I need to renew my H1B (work visa) and learned that I can’t just have it processed here in the US. It seems you can’t re-apply or renew your visa while in the country – you have to leave and re-enter. So, thanks to this weird bureaucracy I have to go to Sao Paulo next month.

I love going back home, but I was not planning on visiting anytime soon. It’s always an intense adventure. You would think all that’s needed is packing up your bags and going, but nooooo… I need to fullfil all the various purchase requests from the entire family and buy gifts. That takes more time than I was prepared to spend (and, of course, I need to update all the visa paperwork!).

Complaints aside, the single most important thing I will do in Sao Paulo is to eat. It doesn’t matter how much I enjoy cooking or how many new things I try during my travels, there are certain things you can only get there.

The Wikipedia has an outstanding entry on Brazilian cuisine. Click through for some interesting information (and to make sense of my list of things I’ll be feasting on). My plan is to try and enjoy as much as possible of the following:

My mom’s Bife na Mostarda (filet mignon on mustard)

My uncle’s Bacalhoada (cod fish stew)

My dad’s Cabrito Cacciatora (roasted leg of lamb)

My dad’s ‘American Sandwich’

My mom’s Canja de Galinha (chicken & rice soup)

Camarao a Paulista (fried shrimp on garlic)

Carne-seca halloween (carne seca & onions baked inside a big pumpkin)

Sanduiche de pernil from the Sao Paulo Central Market

Hot dog from the street vendor in front of my old high-school

Stupidly cold (as we say) Brazilian beer

Caipirinha (traditional with lime and my fav with passion fruit)

Churrasco

Feijoada

Empadinha

Coxinha

Pao de Queijo

Caldo de Cana (Sugar Cane juice)

Pastel de palmito (from the street fairs)

Pastel de pinga (my grandma’s recipe)

My mom’s strawberry dish (50% sugar, 50% strawbery)

Strawberry pie from the bakery near my mother’s house

Good strong coffee after meals

Chimarrao

Requeijao (cheese)

Catupiry (cheese)

Queijo de Minas (cheese)

Carambola (star fruit, always sad looking and bitter in the US)

Figs (fresh and delicious, impossible to find in the US)

Goiabada

Acai na tigela

Cauliflower – my favourite thing in the world. Always tastes different depending on where you get it.

This is a working list – all I could think of in one seating. That means I have to lose some weight in the next month so I don’t come by “rolling” as my friends would say.