São Paulo – The Brazilian chefs Paulo Machado and Felipe Ribenboim are teaching master classes in Brazilian cuisine to students at the Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik (Usek), in Lebanon, in early December. They were invited by the university and will teach lessons to students from a baccalaureate course in Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy about the foods cooked in different regions in Brazil. The classes will be taught from December 1st to 9th.
According to chef Machado, a map of Brazil will be shown and the predominant culinary influences in each region will be discussed. Afterwards, the specialists will teach hands-on classes on how to cook dishes such as feijoada, barreado, a typical beef-based dish from Brazil’s Paraná state, carreteiro, from the Pantanal wetlands, and shrimp bobó, from the state of Bahia. Upon completion, Machado and Ribenboim will cook a luncheon to guests.
The Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy course is offered by the Usek’s Faculty of Business and Commercial Sciences in partnership with Le Cordon Bleu, the Paris-based international cuisine school network.
Chef Machado owns an institute named after himself whose object is precisely to promote Brazilian cuisine around the world. Early this year, he took part in the Brazilian Food Festival in Beirut, where he met Roberto Khatlab, the director of Usek’s Latin American Studies and Cultures Center (Cecal), which works for knowledge exchange between Lebanon and Latin America.
The Brazilian chef was introduced to the dean of Usek, realized that the university had the necessary infrastructure, offered the course and the offer was accepted. In their trip to Lebanon, in addition to teaching classes to Usek students, the Brazilian chefs will administer a workshop at the Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Centre on December 4th. The workshop will come at a cost and Machado will teach how to cook
The Brazilian chef was introduced to the dean of Usek, realized that the university had the necessary infrastructure, offered the course and the offer was accepted. In their trip to Lebanon, in addition to teaching classes to Usek students, the Brazilian chefs will administer a workshop at the Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Centre on December 4th. The workshop will come at a cost and Machado will teach how to cook sertanejo (country) foods and chef Ribenboim will focus on foods from the Brazilian coastline.
“Latin America boasts a rich gastronomic heritage. We plan on discussing the history of Latin American foods and cuisine as gastronomic and tourism products, providing students with new knowledge and experiences. We are beginning by introducing Brazilian cuisine,” Khatlab told ANBA. According to him, international cuisine is offered in Lebanon. “We are working for Brazilian cuisine to become a part of daily life in Lebanon and served at restaurants. Typical Brazilian foods are already on the tables of the ‘Brazilebanese’ living in Lebanon and a recently opened Brazilian restaurant in Beirut, Lisas, offers feijoada, picanha, coxinha, empadinha,” says Khatlab.
Chef Paulo Machado was born in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. The holder of a degree in Law and a PhD in Environmental Law, he also has a background in cinema and decided to dedicate himself to cuisine, his great passion. His namesake institute focuses on teaching cuisine, offering courses in Brazil and abroad. It has taught over eight courses in foreign countries in 2013, and approximately four this year.
Instituto Paulo Machado owns a farm in Campo Grande which it opens to the public on some occasions throughout the year. Machado also plans on setting up a centre to teach the local countryside cuisine to students at the farm. Machado explains that he had several experiences with Arab cuisine in his city of birth, which had a strong influx of Arab immigrants. One of his aunts married a Lebanes man, and on Saturday mornings he used to visit their home and eat Arab bread and dry curd, among other Lebanese delicacies.
Workshop on Brazilian Cuisine
With chefs Paulo Machado & Felipe Ribenboim
December 6th, 12:00 am to 2:00 pm (country food) and 3:00 am to 5:00 pm (coastal food)
Price: US$ 10 (per workshop)
Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Centre
Registration: brasiliban@itamaraty.gov.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
