- Good morning, hope you're
having an amazing day, it's Mark Wiens, I'm in Manaus in the state of Amazonas,
right in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. We're staying in the city, but today we are gonna
go on a village trip, we're gonna take a boat, we're
gonna go to a local village, we're gonna eat some
amazing, locally prepared, village, home cooked, Amazon food. It's gonna be an amazing
adventure in the Amazon. So we're on our way. (island music) On our way first to go try
to seek out some exot-- and the Amazon is just
a paradise of fruit, exotic fruit, we're gonna try to seek out some exotic fruit for breakfast before we then go to the
river to take the boat. (island music) - [Mark] Mari-Mari She sells an amazing
selection of exotic fruit. Fruits that I've never seen before. Tropical, Amazon fruit stall. This is called Maru Maru? - [Fruit Vendor] Mari-mari. - [Mark] Mari-mari, Mari-mari. (chattering and traffic passing by) You would not even think that it's a fruit and you kind of like
twist it to open it up. On the inside it looks like
Mentos, like a pack of Mentos. Wow, like immediately it
tastes like a green apple, but like slimy, that's incredible what comes out of that pod. They just fit perfectly,
they're like little tablets. It is remarkable how similar
it tastes to a green apple. (chattering and talking in Portuguese) Really juicy, really fresh, really chewy. - [Fruit Vendor] Inga - [Mark] Inga Locally, it's called Inga
but I'm pretty sure that the English name is Ice Cream Pods, or like an ice cream
bean that's what it is. You can feel that it's kind of creamy, whoops
- [Camera Operator] It's okay. - [Mark] We lost one. Doesn't really have much of an aroma. Mmmm, it's like creamy. It does kinda taste
like vanilla ice cream. (indecipherable speech) You just kind of suck the
flesh and it's kind of slimy. - [Mark] Bariba? - Biriba. - [Mark] Huh? - Bi-ri-ba. - [Altogether] Biriba, the biriba. - The outside appearance is
just amazing, oh here it is back here, you can see this is the fruit but it looks like a cherimoya,
yeah, kinda like a cherimoya or a sour sap but then it has
these amazing little spikes. Almost like melting, like
juicing because it's so ripe. Oh, you can kinda like smell cream in it. - [Mark] Trying to scoop out some of this. Oh, this one is awesome. Mmm, it's so sweet, it's
perfectly sour and it kind of dissolves in your mouth and
then you got these little seeds that are almost like watermelon seeds. Very similar to cherimoya
and then kind of like, with a sour sap type of
sourness, like a mellow sourness that's just like, it just
tastes amazing, like pudding. Pudding in a pod. That is so good. (car door closes) (island music) Just made it to the market,
we're gonna go check out the market, maybe some more fruits? And just see some of
the local life in Manaus before we take the boat to the jungle. (friendly chatter and talking) - [Market Trader] Tucuma? - [Mark] Wow, obrigado. - We're right at the
entrance of the market, we found another fruit,
it's called Tucuma. And they peel the skin and they cut it in like a floral formation,
almost like a plastic-y aroma. Wow, that is not sweet
at all, more like bitter but the flavor keeps on coming,
it's almost like confusing what even it tastes like, kinda like meat almost? - [Mark] That's like hearty, you can feel the oil, the fat in it. The vibrant colors, so many fruits and vegetables from the Amazon. - [Mark] This entire area
is filled with markets but we're walking over
to the municipal market, where we're gonna try a local street food that's very common for
breakfast like a sandwich. - [Mark] Obrigado. Looks like a mini passionfruit. Just kind of like open up the skin, inside it kinda looks like a longan. Mmmm, oh that's amazing, it's perfectly sour and again like milky, the amount of like milky fruits. I just saw behind me, look at this guy, he's munching one of those pods that we had earlier in the morning. That is awesome, just
eating it like a drumstick. The fruit snacking here is out of control and these are all like unique fruits. Every single one of the
fruits is new to me. Jini-papu, jeni?? - Jenipapo - Jenipapo, it's called jenipapo. Oh wow, that smells like,
smells like fermented raisins. The entire shell, it's not
even a shell it's like, it's mushy and then it looks like, fibrous mushiness on the
inside, that is unique. Wow, it has this like,
almost fumes coming out of it but it's like really ripe tasting, very, it's almost unexplainable? It kind of tastes like butter, kinda tastes like caramel to me. We just stepped into the indoor section of the municipal market,
they sell fish here, amazing, huge, beautiful, so fresh, right out of the massive rivers. - Okay, so whatever sandwich
we choose, it's good. - [Mark] So right inside
the market we've stopped at a little cafe, they have
a number of cafe's where they just have some seating, some tables, some plastic tables around,
we've ordered what is one of a specialty of this
region in the Amazon. (island music) (general chatter) We got two different things,
both with that fruit that we just tasted a little
