Title: Brazilian Ambassadress

Date: 12/3/2009

Interviewer: Mitra Yazdchi

Text: Food translates a country's soul, its history, its traditions

Brazil became in olive food festival and sucsesfull bringe gold medal denn sanaz sania disided in an "interview with Brazilian Ambassadress", Ms. Teresa Salgado " Know about iranian food. This is our " interview.

What are your thoughts on the recently held International Olive Food Festival?
I think that the International Olive Food Festival is a very good initiative. It is an occasion for Iranians to get in touch with other cultures through their cuisine. Food is not only for nourishing, but it also translates a country's soul, its history, its traditions.

How do you chracterize the Brazilian cuisine?
Brazilian cuisine is very rich and tasteful and reflects the several influences we received from different peoples. Brazil is a 'new' country, compared do Iran/Ancient Persia: we are only 500 hundred years old. Brazil was discovered and colonized by Portuguese. When they arrived, the population of Brazil was composed of indigenous peoples, the Indians. They lived very much on fish and vegetables and fruits. Later, came the African slaves, to work at the sugar plantations and they enriched very much Brazilian cuisine with the use of different meats and spices. In the early 20th century, lots of different immigrants came to our country: Italians, Japanese, Germans, Armenians, Syrians, Lebanese. Therefore, Brazil is, nowadays, a melting pot of different cultures, as well as of different cuisines, which makes our food so interesting and savoury. And we are using each time more ingredients which are typical of Brazil, including fruits mixed with salted dishes, in a very delicate and sophisticated composition.

You have been staying in Iran just for a short time. How do you describe the Iranian cookery however?
Our first contact with Iranian food was still in Braxilia: a Brazilian diplomat, married to an Iranian, invited us for dinner. Her husband cooked us the most tasteful and healthy dinner: ash-e-reshte, cutlets, youurt and cucumber, salad. Both my husband and I immediately realized how delicious Iranian food is. Besides being delicious and tasty, it is also very healthy and not at all heavy. Iranian sweets are very delicate and not too sweet. We love fesenjun, dizi, kufte, ashe-e-reshte; all the salads, yogurt, which is so wonderful, and so many other tastes yet to be discovered …

Are you interested to offer a Brazilian cookery course ?
Of course we would be pleased to offer a Brazilian cookery course, provided we have time-which unfortunately is very restricted right now. Also, some of the ingredients for Brazilian food cannot be found in Iran.

What is your opinion on cookery courses in Brazil?
Brazil has been offering cookery courses for a long time, not only as a hobby, but each time more, as a professional career. Presently, we have several universities offering a complete gastronomy degree. Some of these universities are related to European cookery Institutes and/or schools. The students will have a most complete course, with studies related to nutrition, chemistry, administration, besides the cooking itself.

How interested are Brazilians in these courses?
Very much interested. Even the simple classes offered as a hobby are always full and it is sometimes difficult to find a place in these courses. Some of them are administered by well known chefs.
How do Brazilians like other cuisines? Are they preferred to local dishes?
Brazilian are very curious of ther cultures and cuisine. Therefore, they are always interested in tasting other countries' food. It is not a matter of preferring other cuisines better: it is a simple question of eating different dishes in different occasions.

How well are you aware of the Iranian cook books? Your opinion?
The only Iranian cook books I know yet are the ones of Mrs. Najmeh Batmanghlich: New Food of Life-Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies and Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey. They are wonderful books: the recipes are very well explained and illustrated as well. I haven't had any contact with books published here, except for Sanaz Sanya cooking magazine, which comes both in Farsi and English.