TERROIR TO WATCH

from Nespresso Magazine #26 Rio de Janeiro - English edition

by Les Digitalistes

AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY

The New ARTISANS

OF TASTE

ALL AROUND RIO, YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS ARE “REDISCOVERING” THEIR REGION’S NATIVE FOODS. ONE INITIATIVE PROMOTING THESE PRODUCTS IS AN INNOVATIVE MARKET THAT DRAWS FOODIES AWARE OF THE VALUE OF BEING “LOCAVORES” . MEET THESE DEVOTED CRAFTSPERSONS WHO ARE REDEFINING THE INDUSTRY.

THE SPECIES KNOWN AS “Lion’s Paw” hails from the coast of Brazil.

developing interest in locavorism and growing predilection for organic. All that was left to do was to find a place where they could introduce Cariocas to their shellfish.

THE NEW PEARLS OF BRAZIL We’re back in Rio, on the waterfront of the Baía de

THE SEA IS AS SMOOTH AS GLASS, BUT UNDER A Guanabara in the Centro district. Inside the neoclassical HEAVILY OVERCAST SKY. THE ILHA GRANDE (“BIG building of the Casa França-Brasil, things are buzzing. ISLAND”) EMERGES FROM THE HAZE AFTER A TWEN- Fifty producers, including Felipe and his merry band, have TY-MINUTE CROSSING. The steep hills in a thousand gathered for two days to present the new pearls of the shades of green slowly become more distinct. On this grey Brazilian terroir at this novel market called a “Junta Local”. day, the heavenly oasis lying 150 kilometres west off Rio’s A DJ mixes tunes, the ambiance is energetically youthful coast could be taken for the mysterious island of Jules and there are tattoos aplenty. Carioca hipsters mingle with Verne’s novel. The diminutive motor boat speeds headlong baby strollers. Here, you can sample and purchase chili toward the Praia Longa (“Long Beach”). This protected bay, sauces, cheeses, fresh bread, meat and more. You can accessible only by sea, is the island’s smallest. Felipe is also nibble delicious street food with flavours from around here with Bruno, his friend and partner, for a day’s work. the world. The queue to grab a juicy burger is as long as The cutting-edge buildings and electricity of the carioca city the lines in Brooklyn. At one produce stall, the fruits and seem centuries away. The “office” of these young entre- vegetables come from a farm 150 kilometres outside Rio preneurs is a 4m² barge cobbled together with salvaged that has been certified as an “organic farm” for twelve wood, where lanternas (“baskets”) sway as they dry in the years. There are small peaches, cassava, acerola fruit, air. Once the boat’s engine is cut, the men clamber onto petite cherries – that produce a highly prized, tart juice –the structure, anchored ten metres down, and put on their work attire: a neoprene Their “office” is a 4m² bananas, okra, lettuce, fresh herbs… the variety is astounding. Nearby, on wetsuit, flippers. mask, Felipe snorkel and and Bruno barge cobbled together his Charcut ette stand, aria P Pedr as o, qualwith descend into water. Soon the crystal-clear , they bring up with salvaged wood. his shaved head and glasses, is offering dark ••• lanternas filled with scallop shells of all sizes. The shape and burnt-orange colour of these Nodipecten nodosus earn scall ed op them flesh the name “Lion’s paws”. The 20 inside, in a beautiful, shimmering grams white, of is THE ENTREPRENEURIAL of Bernardo, Nuno, Bruno QUARTET and Felipe with a youngdestined to end up in a dish at one of the gourmet restau- guest chef invited to prepare their seafood. rants in Rio or São Paulo. “Our main clients are the bigname restaurants, like Chef Thomas Troisgros’ Olympe, or Aprazíve under Chef Ana Castilho. We’ll also be supplying the Olympic Games this summer. Scallops are an excellent source of protein, better than meat. And I can tell you that tomorrow’s champions will be eating shellfish from Ilha Grande!” Felipe recounts enthusiastically between dives. This Carioca da gema (“pure Carioca”), however, was not destined to become a seafood producer: “I grew up in Rio, but I used to come to the coast on weekends with my family. I studied to become a veterinarian, then worked in a veterinary clinic. I got so bored that I looked for a way to be closer to nature, my true passion. I just can’t work hemmed in by four walls! I asked three of my friends if they’d be interested in starting a business with me farming vieiras (“scallops”). Nuno was studying biology. Bruno, who’d also planned to go into the veterinary profession, had discovered aquaculture while on an internship in Spain. Bernardo was learning management and accounting. So, between the four of us, we bought a fazenda (“farm”) on Ilha Grande.” Their small company is betting on their fellow