while ago at the market. But two amazing things,
the more traditional one is actually the sandwich
which is in a bread. There's banana in there, there
is, I think it's just banana? Fried banana and the Tucu-bea
fruit in a toasted bun. But the other one we got
is just fascinating to me. Like a circular tapioca, cassava shell. I cannot wait to try this. That just like works. The tapioca shell is kind of
elastic-y, then you got the really sweet caramelized banana
in there paired with that like, meaty, it actually
is like meaty Tucu-bea, with like the palm oils and then you've got the salty cheese. - [Mark] That is a brilliant
combination that just works. That's incredible. - [Mark] Okay, let me
take it out of the wrapper so we can see the whole thing, again it's like a toasted bun, bananas, I think there's no cheese,
oh wait there's cheese on the bottom here, okay there
is cheese as well down there. But then a bunch of the fruit,
a bunch of the fried bananas. Add some chili sauce to
this, it's just a mandatory. The whole thing kind of
holds together better. The same ingredients
just wrapped in bread, crispy thin bread. Take not of this sandwich, this could be the next big sandwich. It's such a good combination,
there's like palm nut shaving, Tucu-bea, there's sweet
banana, there's salty cheese. You could wrap that into
anything and it would taste good. (friendly chatter) They're so friendly here, they're so nice, that was such a delicious, like
a sandwich, Amazon sandwich snack, okay we gotta move now. - [Mark] One of the main fish
that they have in this region from the Amazon, from the
river is a Tambaqui fish. It's a pretty good sized
fish, it's so meaty, very few bones we're gonna
buy one of the fish here and then we're gonna
go into a local village and we're just gonna buy a fish because we're not totally
sure what they'll have? But we're just gonna buy a
fish here to bring with us. - [Mark] How many kilos is it? Four kilo, five kilo? - Four kilo. (tribal chanting music) - [Mark] Hey, we made it to the boat pier and then to the river
this is where we're gonna take a boat into the village. (island music) - [Mark] This is beautiful,
the color of the water, I guess this is the Rio Negro
which is the black river but it is like, it's almost
like coffee colored water. It's not like muddy water
but that's the actual color of the water, it looks like coffee. (island music) We've just stopped by a local home, we're just seeing if they're home, if they're available, if they
can cook some food for us? (island music) - [Mark] Beautiful and
the boat ride to get here was fantastic, the trees,
just the variety and diversity of trees, it's just like about
one kilometer from the city though, so I don't know
how authentic it will be? And then they said they
might do a little dancing, so I'm not sure if it will
be a little bit touristy but anyways it's gonna be fun, it's gonna be a learning experience, it's gonna be, it's
just beautiful here too. (tribal drumming) - [Mark] Back here is a
school, they even have a football field and then these are some of the homes, some of the houses. (mixed animal and human chatter) The monkey is a little bit
playful, jumping all around, he's setting up the grill over there. We're gonna have the fish that we brought, some other things that they cook that they prepare from here. (chatter and food preparation,
chopping, slicing) It's like a full time job to
just, the monkey just keeps coming back, hey guy, hey buddy. He is friendly but he just jumps
on everyone and everything. - [Mark] Chocolate? - Bacaba. - [Mark] Bacaba. - Batawau. (grains rustling) (drizzling of water) - Chebe. (South American language spoken) - [Mark] Whoa, the monkey
just jumped out of nowhere. Wow, no that's not chocolate,
that's some type of fruit. It tastes like, it's not sweet
at all, wow, it's amazing. Tastes almost like blended bark. Like it tastes like you're
drinking bark, awesome. But it's creamy. - [Mark] Okay, I wanna try this
other one that he just made. - [Father] Guarana. - [Mark] Guarana. Oh yeah, oh that tastes like
ginseng, like no sweetness at all, it tastes like ginseng,
like a root, like a root. And then the other one I want
to taste, this is guarana? - Yes. - This is the powder of the guarana. Yeah, smells like ginseng. (South American language spoken) - [Father] Chebe. - [Mark] Chebe. Oh man, slightly sour and
crunchy like unpopped, popcorn. That's good, that's like you're drinking and eating at the same time. - [Mark] One the things
they eat here are ants. And so she went to go get some ants, puts them in water so they
don't crawl out of the bucket and I'm not sure how they're
going to prepare it yet? Yeah, it is definitely gonna rain soon. Clouds are coming, it's getting dark, you can already feel some sprinkles. (South American language spoken) Mmm, wow that's a burst of
flavor, tastes like lemongrass just being released into your
mouth, that is delicious. (South American language spoken) - [Mark] Okay, completely
natural, this is after we drink the water grain, you
put the red ants on top of it. Wow, completely natural
dish, no seasoning, it's just the ants, that
