Regional Identity Expressed Through Rio's Gastronomy
A common juice place in Rio which can be found in many corners of the marvelous city.
"When experiencing new local cuisines, we are also experiencing a new culture."-Hjalager 38

One of my favorite things to do in a new country is to try its cuisine and specially local cuisine. Born and raised in Colombia, I have experience first hand that flavor change and even though a dish may look similar in the US my tastes buds will know that something is missing. Dishes may be copied but not flavor and neither the culture behind eating the dish. Whether a dish is made to be share with family or whether it has an emotional link, people must experienced it in the homeland because gastronomy is not only food it is culture. Food reflects the sophistication and complexity of a society and that is why Gastronomy is considered part of an intangible heritage.

According to the scholar article Tourism and Gastronomy by Hjalager 37-43, whose research used the Maslow's hierarchy of needs to relate the motivational needs and social components where food present a key role. Stating that food is experience through sight, taste and smell and pointing out that building a strong identity in an increasingly look-alike world, food with a strong national and regional identity can become a vehicle to achieving uniqueness.
Trying different types of feijoãda from restaurants
to homemade, but the best feijoãda was made at
 Dr. Vianna's house.

UNESCO recognized that culinary traditions are a cultural expression as fundamental to identity and worthy of recognition as dance, theatre, or music. 

Rio's gastronomy is rich in spices, strong flavors, rice and feijoãda, national dish of black beans and pork stew. Also, the variety of delight cakes, jellies, fruits, breads, and snacks such as Pão de queijo a popular snack made from yucca flour, cheese and eggs made the culinary in Brazil unique.

Food is indeed an important part of Rio's culture and the most authentic way to eat it is sitting down and sharing meals on the table with family and friends. In contrast to the US which lifestyle lead to eat out often. Cariocas still has the communal dinning as norm. The notion of making home made food and sharing it with the family or friends in a table has become the building of social relations and strengthen social bonds which created a sense of community in Rio. 

"Sociologist have therefore argued that the meal in domestic life can articulate not only the identity of the 'family' and 'the home' but also gender roles, identities and power relations between different members of the household."- Bell and Valentine (1997:75)
Eating in the table with the crew
Informal Vendors on the beach of Copacabana (Image from Gettyimages)
RESTAURANTS AND THE INFORMAL

Being in Rio for two weeks, I noticed that there was a lot of per kilo buffet restaurants. The restaurant charge a person depending on the weight of the dish. It is really common to find because these restaurants are in every corner of Rio. The payment system of these restaurants are pretty similar which consist on a paper given in the entrance which will be use to write the price. The paper will be stamp when ones pay and must be given to the the waitress at exit. 

In Rio particularly you can find a lot of kiosk and informal vendors selling on the beach ceviche, grilled shrimp, coconut water and Caipirinhas; to establishments selling salgados, and açaí, a sweet thick purple juice made from the Açaí berry.
Popular salgados
According to Richards, gastronomy is changing perceptions of the nature of cultural heritage. Over the years cultural heritage has been link to the physical remains of culture represented by museums and monuments. However, recent views have included a broader vision of cultural heritage which also include the living culture.

The food in the marvelous city has a story to tell, a history to present and contributes to the economy and employment of the city. Rio's gastronomy contributed to a strong image with the attractiveness formed exclusive to the region. We are what we eat and gastronomy in Rio is as important as any museum and represents and expresses the identity of the region.
For more Information:
The Role of Gastronomy in Tourism Development/Greg Richards/ Tilburg University/ November 2014
Tourism and Gastronomy/ Anne-Mette Hjalager, Department of Leisure Studies Greg Richards, Greg Richards/ August 2003
The Ultimate Brazilian Food Guide/Gareth/ August 2014

Notes:
"Salgados" is fried or baked snacks filled with chicken, meat, ham or cheese. Salgados can be find anywhere in Brazil from restaurants to street vendors.
"Carioca" a native of Rio de Janeiro.

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A Message to the World with Striking Colors (The Art of the Streets)
Art at the Institute of Social science and Politics (IESP) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
The first thing that come in my mind after been in Rio is art. Art is everywhere in Rio from the first cab ride to tunnels, public spaces, parks, universities, highways, dilapidated houses, hospitals, and tourist places. Indeed art is in every nook and cranny of Rio from the favelas to the upper class neighborhoods, no one can escaped from it.

The art in Rio is not self gain or egocentric which is common to see in cities in the US in contrast, express social concern, political criticism or a economic statement. This method of expression has become an important way to educate and provide the youth with an alternative to decrease violence and crime and by bringing optimism and peace to the residents, children, and visitors. 

