Bloggers Around the World: World Cup 2014 - Brazil (and a Chocolate #Giveaway)

What does all of this has to do with football? Usually that question is not difficult to answer: not much or even nothing at all. However, this time, things are different ...
It all has to do with it. Whether you like it or not, the World Cup is due to start on the 12th of June in Brazil. So, do you care about it? Or even about who's going to win it?
I don't ... unless it's going to be an underdog.
No matter what, I decided we are going to do a little game of our own in connection with this Bloggers Around the World challenge. Before you leave now and say, 'I don't care about football or any kind of challenges along that line', let me tell you there is something in for you. Chocolate! I'm sure a lot more people care about chocolate than football. I care about chocolate so it's 1 - 0 already here.

Before I go into detail regarding this chocolate giveaway and how you can get it, I wish to outline the main theme of the challenge ...

WORLD CUP 2014 - BRAZIL

The first part of the challenge is to cook something Brazilian. What comes to your mind in connection of food when you think about Brazil? Honestly, for me it wasn't too much, fruits, Brazil nuts, Caipirinha. At least that's something to work with.

Since fruits grow well in the tropical and sub-tropical conditions of the country, that point is obvious. At least it was to me. Accordingly I see some mangoes, papayas and pineapples coming.

Brazil nuts sprang to me ... eh ... you know ... the name. However, and that is if Wikipedia is true 50 % of the Brazil nut harvest is rather coming from Bolivia and only 40 % from Brazil. Still Brazil nuts are a good choice. After all Brazil nuts have a high content of omega-6-fatty acids and also vitamins. Check it out!

For all those loving booze, Caipirinha is the most obvious choice. It's the national cocktail of Brazil, containing limes, brown sugar and cachaça, which is made from sugarcane. I don't want to bother you with more details about it. For sure there are also other uses of cachaça than Caipirinha. I hope we see some of those.

Anyway, here we already have a little foundation and unless you are an expert in Brazilian cuisine it means some further research on the topic.

I already did a little bit of that and like to share some of the results with you ...

For that I like to mention two main dishes and two accompaniments. The first dish is Feijoada. It's a stew with black beans and smoked meat. As far as I have seen it, the preparation of this dish can be a bit time-consuming. So you better plan ahead for that one. As a side note let me mention, that beans can be classed as a Brazilian staple or base ingredient.

The next dish is Vatapá. This is a shrimp and cashew nut stew. Sorry, no Brazil nuts here, but I'm sure you will like it anyway.

While rice is always a good choice to go with a dish you might want to try Pao de Queijo as well. Do I have to say more than 'cheese bread'. Of course, there might be the chance you don't like cheese or can't eat it without negative effects. Then I offer you Couve a Mineira, garlicky collard greens that is.

For more you have to do some research for yourself. Fine, fine, you got me, dessert. I should at least mention a few things about dessert. Ha, I could say, 'have some fresh fruits', and that would be it, but I am nice and offer you a little bit more: Banana Frusta Com Canella Angular. That would be fried banana with cinnamon sugar. Or have some Crème de Papaya. Ice cream is involved here. I think I already know where to look for more details on this. Then, something else, that might interest you would be a Passion fruit mousse cake.

That should now really be enough for now. You have a lot food for thought to produce some lovely Brazilian food.

Now we have to discuss some rules and the chocolate thing again ...

1. In order to take part you have to leave the link to your post as a comment in this very post and in this very post alone. So you better bookmark it then.
2. Refer to my blog and this very post and this very post alone in your post. You know, others might see it and join. The more the merrier.
3. Use the "Bloggers Around the World" badge. You find it in this very post and ... no ... not this very post alone, but also any other Bloggers Around the World post.
4. You can use a new or an old post, but it has to be adjusted accordingly. Besides that, read some additional thoughts about it further down.
5. If you tweet your post use #BloggersAroundTheWorld and @ChrisCH2011, so that I can retweet your posts. Of course I will also +G any posts I see on G+.
6. If you don't have a blog of your own, you can post a photo (or a bit more) on the Cooking Around the World Facebook page. Some further thoughts about that will follow next as well.

As it happens to be, the theme of this Bloggers Around the World is not Brazil, but World Cup 2014 - Brazil. While you are free to post Brazilian posts until the end of the challenge, here comes a special rule ...

During the World Cup itself, which starts on Thursday June the 12th and ends with the final on Sunday July the 13th, you can post something with the cuisine of the country that is playing on a special day. For example, on the opening day Brazil is playing against Croatia. That means on that day, you could post something about Croatian food. What counts here is the date of your comment here in this post or on the Cooking Around the World Facebook page.

Another example, on Friday June the 20th, Japan plays against Greece and Italy against Costa Rica. Therefore you have four countries to choose from on that day: Japan, Greece, Italy and Costa Rica.

I'm sure with some planning you can do something. Along that line the challenge ends just after the final on July 13th. After that, no more posts will be accepted. Until then, you can share as many as you want and with a little bit of effort and a very tiny bit of luck you will be able to win a selection of chocolate I get from some shops around here. That would at least mean, you get some Lindt chocolate. Be assured, though, it will not just be one tiny chocolate item.

I should be able to sent a package to almost any place, so there is no excuse for not taking part.

In order to determine the winner of the chocolate, there is a system of points. The person with the most points will win. At a tie of two, I won't be stingy, but above that, I will select the winner randomly. Besides that, I count my points, too. So, to win, you need at least as many points as I have myself.

• 1 point, if you enter an older post containing a Brazilian dish.
• 2 points, if  you enter an older post containing a dish of a playing country on a game day.
• 3 points, if you enter a new post containing a Brazilian dish.
• 4 points, if you enter a new post containing a dish of a playing country on a game day.
• 5 points, if you guess the winning country of our Food World Cup correctly. That country will be the one with the most posts on game days. However, you can only guess until the 11th of June. Just mention the country in the comments. Will it be Brazil?

Got it? Did you understand everything? I hope so. At least I understand it. In the unlikely case you don't understand it fully, feel free to fire your questions ahead!

I'm sure you can find out, which country is playing on which day. However, I will also keep you posted during the event to the best of my abilities. 

Well, I'm sure, I wrote already more than enough now. Most probably you are already fed up with reading so much text here. I am sorry I am not able to provide a photo of a Brazilian dish I did, because I didn't do any yet.

Therefore I stop talking now and only say:

'Let the game begin!'