Well, the Brazilian Independence Day Festival in Newark has come and gone. We went both days, and had a hell of our time eating through Ferry Street and braving the crowds.
9/10/2006 NEW: I’ve now updated this post with photos from both days.
9/11/2006 UPDATED: Check out this video I took of the festival (click to view)
Shake it! The Brazilian festival attracts a lot of women that want to get their groove on, and men that like to watch them.
Click on “Read the rest of this entry” below to see a LOT more photos.
All the Ferry Street businesses were doing quite well. This is the main display case at Deliciosa, a popular cafe/bakery.
Acapurrias, big fried croquettes stuffed with beef.
Acapurria cracked open.
Acapurria closeup.
This is a fartura, a kind of Portuguese fried dough (like a Churro or Zeppole) with cinnamon and sugar.
This is the churros and fartura man who parks his truck right outside Seabra’s supermarket.
Need some Brazilian T-Shirts and hats? or Bikinis?
Ferry Street in Newark’s Ironbound is the closest thing you are going to get to New Orleans’ Mardi Gras atmosphere on the East Coast. New York City also has a Brazilian festival the week before, but they don’t allow public consumption of alchohol.
pasteles, Brazilian meat empanada fritters.
A pastel cracked open.
Lechon, roast pig, cooked by Ecuadorans.
Piggy close up.
Grilled corn and Pinchos.
A plate of lechon with cracklins, corn nuts, and snout.
These are other types of empanadas.
Pork Empanada closeup.
Tamales.
Fried Plantains.
Pork and Potato Empanada with corn crust.
Colombians!
More piggy!
Hangar Steak
Hangar Steak Plate with salad.
St. Stephen’s Church, a major Ironbound landmark, was built back in 1874.
Rodizio meat.
More meat.
More meat.
MEAT!!!!
Picanha, Brazilian Tri-Tip.
Coconut water drink.
Or if you want something with a bit more kick…
You can get Pina Coladas too.
And shish kebabs.
Shish closeup.
Mozzarella and sweet corn Arepas.
Arepa closeup.
Tripe Stew
Some kind of Ecuadoran beef dish with corn nuts
And shrimps on a stick.
Shrimps on a Stick closeup
Acaraje, Brazilian Bahia black eyed pea cakes which are deep fried and split open and stuffed with seafood, tomatoes, spicy sauce and a sweet potato mash.
Bahia grandma cooking Acaraje.
Acaraje out of the fryer.
Stuffing the Acaraje with Vatapa, which is made with shrimp and fish.
Acaraje closeup.
Swiss Crepes.
The Swiss Crepe guy.
Fresh Limeade, Orangeade, Lemonade and Fruit Punch.
Served by a nice El Salvadoran lady.
Fruit Punch
One of the many street bars at the festival.
Caipirinhas made by professionals.
Bottles of Velho Barriero Cachaca, a cane sugar firewater used to make Caipirinhas.
Caipirinha.
Yay for public intoxication!
One of the three main stage areas where Samba bands play.
The crowd gettin’ down to some Samba.
Stage hands doing some sound checks.
I LOVE Brazilian food.
This huge plate of food was only six bucks.
These large sausages are a type of blood pudding.
Another type of Tamale.
Cookin up a type of stew.
Stew closeup
The young crowd was getting there just as we were getting ready to go home!
Churros
These were at one of the Puerto Rican concessions.
Puerto Rican Pastels, a type of tamale made with banana leaves.
Time for… you got it.. MORE MEAT!
At 4PM the party is just getting started!
Street Rodizio!
Best buddies. Hey, if you give me some meat, I’ll be your buddy too.
Newark’s finest keeping Law and Order. “Where can we park the horse?”
The Newark Police also brought their Mobile Command Center. I think they just brought it so the cops could go to the bathroom in peace. Hell, I would.
Grillin’ up some fish.
More kebab/pincho porn.
Anyone fancy a kebab?
I do!
Chorizos
Yet another type of tamale.
Some sort of fried beef dish with corn nuts. Them corn nuts were everywhere.
Short Ribs
September 9, 2006 at 10:34 pm
[...] NEW 9/9/2006: Photos of the 2006 festival and VIDEO posted. Click to view. [...]
September 10, 2006 at 5:36 am
The policeman is lucky his horse wasn’t grabbed for some rodizio. All the pig meat and meat photos put me into a coma. All kidding aside I think lots of 3rd world immigrants go overboard on meat when they get here because they were somewhat deprived back home. Where meat took a lot more of their paycheck
September 10, 2006 at 8:51 am
Brazil isn’t a third world country, dennisw. Not even close. It’s a rich, prosperous, modern country with a standard of living, technology, education and culture far in excess of most of the world.