"Street art here is no amateur work — it is bold, artistic, and expressive, and anything but graffiti."-Nellie Huang, Grad Adventures-

"If we do not mobilize his death will be worthless."-Mural in the Universidade do Brasil
In many cities, graffiti is considered vandalism and related to decay and outlawed in communities. Graffiti emergence in Brazil because of the movement of the hip hop culture in the mid 1980s, but not until 1990s is when graffiti started to get some sort of recognition. The 1990s raised to fame two of the most influential graffiti artists today the Os Gêmeos brothers who combined influences from hip hop and Brazilian folk culture in their street art. Finally in March 2009, Brazilian government passed legislation 706/07  which legalized street art.
Letter sculpture for the Olympics in Praca Maua, Rio. (Photo by TripAdvisor)
The first humans embedded petroglyphs in cave walls. Graffiti is a genetic human nature. 

 In Brazil street art has taken different forms and shapes—from simple tags of identity, political context, to high end graffiti which everyone would appreciated. Certainly there is a sense of ownership to being able to put one's tag in a wall. 

There is two different type of tagging in Brazil, Grafite and Pichação. The later pichação is a distinctive, cryptic style, mainly on walls and vacant buildings. Artists often compete to tag in the most dangerous, illegal, and remote locations. The most famous pichação was made by Os Diferentes, who tagged the famously statue of Christ the Redeemer in 2010. Pichação has lost it initial role as an artsy way to promote political ideals, but still a social statement. It is a very easy way to promote opinions and a person just need spray paint. Also, Pichação became an inspiration to the influential Brazilian street artists Os Gêmeos and Nunca.
“I’ve always paid a great deal of attention to what happens on walls. When I was young, I often even copied graffiti.” --Picasso (Irvin)

The head of the Christ the Redeemer statue, graffiti with sentences about the violence and unsolved crimes.- NY Daily News

Pixação in Sao Paolo world cup 2014
Pixação in the streets of Sao Paolo- Photo by Widewalls

ART IN THE FAVELAS

 Art has also manifest as a sort of social change specially in the favelas. An example of it is Favela Art, a small booth outside Palmeira Station in the favela Complexo de Alemão. Favela Art away to promote the creativity of Complexo de Alemão. The project was created by social entrepreneur Mariluce de Souza a resident of Complexo de Alemão. The booth sells "the art of the favelas" and raised funds to buy materials and continue its project to paint Complexo de Alemão with striking colors.


After purchased a paint one is able to sign a book which will be show to the kids that painted the canvases

Also other organizations such as Institute Raizes em Movimiento or Haas&Hahn Favela Painting have also taken the lead on beautifying the favelas. The favelas has became a canvas telling an story and the art has become a vehicle for political expression and social change. 

Institute Raizes Em Movimiento Headquarters in Complexo de Alemao
Dr. Vianna translating the art in the walls in the oldest neighborhood in Rio

 Striking colors surround the marvelous city of Rio de Janeiro. The art is vivid because is like bandages applied to a hurt city trying to express itself with a can of paint and not triggering a gun. Art is power, but I will not excused artist who has manifested an abuse of it abolishing the idea of property by using buildings as tools of expression.

Street art in Brazil is a powerful tool to counteract the arbitrariness of power. The murals in Rio will never stop talking because the people in Rio are recording and documenting history in their walls, tunnels, public spaces, parks, universities, highways, dilapidated houses, hospitals, and tourist places.

For more Information:
The Work on the Street: Street Art and Visual Culture/Martin Irvine/ Georgetown Univesity/The Handbook of Visual Culture/ 1st ed
The Legalization Of Street Art In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil /Michelle Young/ Huffington Post / May 2012
Rio's thriving art scene surrounds World Cup/Elaine Quijano/ CBS News / July 2014
Favela Painting/Haas & Hahn/ Website



Notes:

"Favela" is a term used by non-residents. The favela dwellers call it "community".


Portuguese:





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The Hidden City in Rio de Janeiro (a City Within a City)
An image of Complexo de Alemao from the gondola lift
It is not until I was able to step into a favela that I understand why many textbooks refers to it as a crowded and dense community. Exactly seven days after I arrived, I visited a Favela, and not any favela, the most dangerous favela in Rio de Janeiro—Morro de Alemão.

This blogpost is about the day I spent in a favela with the help of professor Vianna's colleague and her graduated student from the Universidade Do Brazil who served as guides to a trip in a community with an estimated population of 70,000* which is far from reality since this community is way bigger.
A failed replica of the Medellin gondola lift system and a community that feel hidden.
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These photos have been taken in different places around New York City by Katherine Gutierrez. It shows the beauty of the mother nature and how wonderful, refreshing different shoot to shoot becomes. Wonderful places that this wonderful planet provides.

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