Eating Pastel

Eating Pastel Food is the number one thing most people think about, and especially in Brazil has its typical flavors and the dishes are prepared from regional ingredients. I have always loved to eat and try new foods so I created the habit of cooking when I started to live on my own and buying groceries became a daily routine. In Brazil, the variety of fruit, vegetable and meat is amazing, but buying from grocery store is not the best option since is expensive and not always fresh, so people often prefer to buy groceries at farmers markets. The purpose of going to farmers markets are not only to buy groceries but also because it became sort of a way of life for most Brazilians. Farmers markets in Brazil are huge. They can occupy many blocks, and there are booths selling from all sorts of fruits, vegetables to clothes, random kitchen utensils and even books. The amazing part is that people also can spend many hours there without getting bored. There is so much to do such as trying exotic fruits, learning about the variety of vegetables with the vendors or just wandering around the market. Everyone is so friendly. After buying my groceries, I would always stop in a booth to eat one or two Pastels, which is a deep fried pastry filled with all sorts of fillings such as meats, cheese, fish and vegetables. Pastel is definitely one of the most traditional snacks in Brazil and probably one of my favorites! I miss the excitement of the vendors trying to sell their products, the lack of space to walk inside the markets and even the strong smell of meats mixed with the sweet smell of the fruits. As soon I moved to Chicago, I kind of felt an emptiness inside me because I came from a tropical country, and since this city is cold most of the time, looking for places like farmers markets has become a very difficult task. I always found farmers markets were not important back in my country because I thought it was something common and that it was the same or similar to the rest of the world but now I realized how much they impacted my social behavior and my way of living. I used to meet my friends at least two to three times a week just to see each other and eat Pastel. One of my favorite hobbies was without a doubt spending my afternoons in the farmers market with my friends or by myself, so I started to feel a little bit depressed not be able to do that anymore. It took me a while to get used to the idea of not having a place similar to buy my groceries, to meet my friends or just for enjoy a moment of relaxation in Chicago. The farmers markets here only sell the basics. There is not much to do, see or to grab a bite, so is not convenient at all and because of that I started to cook less and started to get discouraged. Of course, I should not compare them since the cultures are totally different from one another. For instance, the weather in Brazil is usually hot so people could spend more time outdoors enjoying through the markets all year. There is also the fact that does not have the same atmosphere, the smell of the food, the smell of exotic condiments and the meat pieces hanging on the hooks to be sold. It is completely different from here. In Chicago, the cold weather does not help at all, so you will not find that much of outdoor farmers markets that often with the same variety of products. I know that in summer the amount of markets increases but still not the same and the fact that it is not a cultural thing for Chicagoans, many would buy their groceries in super markets or groceries stores instead, probably because it is more convenient and cheap. Since I miss my habits that I had in Brazil, I wish I could be able to insert more of the lively Brazilian culture into Chicago, mainly in the Chicagoan farmers market culture, it should not seasonal. They could have more food, fruits, meat and seafood booths, and even clothes or books booths. The fact of buying groceries in supermarket or grocery store now is disappointing, and I am still trying to adapt this in my daily routine, it has been difficult, but what keeps me going on is the fact that I keep looking for new ways to adapt myself, and maybe someday I can change this culture scenario in Chicago and of course eat tons of Pastel.