A gateway to the Amazon, the lively port city is an emerging powerhouse of Brazilian culinary culture
“In São Paulo, people had no idea about our food — they didn’t value it,” says Thiago Castanho. “They joked that we rode alligators. But things are changing.” The owner of Remanso do Peixe, a restaurant on a quiet street in the heart of Belém — 1,900 miles north of São Paulo — Thiago has become a key figure in the Amazonian city’s rise to culinary prominence.
His daughter, Joanna, continues his legacy with Manioca, a company with a line of Amazonian products — including some made with cassava, the Amazon root vegetable also known as yuca or manioc, from which the outfit derives its name. When Manioca launched back in 2014, products from the Amazon were rarely seen outside the region — they’re now found across the country.
Settled in 1616 by the Portuguese — on the site of an existing Indigenous settlement — Belém is a gateway to the Amazon; the region’s biggest city, Manaus lies around 800 miles upriver. For much of its history, Belém was fabulously rich, a port where goods arrived from the jungle to be shipped to Europe. During its rubber-exporting heyday, in the late 19th century, it’s said wealthy residents sent their clothes to Parisian launderettes.
We’ve come to see Dona Carmelita, who sells all sorts of native fruits, many of which, she tells me, are increasingly hard to find in a rapidly globalising city. There’s, meanwhile, has a sour, gummy pulp whose taste has hints of lemon and lime. reminds me of honey. Later, over a creamy cocoa fruit juice, Medici tells me Dona Carmelita is “part of our city’s heritage”, keeping traditions alive.
“Our cuisine is very interesting — completely different from that of other states in Brazil,” Marina tells me, as she urges me to try caruru and vatapá. Both African in origin with native touches, the former is a paste consisting of okra, shrimps, nuts and palm oil; the latter a prawn, pepper and onion puree. I also try an unha, a croquette made with crab, tomato, onion and coriander, with a claw charmingly poking out.
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