September 10, 2006 at 10:38 am
[...] So if yesterday’s shots and video of the Brazilian Independence Day Festival in Newark haven’t gotten you crazy hungry, you need to check out this insane, over the top hot dog that was being served there: [...]
September 10, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Jon-
Brazil has lots of prosperous people but many Brazilians come here to make a better life for themselves than they ever could in Brazil. This is undeniable. I mean no insult but they are living it up here in ways they couldn’t (afford) in Brazil and that includes more meat. More rich foods. More lavish feasts such as the one you went to
Throughout history peasants have lived it up when the crops were bountiful. Weddings and other gatherings become elaborate and excessive. Le bon temps roule! Many years of abundant harvests lead to too much self satisfaction and at the extreme - Worshiping the Golden Calf
I’m a techno-peasant myself. Just my take
September 11, 2006 at 11:23 am
dennisw,
Brazilians may well come to the US to make a better life for themselves, but excessive meat consumption is certainly no symptom of that. Many parts of Brazil, especially the south, have a traditional diet consisting of enormous quantities of meat, which is not particularly expensive (along with northern argentina, southern brazilian grasslands are where meat farming on an industrial scale originated).
In places such as Porto Alegre the large variety of fruits and vegetables seems to be looked upon with some scorn, suitable for salads at best, and everyone stuffs themselves with enough meat to turn a foreigner vegetarian.
September 11, 2006 at 11:30 am
Brazilians are nuts for their meat. In their home country and abroad.
September 11, 2006 at 7:33 pm
Rishab Ghosh-
I stand corrected.
September 15, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Receipt of Caipirinha
Ingredients
- 1/2 Lemon (1 is better)
- 1 Tablespoon of sugar
- 4-6 cl of Cachaça Gabriela
- Ice Cubes
How to do it
Slice the lemon in two or four pieces. Put the sugar in a glass and squeeze together the lemon pieces with a pestle. Then, add Cachaça Gabriela in the glass and stir it to mix. Add the ice and stir again.
http://www.cachacagabriela.com.br/english
September 28, 2006 at 5:43 pm
[...] We’ve been concentrating a lot on Iberian food in the Ironbound (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) lately, mainly because I’m a huge fan of Portuguese, Spanish (and Brazilian) cuisine, and because the Ironbound itself is vast in terms of restaurants representing those cultures. [...]
January 10, 2007 at 4:29 pm
fabulous! I have to stop and raid the refrigerator as the pictures made me hungry. Excellent coverage of the festival. I will definately go there this year.
May 18, 2007 at 2:01 pm
These photos made me so geleouse. I was born in Aanapolis Goias Brazil in a farm and had the best food you could dream of. Now I leave in the Northwest and can’t find anything related to Brazil, restaraunts, art studios, club, or festivals. I’m moving to Newark :(
June 9, 2007 at 12:30 pm
[...] Come hungry. Just skip a meal. While walking through the crowds, you’ll see funnel cakes, arepas, rodizio, shishkebab, acapurrias, farturas (like a churro or zeppole), pasteles, corn on the cob, rice and vegetable dishes, gyros, fresh fruit, pinchos, empanadas, fried plantains, hangar steak, shrimp, acaraje, fish and sausage. I could go on, but maybe out just want to check out Jason Perlo’s coverage of last year’s similar Brazilian Festival. [...]
June 25, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Acapurria? I always called it kibe.
July 24, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Hi,
Does anyone know if they have sugar cane juice - Garapa - there??
Thanks,
Amanda
September 2, 2007 at 10:04 am
When is the festival in 2007???? I am hungry
January 27, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Southern Brazil is about as Prosperous as Argentina but the North is very poor outside tourist areas.
Most Brazilians coming here today are Southerners and White. They are influenced by many sources of food Iberian, Italian, German, and Lebanese. Basically, they are displaced Europeans whom have fused several European traits together to become Brazilian much like Americans, Canadians, and Argentinians have done.
Texas also has a cattle culture like Brazil & Argentina which enjoys beef and BBQ. Thats why they love meat so much. Italians came a century ago from a nation with little meat because, Southern Italy had a small cattle industry. When they came here meat was cheap and plentiful. So, they bean to use meat in their foods that previously lacked it. This is where you likely get the false perception that immigrants enjoy meat because its relatively cheaper here.
February 29, 2008 at 1:05 am
[...] For in depth food coverage see also: Brazilian Independence Day Celebration in Newark, 2006 [...]
April 10, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I am brazilian woman and live in Canada, please let me know when is the next Annual Brazilian Independence Day Festival.
I want to go!!!
Thanks
May 13, 2008 at 4:55 pm
[...] steak, shrimp, acaraje, fish and sausage. I could go on, but maybe out just want to check out Jason Perlow’s coverage of the 2006 Brazilian Festival (which is a similar festival). Public consumption of alcohol is legal here, so enjoy your meal with [...]