Obrigado Brazil
Guava paste gives traditional shortbread cookies a South American twist
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/12/2020 (2086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It’s summer in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, and today’s high is 28 C. Snow is a rare sight in Brazil, even in June and July, South America’s cold months.
Other than that, Christmas is pretty much the same as in Canada. Especially the family gatherings and the abundance of food, says Patricia Amaral, who, along with her husband Daniel, moved to Winnipeg in August 2017.
“It’s pretty hot, and it’s sort of weird but the kind of food we have at Christmas is a lot like Thanksgiving here,” Amaral says. “We always have turkey. We have a dish called farofa, it’s very Brazilian, that I could compare to stuffing here in Canada on Thanksgiving. It’s made with some vegetables, bacon, sausage and cassava flour.”
Rice, salad with tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers, as well as other vegetable dishes — one advantage of having Christmas in summer is the abundance of fresh produce — complete the typical Brazilian Christmas spread, she says.
“(There are) tons and tons of desserts and another thing very usual in Brazil because it’s so warm is that we have a fruit table,” Amaral says. “Usually at this time of year it’s mangos, two or three kinds of grapes, watermelon.”
During previous Christmases in Winnipeg, the Amarals celebrated with other Brazilian families. This year, of course, it will be just the two of them to mark the occasion.
Amaral is eight months pregnant with her first child and is due Jan. 18, so the couple are excited about a late Christmas gift.
“We are trying to keep things simple with this pandemic situation, also because I’m in my third trimester. Almost time to deliver the baby,” she says.
Amaral enjoys baking, and one of her Brazilian specialties is rabanada, which is similar to french toast, she says.
For Day 8 of the Free Press’s 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, she shares a recipe that puts a tropical spin on shortbread, a cookie common in Winnipeg households at this time of year.
“We don’t have shortbread in Brazil,” she says with a chuckle. “It’s a Canadian recipe but I try to bring some Brazilian touch with guava paste.”
Guava is a fruit common to South America, Central America and Brazil and guava paste spreads like jam — a common flavouring agent for shortbread in Canada — and has a similar sweetness.
alan.small@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter:@AlanDSmall
Alan Small
Reporter
Alan Small was a journalist at the Free Press for more than 22 years in a variety of roles, the last being a reporter in the Arts and Life section.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Shortbread Cookies with Guava Paste
250 ml (1 cup) butter, softened
375 ml (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
125 ml (½ cup) confectioners’ sugar
60 ml (¼ cup) guava paste in small squares
Preheat oven to 175 C (350 F).
In a large bowl, combine butter, flour, and confectioners sugar. With an electric mixer, beat for 10 minutes, until light and fluffy. Spoon onto cookie sheets, spacing cookies 5 cm (2 inches) apart. Place a piece of guava paste onto the middle of each cookie.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned. Remove from oven, and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies on to wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container, separating each layer with waxed paper.
Alan Small
Reporter
Alan Small was a journalist at the Free Press for more than 22 years in a variety of roles, the last being a reporter in the Arts and Life section.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Related Articles
Sweet treat journey wraps up at cookie café Fibre-filled walnut and flax cookies offer all the joy, little of the guilt
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us
