It wasn’t until I took a trip to Portugal that I realised its close connection with Brazil, the fifth largest country in the world, which was colonised by the European seafaring nation in the 1500s. It’s a connection I can now see is obvious, through tradition, culture, music and, of course, when it comes to food.
Brazil might have since attained its independence and certainly has access to indigenous ingredients, but there’s no question that the staple dishes are still packed with Portuguese flavour and flair.
The Brazilian population in Australia has tripled in the last 20 years: our melting pot continues to runneth over. In SA, this culture is slowly but surely weaving its way into our thread. Sure, we’ve known broader Latin American influence with venues like Casablabla and the Hispanic Mechanic ticking along nicely for years, and then there’s Hoosegow in St Morris with its Latin American-Asian-fusion. With a little more time, I expect we’ll come to understand more of the borders between the cuisines.
Plenty of “South American” restaurants and dishes once had me assuming the food had all come via Spain. But on that trip to Portugal I learnt about bacalhau (a dried salted fish reconstituted and turned into everything from snacks to dessert), many different rice dishes (beyond paella), and plenty of new ways to serve chicken and seafood (that each made my tastebuds spin). Since then, I’ve made a dedicated effort to seek out the true taste of Brazil, eventually landing here, at Nosso.
From the shores of São Paulo to the controlled tides of West Lakes, this little water-side venue might be just a stone’s throw from the shopping centre nearby but feels like a world away.
Let the mural of hand-painted tropical leaves guide your way. Step through a nondescript side door and into a compact alfresco area and you’ll see that Nosso is a bright white space that probably took a little optimistic vision to create. It’s more of a built-in pergola, perhaps an afterthought to the building adjacent, but it’s cute. There’s greenery everywhere, a nod to the jungles back home, and a frontage that opens out onto the lake; a mesh blind gives a bit of protection from the wind, but it is there to bring the outside in.
As gulls cry overhead and water laps on the rocky, sandy shore, we’re seated – propped up at a table made from a recycled… bike? (I learn later that urban cycling is a long-held Brazilian tradition, so it begins to make sense.) There are tables, too, of course, but this is clearly the best seat in the house. Staff swoop in from behind to introduce the menu, and then we’re left to decide. Diners can take on brunch, select from a short list of staples at lunch, or take a more traditional “Trip to Brazil”.
Feature brunches seem traditional, too. There’s Pao De Queijo – these are stuffed cheese bread, formed into balls and fried, served with smoky pulled pork, eggs, and a spinach and hollandaise sauce. Eggs benny, gone global. Or, a huge roasted field mushroom sitting in a cashew cheese, loaded with crispy sweet potatoes and avocado, sprinkled with pepitas and hemp.
Feijoada is a dish that I’ve tried before, and it’s at the heart of every Brazilian kitchen. It’s a thick brown stew of black beans, sausage, and pork on rice. There are many versions of the dish but it’s always served so you can mix and match the ingredients yourself. It’s not often the prettiest of dishes, but has a hearty, meaty flavour and melt-in-your-mouth texture when done well. With a little fresh salsa-style salad and segments of fruit, Nosso makes its version stand out in the looks department, but I’ve learned that it’s always the flavour in the kitchen that matters most with this dish.
Nosso’s Pao de Queijo. Photo: Paul Wood
A plate simply called “Brazilian Style” lets you choose your own meaty adventure from a selection of skewered ingredients; that just looks like too much of a feat for us today. Dedicated diners think otherwise, with more than half of them getting stuck into skewers featuring everything from haloumi to beef.
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But we sit and watch as these dishes fly by as we await our Brazilian Festa. Not for too long, though.
The Coxinha land first. They might look a little pale in colour, but these crumbed little balls have some spectacular crunch. Inside, layers of chicken and cheese provide some simple yet tasty flavour. Beware, they do risk burning the mouths of the unaware. Guaranã to the rescue – yes, that’s an ingredient you might only know from energy drinks, but here it stands alone, a soft drink made from the caffeinated red, white and black berries of the plant sourced from the motherland, and drunk with every meal of the day, if desired. While sweet, the soda-style drink has a drier edge to it.
A dish that resembles a pie arrives. Covered in melted cheese, sitting in a shallow pot, this is cream of cassava – a root vegetable that might look a bit like a potato but is not. With a starchy, velvety texture, it’s been prepared in a similar way to a potato puree, but unlike potatoes, this takes hours before it’s ready to eat. The cassava is creamy, a little translucent when you slice through the cheese, and has a notably nutty taste. Beneath it are chunks of meat that flake apart with the slightest encouragement. While utterly delicious, it takes a while to understand the texture and I’m told that (a little like bacalhau) this meat was previously dried, like jerky, reconstituted in the recipe and then pulled before forming the base of the dish. Yes, I suppose it’s meat and mash, but it’s bloody good.
Nosso’s Bobó de Camarão. Photo: Paul Wood
Another cheese-covered pie-like pan arrives and I’m confused, as I’m expecting something with prawns. Under another layer of that baked puree I find them, swimming in a robust and stretchy cheesy sauce. Not often one for cheese with seafood, I’ve found from eating in places like France that have perfected recipes over centuries that it’s best to let locals guide you. I’m glad they did. This is Bobó de Camarão and it just might be my new favourite Brazilian dish. Nosso is certainly one of my new favourite Brazilian eating spots, too.
Nosso
4/137-139 Brebner Drive, West Lakes
Open seven days, 8am-4pm
Instagram @nossocafe.adl
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