Dinner at the Roberts:

Wednesday night, Dom had arranged for us to have dinner at the home and cooking school of Yara Castro Roberts and her husband Richard.  Yara is from Minas Gerais and the daughter of a journalist.  Richard was born in Paris the son of a French woman and an American father.  He was raised in New York City.  He began his career at DuPont, worked in M&A for Diamond Shamrock and others living in New York, with stints in a number of places including Mexico City. 

He is 75 or 76 and we guessed her age to be late 60s perhaps.  They have one daughter and two grandchildren who live in Vancouver.  They are both energetic and engaging.  They purchased their present home in Paraty many years  ago and about 10 years ago moved here and began the business of inviting groups into their home for fine dining and a discussion o local history, food and traditions.  They told us they had done this for over 4000 people.  Their home is across the street from the rear entrance to our hotel.  The evening began with caiparinhas.  Richard gave us a lesson in his particularly way to make them.

I passed on the caiparinha and had vino tinto.  Yara served fresh heart of palms as a cocktail snack.  There were delicious and different from the kind we get at home that has been preserved in brine, which I do not favor.  The first course was an appetizer made from heart of palm accompanied with shredded heart of palm.  We had a green salad with star fruit.  The main course was a delicious corvina – sea bass – stuffed with crab meat in a pepper and coconut milk sauce.  Dessert was  a caiparinha mousse.

Here is a picture of her living room, dining room with the table set for the evening.