A Taste of Rio

Weston Magazine, Summer 2007

Reprinted from Weston Magazine

Chef Leticia Schwartz has worked at some of New York's most celebrated restaurants: Le Cirque 2000, La Caravelle, La Grenouille and Payard Patiserrie and Bistro. Today, Chef Leticia is a Weston mom of two and teaches Brazilian cooking from her state-of-the-art home demo kitchen.

Join her on a culinary journey to experience the flavors of Brazil. "When visiting Brazil, going to the market is my favorite pastime. I always get inspired to create new dishes using the fresh ingredients at the market. I love the Ipanema market, a place where you can find more than 40 varieties of fruit, including Capuacu (a tropical rainforest fruit) and Palmito Pupunha, (a special kind of hearts of palm) both grown in the Amazon. Many of these fruits can be found in concentrated and frozen version at Coelho, a Brazilian market located in Bridgeport or other Brazilian stores in the area.

Cachaca, a white distilled alcohol made from fermented sugar cane juice is available in most liquor stores. My favorite brands are Leblon, Beleza Pura and Agua Luca. They cost between $25- $40 a bottle. And, there are always less expensive brands like Pitu - the best seller in Brazil - costing $11- $15 a bottle."

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