International cooking Demonstration: Brazilian Cooking Demo
2016.05.25

The Brazilian Cooking Demonstration
by Dr. Shirley Carvalhêdo Franco

The yellow and green colors and a profusion of flavors and magic smells invaded the 2nd floor banquet at The Far Eastern Plaza Hotel,Shangri-La Ballroom on the 25th of May 2016. This memorable day was the Brazilian Cooking Demonstration organized by Welcome to Taipei International Club.

The venue was graced with the presence of many elegant ladies, admirers of exciting gastronomical experiences: her Excellency Jasmine Huggins, Ambassador of St. Kitts and Nevis; Mrs. Norma Bobadilla, Ambassadress of Paraguay; Mrs. Hana Manaa, spouse of the Saudia Arabian Representative; and many other spouses of Representatives to Taipei. Among the special participants were Tom and Jobim -- the mascots of the Olympic Games which this year were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Mrs. Shirley Franco, spouse of the Director of Commercial Office of Brazil (Mr. Fábio Franco), was the host of this event which had the objective to promote Brazilian cuisine, demonstrating that Brazil is a tropical paradise full of delicious fresh fruits, vegetables, roots, meats, spices, and smells. Mrs. Franco explained that due to its giant dimensions, from the North to the South, in the Terras Brasilis, it is possible to find thousands of traditional dishes and gastronomical experiences and diversity of cultural styles. Actually, there are many other national dishes, besides the famous feijoada; and samba, in turn, is only one of the many Brazilian dance styles.

Surprising the audience, Mrs. Franco opened the event speaking in Mandarin while Mrs. Chou Lee, Jye translated her speech into English. Thereafter, Mrs. Franco broke new ground regarding cooking demonstration shows: rather than merely demonstrating how to prepare the dishes, she actually performed a theatrical play along with three other friends -- Mrs. Gisela Melo, Mrs. Mônica Pelizzaro and Mrs. Violet Chang (her laoshi), who translated the play to Mandarin. In a relaxed atmosphere, they demonstrated how to prepare caipirinha, a delicious fresh drink with lime and cachaça; cheese bread; moqueca (Brazilian stewed fish) and picadinho (Brazilian chopped beef), while they danced and interacted with the participants, distributing drinks like the Brazilian soft drink guaraná, made with seeds of a plant from the Amazon.

As a grand finale, Mrs. Franco performed a song together with some components from the Tone Sound Band, Mr. Piki on the drums and Mr. Steve on the guitar, and Mr. Reinaldo(owner of Samba Pizza, the only Brazilian restaurant in Taipei) on the tamborine. They put on a great Brazilian music show playing some famous samba and bossa nova songs while Mrs. Gisela and Mrs. Mônica taught the audience how to dance samba and frevo.