The second most famous food Pará

Tacacá is a paraense food. It is one of the signature dishes from Pará in the North of Brazil. It is prepared with a thin, well-seasoned broth, and  is served very hot in bowls. It´s main ingredients are shrimp, tucupi, gum (derivative of cassava) and jambu.

People do not eat or drink tacacá – instead they lift the bowl to their lips, sip in small amounts tucupi mixed with gum. They also use a small wood stick  to eat the shrimp and jambu.

People usualyl consume tacacá in the late afternoon, on the streets, in tacacazeiras (sellers of tacacá). It is not common to serve tacacá as a dish in main meals. 

Maniçoba

Maniçoba

by Anne Caroline

Maniçoba is a typical dish of Para, its origin is Indian and African. Its prepared ​​from the leaves of cassava pounded and boiled for about a week (to deprive the plant of hydrogen cyanide, which is poisonous), plus pork, beef and other smoked and savory ingredients.

Maniçoba is served with  white rice, cassava flour and peppered to taste. Traditionally, Maniçoba, is one of the main dishes in celebration of the Círio de Nazaré. In Belém, you can enjoy this delicious food in the restaurant Maia which is located on the edge of the neighborhood Icoaraci.

Mangal das Garças

Mangal das Garças

The Mangal das Garças is one of the most beautiful sights in Pará and charms everyone, especially those who like to be in touch with nature. This ecological park is located on the Guama River in the historical center of Belém do Pará and can be considered a small sample of the extensive diversity Amazon. Among the many attractions we can mention:

• The Museum Browsing Amazon.

• Custard the Swan, one of the best restaurants in the capital.

•  Nursery Anhingas of the Birds, where visitors have direct contact with an impressive number of birds

• The hatchery and nursery plants

It's worth checking out!

Caio.

The Neighborhood of São Braz

Bairro São Braz

Mercado Sao Braz

Govenor´s Mansion

Museu Emilo Goeldi

   

Water Tower outside Mercado São Braz

Sao Braz a lively neighborhood located in the center of Belem. It is famous for it´s historical Market, The Museu Emillio Goeldi, and the beautiful Governor´s Mansion built in the 1800´s during the time of Governor Magalhes Barata. The main avenue, named after Governor Barata, is very noisy and full of different stores. There are a few bakeries, an electronic store, a couple of stationary stores, tons of restaurants, and even a hospital. Sao Braz also has a handful of supermarkets; Yamada Plaza and Lider. It is also home to the Japanese-Brazilian Culture Association which offers language class, hosts cultural events, and provides workshops on dance, drumming, and origami.

Patrick

Japanese-Brazilian Association

Japanese Presence In Belém

There is large ammount of Japanese ex-patriots (nikei) in Belém. There is even a Japanese-Brazilian Cultural Association in Belém. APANB (Associação Pan-Amazônia Nipo-Brasileira) is on 14 de Abril in between Jose Malcher and Magahlés Barata, very close to Yamada Plazz. The association offers Japanese language classes, a Japanese language library,  Japanese Drum (taiko) workshops, dance lessons, origami, lesson, and many more opportunities to learn about Japanese culture. IT is great to see how the Japanese nikei have intergrated into Belém while at the same time maintaining their own culture and identity.

Here are two kanjis that are read from right to left AI (love) and GO (language). It can therefore be read as, "love for language".

These are some very intricate examples of orgiami made at APANB. If you would like some more information about the asscoication please check out their webpage - http://apanb.org.br/blog/

Patrick

Um Tóró!!!

Being in the Amazon, Belém has a tropical rainforest climate and it rains all 12 months of the year here; in fact the city has no true dry season. There is even a joke amongst the people of Belém: “No inverno chove o dia entero. No verão todos os dias chove.” (In the winter it rains all day. It the summer it rains every day.) Consequently, there are a variety of words for different kinds of rain. A very Paraense word (word from the state of Pará) is um tóró - a very heavy rain. In my experience these torós happen very suddenly and without warning. Here you can see a small river that formed after only a few minutes of rain!

Patrick