy (expensive)
ingredient or two. Some gems we have found in Toronto are:
- Country Style Hungarian -
In the heart of the Annex, this is a traditional Hungarian restaurant, perfect for a comfort meal.
The dishes are typically huge, and very tasty. I've never been to Hungary myself, but the place
is always populated by a good number of Hungarians.
- Biryani House -
Just 1 block off of Yonge & Bloor, this is considered by some as a
"hole in the wall", but is a great takeout place. (Please do not confuse this Byriani with the
"fancier" one on Wellesley.). Its one and only waiter is, how shall I put it?... full of personality!
The dishes here are consistency good, and a dinner here won't burn a hole in your wallet.
- Saigon Palace - The best, and
probably cheapest Vietnamese joint close to University of Toronto. Although it is well known for its
Pho, I always go there for their Bun Cha.
- Sage Cafe - A cute cafe, very close to the University
of Toronto, has a small assortment of home-made meals. I am a fan of their sandwich/wraps and soups.
- MangiaCake - This is a Italian-style panini shop, neighboring
Sage Cafe (above). The owner of this place is a sweet heart. The paninis are great, and the coffee is
pretty good too.
- Prague -
- Terroni -
- Embrujo Flamenco Tapas -
It's hard to recommend places to eat in New York City. There are so many hidden gems all over the city.
Here are a couple of places that have become our favorites, probably because it has been hard to find
good Romanian and Brazilian restaurants in Toronto:
- Romanian Garden - Traditional Romanian
food at it's best! Huge portions and student friendly prices. The place is blusting with romanians
day or night. I liked everything I've tried, but I have a sweet tooth for their papanaşi.
- Zebu Grill - This is one of the more upscale (i.e., expensive)
restaurants on this list. But I include it here as it is one of the best brazilian experiences I've
had outside of Brazil. Most of the dishes are not prepared the same way as you would find them
in Brazil, but since I'm not a traditionalist, I actually enjoy their modern take on traditional
dishes. The restaurant itself is nicely decorated, cozy and intimate, perfect for small groups
(2-4 people). Ah, and don't let the name fool you! Most of the dishes have nothing to do with 'grill' :-)
San Francisco Bay Area:
- Lovely Sweets & Snacks - This authentic
Indian joint has a small eat-in area located in a strip mall (they have multiple locations,
I've only been to the one on El Camino Real). Hands down the
best Ras Malai I've ever had. The Chaats and Thalis are not far behind, and
very affordable for the Bay Area.
- Chaat Paradise - Another Indian, with a larger eat-in
area, and larger menu selection. The service can be hit or miss, but the food is consistently
great. Also very affordable.
- Dishdash - This middle-eastern restaurant can be considered
a bit upscale for your average student, but completely worth the extra expenditure. Some of the
dishes seem have a levantine flare to them. I particularly like the kibbeh and the k'nafeh.
Home-made
At home, we like to experiment with all types of cooking from around the world. Even if some of the
results are quite amateurish, we enjoy all our culinary experiments. I've attempted to learn some
traditional brazilian dishes, such as
Feijoada,
Moqueca,
Pão de queijo (cheese rolls),
Pastel,
fried
Cassava, fried bananas, and, of course, the most
famous Brazilian "dish",
Caipirinha.
I also enjoy trying my hands on different culinary, such
French, Indian and
Romanian cuisine. Ultimately these are less frustrating than Brazilian cooking, simply because
I do not know what the recipe
should taste like when complete.
Baking
One thing I've missed from Brazil are the bakeries. And the daily bread. The most popular brazilian
bread is called "pão francês" (french bread), but it is not french at all. Legend has it that in
the early 1900s wealthy Brazilians, having visited France and fallen in love with their bread,
attempted to describe the delicious French bread to local bakers. The result was a bread roll/bun
with soft white center, and golden crusty exterior, that
looks like the described French bread,
but has different consistency and taste than the French bread.
