Walking Tour with Local Community Members, and Preparing and Enjoying Lunch Together (private tour)

• Learn to cook and savor typical Bahian dishes, guided by expert local homemakers

Visit a working-class neighborhood in Salvador to meet Brazilian homemakers of African descent, whose passion is sharing their culture and experience with their guests and teaching to cook Bahian specialties. Then you’ll enjoy together this home-made lunch consisting of the signature Bahian dishes and desserts.

Prepare to enjoy some time with the locals, as your hosts take you for a walking tour of their neighborhood, and to the nearby market to buy ingredients for the lunch you’ll be preparing and enjoying together!

Your hosts are local working-class homemakers, dedicated to sharing with their guests the ins and outs of their daily lives and culture in their neighborhood in Salvador. You’ll enjoy a lively conversation while on a walking tour, during which you’ll stop at the local market. Once there, you’ll be transported by the wafting of the herbs and spices, and the aroma of the fresh vegetables; along with a collection of multi-colored ingredients, key for the local cuisine.

Brazilian traditional food culture is vast and extremely varied across this huge country. Bahian (where Salvador is located) cuisine is the most eclectic, and some say delicious, in the country. It’s based mainly on seafood (shrimp, lobster, fish, squid, crab) and combines a strong African influence, along with Portuguese and indigenous traditions. The signature dish is moqueca, a fish or seafood stew which marinates in coconut milk, fresh tomatoes, onions, a dash of garlic, coriander and a dab of palm tree oil. This dish is accompanied by rice and farofa (manioc flour), giving it a sandy texture and rich flavor with hints of cashews and spices.

After your local explorations, it’s time to collaborate with your hosts to create a traditional Bahian meal, and dessert! The cooking class takes place at the Association of Cooks and Confectioners of Itapagipe, which was formed under the auspices of and with funding from the United Nations Development Program, because of its worthwhile contribution to the city’s social development.

By the time you start making your way back to the hotel, you will have not only sampled delicacies and flavors of Brazilian cuisine, but you’ll also have had the pleasure of having met some of the charming, talented women of the Salvador da Bahia’s community and having learnt about their lifestyle.