In Santo Amaro, a Bahian Recôncavo town, Bembê do Mercado is a festival that commemorates this event every May 13. Candomblé rites are practiced under a barracão (a big tent) with religious icons and symbols set up in front of the town’s mercado (market). Musical shows, capoeira, samba de roda and maculelê are some of the highlights of the celebration. Nego Fugido, a reenactment of a slave escape attempt that resulted in recapture and the purchase of manumission, takes place in the streets. At the end of the celebrations, a fireworks display is followed by a ritual offering to Iemanjá at nearby Itapema Beach.
Bobó de Camarão
To get a taste of Bahia, try making this classic dish. Let us know how it turned out.
Bobó de camarão, translated as shrimp bobó in English, is a Brazilian dish of shrimp, puréed manioc (a.k.a. cassava or yuca), coconut milk, and other ingredients. Like many Bahian dishes, it is flavored with palm oil, called dendê in Brazilian Portuguese, and is traditionally served with white rice, but may also be served by itself. Bobó de camarão is nearly identical to the West African dish Ipetê, and is one of the many iconic recipes from the Bahia region.
RECIPE – Serves 8
For the manioc purée:
2 lbs (1 kg) cooking onions, peeled and chopped
2 lbs (1 kg) firm, ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
4 Tbsp finely cilantro, finely chopped
2 lbs (1 kgs) manioc/cassava/yuca root, peeled, boiled and mashed
2 cups (500 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (1 liter) coconut milk
For the shrimp:
4 lbs (4 kgs) medium or large shrimp, peeled, deheaded and deveined, with tails left on
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 medium onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup (125 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (1 liter) coconut milk
2 Tbsp dendê oil
Prepare the manioc purée: In a large heavy saucepan, combine the onion, tomatoes, green pepper and cilantro with the mashed manioc. Stir in the olive oil and coconut milk, then heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the cream begins to pull away from the bottom of the pan when you stir. Remove from the heat and reserve.
Prepare the shrimp: Rinse the shrimp well in plenty of cold running water. Drain. In a large, deep saucepan combine the drained shrimp, chopped garlic, salt, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, green pepper and the olive oil. Heat over medium high heat, stirring frequently. When hot, add the coconut milk in 1/2 cup amounts, stirring after each addition to completely mix. Continue to cook for 5 minutes more, stirring constantly.
Add the reserved manioc puree to the shrimps and continue to cook for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently. Just before removing from the heat, add the dendê oil and mix it in completely. Remove from heat, pour into a decorative deep serving platter, sprinkle with additional cilantro if desired and serve immediately.
Maculelê
Maculelê, a mock stick fighting dance, is danced within a roda (circle) of people. The atabaque drum is played and Maculelê songs are sung. People in the roda each have a pair or wooden sticks traditionally made from biriba wood from Brazil. The sticks, called grimas, are used to hit to the beat of the drum. The two people in the roda play and dance to the rhythm. They hit their sticks together for three beats and on every fourth beat, they hit each other’s sticks held by the right hand. The dance is a part of the tradition of Capoeira.
During performances, performers traditionally wear grass skirts and some dancers play with machetes instead of wooden sticks. This dance was developed by enslaved Afro-Brazilians cutting down sugar cane in the field.
Mãe Stella de Oxóssi
Born on May 2, 1925, in Salvador, Bahia, Maria Stella de Azevedo Santos (also known as Mãe Stella de Oxóssi or Mãe Stella) is the first black woman and first iyalorixá (orixá priestess) to be inducted into the Bahia Academy of Letters. Though a retired nurse, she has written many books on African culture and widely promotes and advocates for the acceptance of Candomblé as a religion and of African-based culture across Brazil.
On March 19, 1976, she was chosen to be the 5th iyalorixá of the Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá, one of the more well-known terreiros in Salvador. In the late 70s, Mãe Stella personally appealed to the governor of Bahia to no longer require a terreiro to obtain the government’s permission to operate. Since then, terreiros have sprung up all over Salvador.
As a champion against religious intolerance and racial prejudice, Mãe Stella also sounded the call for a break with Christian syncretism and the removal of all Catholic saints from the temple’s altars. Preferring the Yorubá title iyalorixá, as opposed to the Portuguese mãe de santo, she encouraged the use of Yorubá in liturgy in naming practices, Candomblé education, and depiction of icons in order to restore Candomblé back to its African roots. It was Mãe Stella who, quite successfully, sought public recognition of Candomblé as a full fledged, legitimate religion, rather than a “cult”, “sect”, or “folklore”.
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