THIAGO GOMIDE NASSER, a political science graduate, organises the Junta Local market.

There are already markets in Rio, of course, but they’re not very interesting. The vendors behind the stalls rarely even know what they’re selling.” After that, the evolution was swift: “The first Junta Local was in August 2014, shortly after we got the website up and running. People thought I was crazy. There were only 18 producers. But soon we were attracting the interest of young, educated urbanites who wanted to get back into ‘food culture’. Junta Local is a way to keep that great energy going.”

CULTURAL REVOLUTION Today, Thiago sees new artisans reserving stands who were visitors just yesterday. “Our only selection criterion is that it’s good! As for pricing, we suggest that a percentage of sales be returned to us, but we don’t require anything. It’s up to them to decide. And they do it naturally.” Still, this thirty-something coordinator knows full well that convincing his fellow countrymen will be a long row to hoe. “We have the image of being a fertile, exotic country. And that totally contradicts reality. Brazil has historically been a poor country; the rich imported their goods. And the poor had to settle for local products that actually have had a bad reputation. But we live in exciting times today. At last, people are talking about ‘taste’ in Brazil! It’s a true cultural revolution that’s taking place through food. If you don’t want a country that produces nothing but “Our goal is to offer soy, start by consuming grown here at home. In foods Brazil, old-fashioned you can’t find pork rillett anywhere es that else in good things to eat people often prefer salmon, but salmon doesn’t come from Rio. Weaving between the stands is the organiser, Thiago Gomide and pique curiosity.” our it’s waters. impossi On ble the other to find sa hand, rdines Nasser, keeping the wheels of the event turning smoothly. Thiago Gomide Nasser here, yet waters. they’re plentiful And 200 metr in es our off Boasting a beard, unstructured the Copacabana coast, you haircut and basic t- shirt, he blends right in with the day’s can catch delicious fish!” Outside the Casa França-Brasil visitors. “The idea of the Junta Local is to bring together is the stand belonging to Felipe, Bruno and their comrades producers and artisans to keep middlemen to a minimum, from Vieiras da Ilha Grande. They are offering samples of which keeps costs down. It’s also a chance for these their scallop ceviche – the raw flesh with a little olive oil entrepreneurs to connect and build synergistic relation- and lemon juice, topped with a small, droplet-shaped mild ships. Our goal is to offer good things to eat and pique pepper called a biquinho ( “little beak” in Portuguese). The consumer curiosity. There was just no place to do that in scallop’s sweet flesh is heightened by this delicate red pearl Brazil. Junta Local occupies this space. You can also order that explodes in the mouth. Another Brazilian treasure waiting on the website and pick up your foods onsite,” says the to be discovered. n young man, fluent in three languages. “I’m not from Rio. > For upcoming Junta Local dates and locations in Rio I grew up in Brasília, I was born on the West Coast in the de Janeiro, visit www.juntalocal.com U.S., and I lived in Canada. I came here to complete my Master’s in Political Science. But I wasn’t very happy at the university – I preferred cooking for my friends and relatives.” With his sharp mind and contemporary good looks, Thiago is representative of this switched-on, plugged-in population that is both enterprising and responsible: “My generation is interested in cuisine as a whole. Consumers understand that ‘good taste’ is also a political statement.” Thiago decided to follow his heart. “I wanted to work in the food world, but I didn’t know how. Make it? Talk about it? I started co-hosting speakers’ presentations, but I needed an event as a platform, and the idea of a market was born.