In North America, it is hard to find very good bread. And when you do, it tends to be a bit expensive
if you're on a student budget, making it unreasonable to have it daily. My pining for good bread, however, changed
after meeting one fine gentleman named
Pablo Montesinos.
Pablo is a funny, quirky spanish fellow whom we met at a research conference. Chatting with him, we
discovered that we both despised Paulo Coelho, and both loved bread. He was quick to point me to a
fantastic no-knead recipe by Jim Lahey.
I have become an enthusiastic bread baker ever since trying my first loaf. I've done white breads,
whole wheat breads, rye breads, adding different seeds and grains. The image (on the right)
illustrates one of my early bread experiences using the recipe. For months I played with different
ratios of water, flour, and yeast, different flour brand, etc. In all the trials, even the worst
bread was still pretty good. I highly recommend the recipe. You can find a lot of information
on Google and YouTube about other people's experience with the recipe. You can even go out and grab a
copy of
Jim Lahey's book.
I have also been making pizza after his bread recipe. During a TV show, Jim Lahey shows how to make his
"Popeye Pizza". The
recipe and video
are quite educational, specially the tricky part about opening the dough properly. The result is nothing
like the tough, thick dough you get at pizza places like Pizza Hut, Domino's, etc. Instead, it is a
wonderfully thin and flavourful crust, to which I top with plain tomato sauce (I very much dislike the
ketchup-y pizza sauces so commonly used), basil leaves, and a bit of cheese. Pronto. No need for 10-pounds
worth of toppings. Alternatively, I make a chorizo based pizza, with no cheese. Just tomatoes and ground
chorizo sausages flambéed in
cachaça.
Coffee
After a good meal, there is nothing like a strong (small) cup of coffee.
It may be cliché for a Brazilian to love coffee, but I had to recognize
some part of my
cultural heritage given that I don't watch soccer, dance samba, or go to church. When I left Brazil,
coffee shops were very much like an Italian "stand up bar" (since then, I've heard that Starbucks
has opened business in Brazil). Coffees were typically 30-50 mL in volume,
(compare that to the 350 - 600 mL that Starbucks offers), optionally with a dab of milk. Brazilian
coffee is bold, strong in flavor, but not bitter. I was very lucky to be given a
Breville espresso machine
for my birthday a few years ago and enjoy espressos at home. But I also enjoy the basic stovetop
Bialetti with the right
coffee beans.
Espresso coffee shops have exploded in North America in the mid 90's, perhaps driven by the success
of Starbucks chain. While I'm not a big fan of Starbucks, I'm happy it sparked the espresso momentum
in all major cities in North America. The previous Folgers and Maxwell House coffee culture was an
extremely disappointing experience.
That being said, I'm not always happy with the espressos I get. Some of the coffee used to make
espressos is too green (not ripened). To make up for the greeness, some places over roast the
beans making it taste very bitter and oily (the oil is used to prevent the beans from burning when
over roasting). While some espresso experts disagree, to me a perfect espresso should have a
strong, bold flavor, but not overly bitter from over roasting, nor overly sour from being picked
green and not oily from the roasting process.
Some of the places I enjoy coffee in Toronto are:
- L'Espresso Bar by Mercurio - Close to the
University of Toronto, this charming café was recommended to me by my supervisor,
Michael.
From the outside, it may look a bit upscale, but the staff always treats students very well.
And the prices are the same (or cheaper) than what you get at Starbucks. Most importantly,
the coffee here is much better than any coffee chain I've been to.
New York:
- Joe, The Art of Coffee - They have multiple locations in
New York, but I've only been to two, both close to NYU campus. The first time I have coffee there, it was a bit
on the green side, but last time I tried, the coffee was great.
San Francisco:
- Caffe Centro - Also recommended by
Michael, this sandwich shop is located in the
hidden-away South Park in San Francisco. The staff is awesome, the prices are low, the quality is high.
The coffee here is also very good.
Palo Alto:
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