São Paulo – The name of the dish is Harira. It includes lentils, chickpea, rice, vegetables, coriander and lemon. The name of the other dish is Lamb Chrobah, and it is made from lamb meat, vegetables, vermicelli and spices. The first is a recipe from Morocco, the second from Algeria, and both are featured in the Stew Festival of restaurant Oliva, in the capital of the state of São Paulo. The establishment will promote, until the end of this month, a festival of stews from the Mediterranean featuring dishes from the two Arab countries, as well as from Greece, Italy and Spain.
The restaurant’s chef, Julio Medeiros, who is also the owner, explains that the recipes undergo certain adaptations to please the taste of the public in São Paulo. In Morocco itself, for instance, a dish such as the Harira varies from one region to another. Medeiros chose to cook it without meat, even though the dish may contain the ingredient. “I wanted to offer a vegetarian option,” he explains. The chef has never been to the Mediterranean countries in Africa, only to those in Europe, and cooks the dishes based on research work. “But I would really like to get to know them,” he says, referring to the African nations bathed by the Mediterranean Sea.
The stews in the festival are served at night, for dinner. Aside from the Harira and the Lamb Chrobah, the menu for the event includes Andrajos de Jaén, a Spanish recipe made of rabbit meat, mushrooms, vegetables and fresh pasta, Kreatosoupa, a Greek dish made of beef and vegetables, and Burrida, an Italian recipe that includes whiting fish, squid, mussel, octopus tentacles, baby clams and red spotted shrimps. The price of the dishes ranges from 32 to 38 Brazilian reals (US$ 17 to US$ 20).
The Oliva restaurant, located in the Brooklin neighbourhood of São Paulo, specializes in Mediterranean cuisine and uses olive oil as a staple of its dishes. The establishment has 40 different brands of olive oil, some of them from Arab countries such as Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon. The restaurant regularly promotes olive oil festivals, during which dishes are offered containing oils from different parts of the world. The next festival will be held in November, according to Medeiros. Usually, a recipe from the country where the oil originated is offered. The product is used from the entrée to the main course and the dessert.
Chef Medeiros usually adds the dishes that are most successful during the festivals to the Oliva’s menu. Everything has a Mediterranean touch. There are the risottos, which are traditional in the countries bathed by the Sea. Medeiros underscores that the Arabs themselves influenced the Spanish to use rice. There are also the fish-based dishes. The options range from Whiting Fish and Sherry to Scrambled Eggs, both of which originated from Andalusia.
Julio Medeiros is a partner at the restaurant, alongside Rodolfo Dias. They both studied Cuisine at the Anhembi Morumbi University. Medeiros, however, dedicates himself full-time to the establishment, whereas Dias also owns a pasta factory. Medeiros is a native of the state of Minas Gerais, and has lived in São Paulo since 1988. He also holds a degree in Advertising, a field in which he worked for 15 years, but quit to dedicate himself to cuisine.
The option for Mediterranean food was made due to the possibility of working with olive oil, which Medeiros describes as a “wonderful” ingredient. “And we are not stuck with one single country. We can take a tour of the cuisines of several countries,” he explains.
Service:
Oliva Restaurant
Address: Avenida Nova Independência, 98 – Brooklin – SP
Telephone: (+55 11) 5505 4755
Website: www.olivarestaurante.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
