Bread

First of all, that little squiggle on the a is important – it means you’re supposed to pronounce it thru your nose. The nasal tone is what differentiates bread from dick, from what I’ve been told 😂

Last week, I stopped by the padaria (bakery that mostly sells bread) that I go to regularly. It was a slow day, so the owner had time to chat with me for a little while.

I took that opportunity to ask some questions about the different types of bread.

I’m sure I made a gajillion errors, but I was thrilled with how much I was able to communicate!

She commented on how difficult it is to learn Portuguese, and it takes time. And, yeah, I’m still only around an A2 level, which is like advanced beginner, not yet intermediate level. Adjusting to a whole new country and starting a business, learning how to do the marketing and write sales copy and all of those skills that go into running a business… that has been a lot to process! I haven’t had the mental energy to consistently study and practice learning. I reached a level at which I can navigate restaurants and the market, and then kind of plateaued.

But, it wasn’t just the language!

I have SO MUCH to learn about bread here!

In the US, I just bought the pre-packaged loafs of bread at the grocery store – usually just basic whole wheat.

Since moving here, I learned that I love rye bread (pão centeio), which I don’t think I ever tasted in the US!

But not all rye bread. There’s a really dense version that this shop carries that I didn’t really care for. So learning how to distinguish between those has been important for me.

Pão de massa mãe is naturally fermented bread. The apps translate it to sourdough, but doesn’t have the sour taste I associate with sourdough. I don’t know if that means it’s a different recipe or if I just didn’t get to know sourdough well enough before moving here!

And that’s just scratching the surface.

This is the first time I’ve lived in a place where it made sense to go to a local bakery for my bread instead of to the grocery store. You can also get pre-packaged sliced bread at the grocery store here, but the bread from a padaria is so much better!

Of course, the down side is that now I really enjoy snacking on fresh bread, which has not been the best thing for my waist-line 😂 But…

Vale a pena. It’s worth it!