KOCHI: After a month of travelling through six countries, Balram Menon is back in Kochi. The food blogger journeyed through South America and visited places that seem straight from the novels of Gabriel García Márquez’s — truely magical.
“I went to South America a few years ago. However, this time I visited new places — Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. And what made me go back to that land again and again is the nature and culture. Everywhere it’s full of life with a different kind of energy, a different scenery, unlike say Europe where the landscapes are pretty much similar,” he says.
As the journey to South America is long, Balram decided to start from France. For three days he explored what he firmly believes to be the ‘City of Lights’. One can go around the city, anywhere, on a bus. “Who doesn’t want a view of the sparkling, lit-up Eiffel Tower while biting into a hot crepe?” he asks.
To the carnival and the Amazonia
From France, he headed straight to Brazil. It has everything, he says, from skyscrapers, festivities and nature. “I eyed Brazil for the Carnival that falls before Lent. The streets will be full of colour, music and life. Also, there’s a saying, and I truly believe in it, ‘You haven’t seen the world, if you didn’t see the Brazil Carnival,” says Balram.
There are two types of carnivals, the official one and block parties. The latter happens mainly in Rio.
It’s the samba schools that put in their year-long effort to showcase their best passistas (the samba walk during the carnival with fast-paced rhythmic movements ), colour floats, and more.
“Brazil is a heaven for food in the continent. The main highlight is the drink made out of Acai berries, fruits of the Amazon. Tapioca is another delicacy in Brazil. Also known as cassava, it is eaten as fries, farofa, Pirao, and more,” he says.
He also tried the traditional Latin American dish, Empanada and feijoada (black bean stew made with meat, garlic, and tomatoes). “The cuisine mainly contains fruits and meat. Canned juices are seldom found. Also, the cuisine is apt for the Malayali palate,” says Balram.
On a chopper ride, he watched Rio in all its glory, the 80-plus beaches such as Copacabana and Ipanema are a sight to behold. So was the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Escadaria Selaron, popularly known as the Selaron steps paved with over 2,000 tiles collected from around 60 countries — a masterpiece made by Chilean-born artist, Jorge Selaron.
Beyond Machu Picchu
The next stop, Peru. “Peru is beyond Machu Picchu. The place also has Rainbow Mountain and Huacachina — the only natural oasis in South America. Then there are adventure activities like rides through sand dunes,” says Balram.
Machu Picchu, one of the seven wonders of the world, a symbol of the Incan Empire, has more than 150 structures and over 100 separate flights of stairs — truly an archaeological gem. “I went to Machu Picchu on one of the luxury trains called the Hiram Bingham train from Cusco,” says Balram.
When it comes to food, Peru is known for its Ceviche — raw fish with chilli, pepper, salt, lime, and onion. It is a tasty, tangy ride.
“I visited a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, a small eight-seater space, which was featured on the Netflix series Street Food: Latin America for an authentic ceviche.” “If altitude sickness worries you while travelling through dramatic Andean summits, worry not, there’s tea made of pure coca leaf. And coca leaves are legal in Peru,” he quips.
‘Hartal’ and salt flat
La Pass, one of the capitals of Bolivia, is the highest capital city in the world. Due to high altitude, transportation is mostly done on cable cars. “In Bolivia, protests are quite common. Witnessing a hartal in a foreign land took me back to Kerala,” quips Balram.
Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni (salt flat) is the result of a prehistoric lake going dry. The landscape with just white salt spread miles and miles, is wrth seeing, claims Balram. “Salar’s mirror-like effect is something everyone has to experience. It’s seen mostly during the rain season (February-April),” he adds.
Bolivia has a rich street food culture. Of the lot, Salsipapa piqued his interest. “It’s a combination of beef, banana and potato. The tender beef slices in the delicacy were scrumptious, also, banana is one of the important elements in Bolivian cuisine,” says Balram.
All for Neapolitan pizza
After a grand South American tour, he reached Rome in Italy. “Italy was not in my itinerary, I travelled there just to have the authentic Neapolitan Margherita and Marinara pizza,” he explains. While taking a bite from the authentic pizza straight from its home, he immediately remembered the famous line from the movie ‘Eat Pray Love’ starring Julia Roberts. “I’m having a relationship with this Pizza.
That’s exactly what it felt like. The L’antica Pizzeria De Michelle demands a waiting time of three hours. But it was worth it. The use of natural ingredients and leavening the pizza dough makes a huge difference,” says Balram. The dessert Rum Baba in Naples is another must-try, he says.