Color Salavdor, Bahia, wonderful!

By Sandra Scott

Don’t tell anyone, but I like Salvador Bahia, Brazil, better Rio de Janeiro. The ocean is warmer and so are the people. But what I really love are all the colors. There is color everywhere. The sky is bluer, the traditional dresses of the women brighten the already colorful historic district of Pelourinho, and the variety of tropical fruits makes for unbeatable cocktails.

The first time I saw someone eating a coiaba and caught a whiff of the smell it became my mission to try it. I was sure it would taste as good as it smelled. Coiaba is the size of an apple with a pale yellow skin similar to a Bartlett pear. The inside is watermelon red. After checking into the Holiday Inn in Salvador we went to the Butiquinn Restaruant for lunch. Scanning through the drink menu there is was! A fruit cocktail! One of the several choices included coiaba with or without rum!

Without hesitation, I ordered a Coiaba Red Cocktail! Do you believe it? They were out of coiaba! I felt awful, not because they were out of coiaba, but because they immediately sent someone out to buy some. That’s typical of the hospitality of Bahia. Bahians will do anything to please.

In no time my cocktail arrived. It was a refreshing mix of coiaba, strawberries, acerola—a red tropical fruit similar to a cranberry—and rum. Well shaken. Yes, it tasted as good as it smelled. My husband ordered a Coconut Cocktail, a mix of coconut milk, water, lemon, and sugar plus cachaça, the traditional Brazilian sugarcane liquor, decorated with a lemon and acerola.

That night we attended a folkloric show featuring the sacred dances of the Candomble, derived from Salvador’s African heritage. With drums pulsating dancers in brilliant costumes swirled past us. It was a riot of color and sound. As the goddess of lightening twirled by in a vision of red, I said to my husband, "That red reminds me of the Coiaba Red Cocktail." He looked at the god of the hunt following her, and said, "His color reminds me of a coconut cocktail, or maybe a kiwi cocktail!"

Back at the Holiday Inn a nightcap was in order. I ordered another Coiaba Red Cocktail. I said to my husband, "Why try something else when this is perfect?" He on the other hand ordered a green cocktail, made with kiwi. Carine, the server, in a traditional Bahia dress, made the presentation perfect. We agreed, the colors of Salvador are wonderful and so are the colorful cocktails. Our toast, "Let there be color!"
 

 

 

 

Sandra Scott is a frequent contributor to travel publications and to Copley News Service and has co-authored two books on local history. She lives in Mexico, NY.
Photos by Sandra Scott and John Scott.


 
 
   
   

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