lemongrass like pop. Oh, I think I felt that ant. - [Mark] You've got like
the crunch of the grain that has been soaking in the
water and then that vibrancy of the ants, the ants are
so powerfully flavored. - [Mark] It's called chebe,
the grain is called chebe. Chase that with some of the guarana. That just tastes like health. And you also have these
little corn chips that you, tastes just like dehydrated ground corn. (chopping) - [Mark] This is one of the ultimate fish of this area of the Amazon. It's such a meaty fish,
this fish is famous because it has ribs,
like literally like ribs. (South American language spoke) She boiled a soup from the
river, right outside their house. She boiled it, looks like
with some chilis, some onions and it looks pretty good. (general chatter) - [Mark] They're actually just eating this and just offered me a bite. Mmmmm. - Bom eh? - Bom, bom. Oh yeah that's wonderful, the
banana is more like plantain it's not sweet and then
that's just like a pure fish, fish broth, salty fish broth. Oh yeah, mmmmm. Obrigado. That's awesome. Like simple, simple. Banana, or plantain fish broth. (tribal drumming) (South American language spoken) - [Mark] And they put it
over a pretty hot fire, the flame is flaming and
yeah that is a beautiful, beautiful fish, it's good
size, that's a family fish. - [Mark] One more beverage
that he just made, this one is the fermented
yuca or cassava I believe. Oh wow, that is sour,
slightly alcoholic tasting but I think just slightly fermented. Mmmm, that's nice. - [Mark] Yeah, I'm sure they
cut the slits into the fish and this is a very local
fish from the river, like right outside of
their house probably. Xaniqi, the name of the fish. Gotta try some of this,
maybe dip that into the soup. Ohh, that's wonderful,
the fish is quite salty. Really smooth in texture,
really oily tasting. She just dished me some of
the cassava into my plate. Oh, to eat with the soup also? The fish is excellent. It's just like simple, just like natural tasting, it is natural. It's great, like creamy
cassava, the fish broth. Whoa, the fish is ready, wow. (island music) (general chatter) - [Mark] And no seasoning. Saboroso? - Saboroso. - This is how he would
eat it, you just take some of the fish, some of the Tambaquil, the grilled fish that's ready. He put some onto his plate
and then mixed in a bunch of the cassava and he's
throwing on some more right now. You can mix it with
the fish and eat as is. No extra seasoning, just pure. The cassava, the fish, I'm
gonna make a plate right now. (laughter) - Tambaquil. (South American language spoken) - [Mark] Those are the ribs right there. Got some of the fish mix
it with that cassava. And you can see these
are the ribs of the fish. Everybody's just grabbing and
everybody's just family here it's amazing and everybody's
just sharing the community, the cultural community of sharing food and enjoying it altogether
with family, this is fantastic. Mmm, that's really good. Just the pure, like all
of the food is so pure. No extra additives, no extra
anything just straight up the ingredients, straight
up the ingredients, it's just like two or three
ingredients mixed together. From the juices, the
fish, the cassava powder, the fish which is just straight
boiled with some onions. This Amazon meal is just focusing on the natural ingredients from right here. That being said, all of the simplicity and all of the like natural
ingredients being said, we did buy some chilis
and brought some chilis, so that would go great with the fish. This is something from Manaus,
this is chili from Manaus. (Father speaking in
South American language) - [Father] Tucupi. - [Mark] Oh there's tucupi in here, which is making it orange. A little bit of this and
I'm gonna try these ribs. If you get a real rack of these ribs, it could actually look like
pork ribs from this fish. This one is a smaller rack. Oh, that is awesome. The fsh itself is outstanding,
so oily, it's such a like pure tasting fish, like not
fishy at all and so many, and then yeah, there's like
barely any bones just the ribs. Check that out. Yeah, look at those rib bones. Like these clean huge bones and that's it and the rest is just like pure meat. (general chatter) That is just wonderful and
then with that chili sauce it's kind of sour and
just like the vibrancy, it's not very spicy but
it does have a vibrancy of chili flavor, that sour flavor, the fumes. - [Camera Crewman] Have
you noticed they don't eat rice it's just the flour. - [Mark] Manioc. - [Camera Crewman] Manioc flour. - [Mark] Oh this one
is fresh off the grill, this is the other half. Back into my gourd, you can
see how oily that fish is. He does like the chili as well. Yes, good. - Tucupi. - Tucupi, tucupi chili sauce. This is just a beautiful
fragrant, fruity, fruitiness. Mash this around, try a piece of cassava. Oh yeah, the cassava's so good yeah. And I believe that this is
where cassava originates, this is native to here. Oh this is for sure where you're
gonna find the best cassava in the world, pretty much
all starches are cassava. In different shape and form. - [Mark] If you can hear,
