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 ara ketu bloco carnaval 2004 by ludogatto
Carnaval is Locura Total : for 6 day and 6 night million of people dancing, singing and drinking.
The old carnival consisted of big party with brass band, hornet singer.....dancing all the night.
In the 50’s Dodo e osmar started to play on little truck with simply soundblaster, running through the city, but the music involved too much that the Carnival growned up .
Now the Carnival is divided in 3 circuits. The first,Batatinha in Pelourino, is the most traditional, it’s like a festival with some stage where bands play until 2 o’clock or there are brass and hornet bands accompanied by marching drummer.
“Blocos” are the most important part of the other 2 circuits: in the bloco there is a big Trio Eletrico (THe evolution of the first little truck: the truck/music soundstage with band on top, palying for 6 hours, that slowly parade through the street) all the people of the bloco follow the truck in the circuit, ‘cordeiros’ bring ropes to separete them from the ‘Pipoca’ ( common people watching and dancing in the road).
Campo Grande circuit have much more traditional afro blocos like Ile Aye, Olodum,...Barra Ondina circuit was added in the 80’s and have more tendency bloco, they play the new style music, like Axè.
You can have three solution to enjoy the carnival: you can stay in the ‘pipoca’, such as stay in the road waiting the differents ‘blocos’ to enjoy the different musics. It’s anexpensive, but a little bit dengerouse for the thieves and the crowd, but I like it. Or you can buy an ‘abada’, a special t-shirt that allow you the entrance in a bloco for a day, it’s safe cause you are in the middle of the protected ropes. Third, you can buy a ticket for a ‘camarote’, a carnival viewing stand, often complete with bar, food and relax area.
There are a lot of web site where find info on the next carnival (Centra do Carnaval,...), or buy a abada or a camarote ticket. Leave a Comment
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Bahian cuisine has the influence of Portuguese, African and Indian cultures with a predominance of local exotic ingredients. Is characterized by the generous use of malagueta chili peppers and dende oil extracted from an African palm tree. Several Bahian dishes also contain seafood (usually shrimps), coconut milk, banana and okra.
When you are in Salvador (or anywhere in Bahia) don't forget to taste some typical dishes. You won't regret - they are simply delicious!!
Acaraje - dish, made with beans, seasoned with salt and onion, fried in dendê (palm) oil and served with pepper sauce, dried shrimps, vatapa, tomato and green pepper
Abara - dish, made with beans, pepper and dendê (palm) oil, rolled in banana leaves
Moqueca de camarão (shrimps) or moqueca de peixe (fish) is a traditional Bahian seafood stew. It basically consists of shrimps or fish, onion, garlic, tomatoes, coriander, pimenta malagueta (chili pepper) and additional ingredients. It is usually accompanied by farinha, rice and farofa.
Bobo de camarão is a typical Bahian dish made with shrimps, cassava (manioc), dendê (palm) oil and coconut milk.
Vatapa is one of the most traditional dishes of Bahia made from bread, shrimp, coconut milk, dendê (palm) oil and nuts (peanuts and/or cashews). It's somewhere between a sauce and a paste and it's used to accompany dishes such as acaraje.
Caruru - dish, made with okra, fish, shrimps, peanuts, cashew nuts and seasoned with oil and peppers
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 by mircaskirca
A variation on acaraje is the abara. It is made from the same ingredients but is steamed and served in a banana leaf instead of fried.
Colourfully dressed baianas set up shop daily in thatched-roof kiosks or at improvised tables where they serve acaraje, a Bahian-style hamburger. Try this typical food at a place that has been recommended to you to be sure of getting the fresh product. Some of well-known Baianas with deserved reputation for excellent acarajes are:
- Dinha (Rio Vermelho)
- Cira (Itapoan)
- Jo (Barra)
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 by ludogatto
The new fight take inspiration to an ancient Angola fight: Angola was the country that gives the most quantity of slaves to the portuguese and the roots of this country are very important for the culture of this big beautifull country. Slavery stopped in Brasil only in the second decade of 1900. Leave a Comment
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The Brazilian berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, braced musical bow or African origin. It consists of a wooden bow (traditionally made from biribi wood) about 1,2 - 1,5 m long, with a steel string tightly strung and segured from one end of a bow to the other. Beside its close assotiation with capoeira, the berimbau has long been used in a variety of Brazilian folk and popular music forms, such as samba de roda, carimbo, bossa nova, afro-samba, tropicalsimo, and it's part of Candomble tradition.
In the 1960's, the berimbau began to be heard internationally. Brazilian guitarist Baden Powel brought the berimbau to the attention of the musicians outside Brazil in afro-samba song Berimbau (with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes). Since 1970 several expatriate Brazilian percussionists (as Nana Vasconselos, Airto Moreira and others) have played berimbau with modern jazz musicians worldwide.
The berimbau has become somehow emblematic of Brazilian popular culture and especially of Salvador.
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 a selection of cocada by mircaskirca
Recipe
1/2 kg of (brown) sugar
1/2 kg of grated coconut
1 lime
1 cup of water
Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Then add the coconut to the sugar mixture. Mix together over the heat continuously until the mixture is thick and syrupy and the bottom of the pan is visable. Mix in the lime juice and take the pan off the heat. Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet immediately and when it has hardened a little, but is still soft, cut into squares. Wait to eat until the squares are hard and cooled off.
This is the basic recipe though condensed milk, cinnamon and even fruit or nuts can be added. My favourite is cocada queimada, which is made from brown sugar with the addition of cinnamon and cloves. Ahhh, yummy!!!
You can get delicious home-made cocada from baianas on the street and sometimes local people sell it on the beach as well.
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To understand a little bit more Salvador and its 'povo', please read something about Orisha, Condomblè and the slevary before visiting this palce.....
Like Capoeira Orisha was the answer of the slavery to the proibithion of the portuguese to practice the traditional african religion: the african transformed the catholic Saints in Orishas, that were the mixture of afican and catholic divinity.
In Salvador there is lake with in the middle the statue of Orishas, very nice in the light of the night. Leave a Comment
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Fitas are ribbons that you will surely receive from children around the churches of Salvador. They will be holding a whole bunch of colorful fitas and will come up to you and start to wrap the ribbon around your wrist. With the first knot, they'll tell you to make a wish (I wish this kid would go away). Then, the kid will wrap the ribbon around your wrist again and tell you to make another wish (I wish this kid had some decent shoes on her feet). Finally, the kid will tie the third and final knot around your wrist and tell you to make a last wish (I wish I had more money to give you). Then, the kid will kiss your hand (at least mine did) and will say bless you and tell you to keep the fita on until it falls off naturally and your wishes will all come true. I bought all of her fitas and said a prayer for her. Leave a Comment
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 by acemj
Many of the traditions that the slaves brought with them still persist to this day. The religion of Candomble was brought from West Africa and then blended with Catholicism as slaves got creative while their masters attempted to forced them into practicing Catholicism.
Capoeira, the dancing, kicking, spinning and wildly athletic martial art practiced all over Brazil, but more prevalently in Salvador, is thought to have been brought by slaves from Angola.
And of course, the music in Salvador and all over Brazil is largely influenced by the drum beats and rhythms of African music. Leave a Comment
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 Old house in Salvador da
Bahia by toonsarah
It is normal for this to be served in two-person portions. I was keen to try it, whereas Chris (not fond of fish) was not, but we found a restaurant in Pelorinho where one of the choices was an octopus Moqueca Baiana. This Chris agreed to try, and although it wasn’t his favourite meal of the holiday, it made a tasty lunch washed down with a local beer, and we both enjoyed the friendly atmosphere in the family-run restaurant.
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