Bountiful Bahia

Salvador is black, Salvador is beautiful. It is also the capitol of the state of Bahia. Back when it was the capitol of Brazil it was also the largest center of the slave trade in the new world. The fact that Portugal abandoned Salvador as a capitol may have played a part in the preservation of the culture of the millions of Sub-Saharan Africans who ended up here. That´s just a guess of course but all that is quintessentially Afro-Brazillian can probably be found in Salvador. More specifically it can be found in the Pelourinho. The Pelourinho is the old district in the high part of the city. Pelourinho is Portuguese or pillory which as you know is a stockade or whipping post or some other form of restraining device uses for public flagellation. Lovely no?

Bahian cuisine is found all over Brazil but its difficult to dispute the authenticity of what is to be found in Salvador. Moqueca is a stalwart of any Bahian menu. Moqueca is a fish stew cooked in cocount milk, sweet red peppers, and a palm nut oil known as dende.(Everything is cooked in dende up here.) This is usually served over rice with and some hot chili pepper salsa. It is both divine and inspirational. If you want to go more heart you can always order a bobó which is moqueca that is thickened with manioc gravy. Both of these are served as hot as molten lava in a black earthenware pot. On the street you can find the "Baianas do Acarajé", these are women dressed in all white tradition African dress who sell Acarajé which are fried black-eyed bean cakes which are served with various exotic tasting sauces. Some of the Baianas also sell abará which is fundamentally the same except that it is wrapped in banana leaf and boiled instead of fried. Lastly Carne do Sol is a local specialty which is a dried salted meet. l None of these are ever far from arm´s reach in Salvador and we´re all better for it.

Saturday night I was fortunate enough to witness a Candomble service. Candomble is syncretism. The Yoruba slaves brought Orisha faith with them from Africa. Since both The Catholic church and slave owners on the coffee plantations seemed somewhat "spooked" by the "pagan" religious practices the slaves took it underground by hiding their Orishas or spirits behind Catholic Saints in order to continue to practice their religion without the threat of persecution. An Orisha which is a type of guardian angel is the basic element of Candomble. During a service many parishoners will under go a trance and become possesed by the Orisha. Candomble is an oral tradition with no holy book. The services are led by a Mae/Sae do Santo which is the equivalent of a priest and the momentum of the 4 hour service is led by a contigent of drummers. The service is a fascinating kinetic ritual, as the drums weave ever evlolving polyrhythms the parishoners, dance and chant and support one another. A couple of hours into the cermeony a select few will enter the trance state and begin convulsing and become possesed by the Orisha. Soon after some will disappear to the back and reappear wearing a constume image of the Orisha. The constumed and possesed worshiper will then go into a special dance which is not them but rather the orisha making the movements. This is followed by more dancing and chanting and eventually the intensity winds down. The service usually finishes with a celebratory meal which is taken outside. Fascinating stuff.

Capoeiria is a martial art/dance which was created in Salvador. The origin is likely in a martial art from the old world of the slaves that was turned into a jocular dance in order for the slaves to sustain its practice. It is a martial art and a dance and is highly entertaining. You can find a roda which is a circle of Capoeiristas with the active participants in the middle of the circle in many public places in Salvador. To add to the spectacle the roda de capoeiria is accompanied by music. There are usualy a couple of berimbaus which look like a hunting bow which are played with a wooden stick, then there is a pandeiro which a type of hand drum resembling the tambourine. Sweeping round house kicks, elbow blocks and back flips are exhanged in rapid succession. If you were to combine the violent precision of Bruce Lee with raw energy of break dancing crew you might have a loose approximation of the entertainment value of good Capoeiria.

Besides the crime in the Pelourinho the only other problem is lack of a quality beach. The city is dived in to the Cidade Alta and the Cidada Baixa. In order to shuttle between the two involves taking one of the old Jesuit Elevators. the beaches along the Cidada Baixa are small rocky and slightly polluted. Finding the good beaches involves moving north or south of Salvador which is where I am heading next.


Anyway I have some pics in and around Salvador HERE