I'm not sure if you can hear in the background but literally
like just on the river, just a hundred meters
away there's a party, a party boat going down,
you can even hear the music from here but this is just
a village of an amazing, humble family and this is
what's amazing about this experience is that
we're, we came unplanned, we didn't really even announce, we didn't even know what we were gonna do but, so this is just like
completely the way they would eat. Like nothing extra is added,
it's just exactly the way the would eat and the food,
the flavors are not complex, it's just the land, the food,
the abundance of the Amazon in that the ingredients
is what is the highlight and then just this special
time getting to hang out and eat with the family is
spectacular, it's amazing. This has turned into something beautiful. (hollering and trumpet sounds) (South American language spoken) (drum banging) - [Mark] Ah, they're gonna do
a little performance for us, I'm not sure where they
normally do their performance? Oh, the monkey! (drumming and singing begins) - [Mark] That was beautiful
and I love how, this is not a remote village, they're literally
like a kilometer from the city and again you can
even hear the boats, the party boats but what's
amazing about this village is that they're preserving their
cultural traditions and so I was just asking them about
the paint on their bodies and they do that every now and then, it lasts for about 15 days and they, it's ritual, it's
religious, it's cultural. But it's cool to see them as,
I mean even one of the girls has braces so I mean
it's not a remote village but it's cool how they're preserving their traditions and their culture here. (general chatter and laughter) They've surprised us with
a turtle, I'm not sure-- (laughs) Now he just gave it to me so
I'm just carrying a turtle around, oh it's to show Mika. Turtle. (chatter and laughter) (playful screams of the football game) - [Mark] It's been a lot of years, but now is the time in the Amazon, this is great, on the sand pitch. (island music) (chatter and cheering) (laughter) Totally wasted right now, I'm so tired, just drenched in sweat, the
children here are amazing, they're so cool, they're so friendly. Look at the way they're playing with Mika now after the game. They're awesome, they're
so nice to us too. (water pours from bottle) (general chatter) - [Mark] Some of the Guarana, the natural, this is an energy drink, yeah. Ahhh, oh that's what I need. The monkey is drinking
from the same gourd. - [Camera Crewman] That tastes amazing. - [Mark] There's still some
ants floating around in it too. This is the next one, the other one. Mmm, yeah slightly sour,
that does taste amazing, with cassava chips in here. (laughter and water splashing) - [Mark] Dude, they're fast too, yeah. (loud splash and children talking) - [Mark] An after football
swim, the kids are amazing. They are literally climbing
up the entire pole-- Here he comes. (child calling)
(loud splash) I'm definitely not brave
enough for the tree but I got to get in, whoo. (loud splashes) - [Mark] Touch the bottom? - Yeah, I hit the bottom immediately, I'm standing right now. - Oh man, that water feels amazing. (loud splash)
Wow! (loud splash) Oh wow, that is so
refreshing, that's so amazing, this is beautiful
(laughter) They have so much energy. Dude, they are just like
outplaying us at everything. Oh man, you gotta be a little bit careful of piranhas in this water, seriously. There are none here but around
this area they're defini-- - [Man] (distant) On the
other side of the river-- - Oh on the other side of
the river there are piranhas, so this side of the river we
are sort of safe swimming. (loud splash) You guys are champions,
you guys are champions. Okay. - [Mark] This is so beautiful,
the family is so amazing, the peacefulness of this
village and I have to be honest with you when we set out today
we honestly didn't really have a full plan, we were just
gonna try and find a village, come to learn about the Amazon culture and it's just turned into
something spectacular. One of the most memorable
days that I've had ever and on this trip to Brazil. And if you think about the food was great, it was such a learning experience, the drinks were fascinating,
but it was the people, it was the family, it was
the father and mother, it was all of the kids, that
made it just next level. That turned it into such a
memorable, such a special, such a privilege of an experience. Again, thank you to this family, thank you to Guilherme and Raffaela, I'll have their links in
the description box below and oh yeah, and if you
haven't already seen this entire Brazil food and travel series, I'll have the link for
the entire playlist in the description box below so go
check out all of the videos and I'm gonna say goodbye from Manaus, from the heart of the Amazon rainforest and I wanna say a big thank
you for watching this video, please remember to give it a
thumbs up if you enjoyed it, leave a comment below
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good bye from Manaus. See you on the next video.
