Ceasa Market – By Mandy Dobson

If you enjoy open markets, the weekly Saturday morning market at Ceasa is certainly one not to miss. In January it is rather quiet but as the year gets into gear again, so the usual vendors return from their well deserved annual leave.

From early in the morning, there is a bustling atmosphere of vendors selling their wares, customers gently forcing their way through the crowded alleys, trailing metal shopping trolleys, and the young lads who sell their services as porters, pushing purloined supermarket trolleys, weighed down with the week’s purchases. By-standers view the activity…The orange sellers always set up at one end of the open sided shed, vying with each other to sell their sacks of oranges.  

There are four stalls that sell fruit and vegetable by the kilo, for a set price.  For example one can fill a plastic bag with two potatoes, three onions, four carrots, one pumpkin, with several heads of garlic and be charged by the kilo.   On the whole all the produce is a pleasure to behold, well presented, fresh, clean and hygienic.   There is a wide variety of local produce ranging from the delicious Cerrado nuts, the Baru, to Galinha Caipira, (free range chicken);  local honey sold in litre bottles for R$15;  fresh green salads, herbs and unusual vegetables are often to be found on oriental stalls.  

There are several areas in which to buy fresh and dried herbs and spices with glorious mixtures for seasoning food.   Brazil must lead the way in the number of types of beans available – one stall has the monopoly on this front.   Local and home made cheese, bread, cakes and biscuits are sold.   There are two large delicatessen type shops selling items often not found in the supermarkets.   On another corner, an elderly, white moustached gentleman always has his large table filled with trays of fresh eggs and a variety of other products.  

There are also several flower stalls.The vendors are delightful and are occasionally willing to strike a bargain!Either before or after the morning’s shopping a delicious pastel with a drink of sugar cane juice can be had in the resident café.

Next door to Ceasa is Central Flores, a large building housing many different “stalls” selling all manner of plants, trees and cut flowers, together with flower pots, oasis and other flower arranging/gardening accoutrements.   Several stall holders prepare beautiful bouquets or create exotic and unusual flower arrangements at your home. 

By now the morning will pretty much have disappeared, but Super Adega (an enormous whole sale shop, (best price in town for Havaianas) and the Paraguay Market are in the same vicinity!

If you would like to visit CEASA it is best to arrive by 09:00 and take plenty of small R$ notes.

Things to do in Brasilia?
Brazilian music culture doesn’t stop at samba and bossa nova, and one interesting style that you can discover here is choro. Born in the late nineteenth century of a popular form of music inspired by various musical forms of the day, choro is hard to define, but its not far from jazz, with improvisation important, and the rhythm, once designed to get people dancing, gets you tapping your feet.
We are lucky that Brasilia has its own Clube de Choro which, although not a large hall, is a famous venue and attracts excellent musicians. Guest musicians play on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights ; get there about 21h30, the concert starts half an hour later, and local musicians, sometimes from the Clube’s own school, play on Saturdays.
Buy your tickets in advance from the office on site (eixo monumtental, its indicated, past the TV tower and just before the convention centre), open every afternoon. Or just turn up at 21h and take a chance. Tickets 20 reais weekdays and 10 reais Saturdays. You can see the program on their website www.clubedochoro.com.br
Another venue where you can hear live choro is the Senhoritas Café in CLN 408 (Asa Norte, residential side of the road), every Thursday night as from 19h. They charge 5 reais for the musicians on top of your food/drink bill.
See you there!