Fruit at a feira
Ir a feira, going to the street market, in Brazil is a stroll that intensifies all your sense perceptions.
A visão, sight: the beautiful rows of frutas, fruit, verduras, vegetables, peixe, fish, and flores, flowers;
A audição, hearing: o barulho dos vendedores, the din of the merchants announcing their wares at the top of their voices while also teasing the passersby;
O olfato, smell: o aroma dos produtos frescos, the fragrance from the produce as you go by each of the stands;
O paladar, taste: quando feirantes oferecem pedaços de frutas para provar, when vendors offer pieces of fruit to try-lots of people have breakfast while they shop!
O tato, touch: ao tocar os produtos para saber se estão verdes ou maduros, touching the produce to check if they’re green or ripe.
Feiras occur on the same street on a specific day each week, usually in the morning from 7 a.m. to about 1 p.m. They can be short, about four street blocks, or long, over ten street blocks. These popular markets sell just about everything: fresh produce eletrodomésticos, home appliances, plantas, potted plants, roupas, clothing, sapatos, shoes and produtos para hygiene e limpeza, items for hygiene and cleaning. There are also stands that fix bicycles, others that repair straw seats on chairs, and some that change parts on pressure cookers.
Another activity that is very appreciated at feiras is eating. Not only do you get to sample slices of fruit, but you can also buy pastel de carne, queijo ou palmito, a savory pastry filled meat, cheese or heart of palms, and caldo de cana, sugarcane juice, to eat and drink while you shop.
Watch the video below to see how caldo de cana is made using sugarcane shoots and a very loud and intricate machine.