Our affective memories pass through all our senses, especially the memory of what we like most and what gives us pleasure: food. That's what cooking is like, and that's what this experience was like for Vinicius de Moraes. A great admirer of the good life and its beauties, the poet dedicated equal passion to recipes, dishes and meals. And this since childhood.
The second of four brothers, Vinicius, from Rio, was raised on puddings and tenderloins, and was the one who most enjoyed the flavors of his mother's home (already revealing, from an early age, his legendary propensity for hedonism). The childhood recipes never left the poet's imagination, who thought of them to feel comfort when in the solitude of a foreigner during his time as an employee of the Itamaraty. Prepared in three parts, Pois am a good cook was organized by Vinicius' family and features preface by his sister Laetitia de Moraes. Revisiting different memories, each part of the book provides recipes from the most diverse periods of the poet's life: his childhood in an almost rural Rio de Janeiro, the kitchens he frequented and the bars and restaurants in which he held a captive seat - in addition to the bits he liked most . Everything wonderfully illustrated by photos, excerpts from poems and testimonials.
Thus emerges Vinicius de Moraes who remakes his life (and work) through food. From the dishes that remind us of his childhood and that he brought to mind when he felt the profound absence of Brazil, when he lived far from here, Vinicius relived in detail the vatapás and puddings that he ate at his mother and grandmother's house in impeccable descriptions enough for us to salivate along with he. Also his favorite foods that he knew how to cook so well and described with the love of the diminutive, the same one he used to refer to his partners and friends in life and musical creation. Because if, according to the author himself, to experience great love you needed concentration, he devoted himself when cooking or just tasting food. A dedication and hard work (but intensely comforting) in doing what he loved most: enjoying life.
