Our Story
Hi! My name is Polyana, and I am the owner and director of Viare Travel, an incoming travel agency in Brazil.
I was born in Brazil, but raised in the United States. I have been living in Brazil since 2008, and for the past 9 years, have dedicated my life to tourism initiatives in Brazil. In 2016, I founded my company, Viare Travel, which works with curated, sustainable travel experiences around the country, for people from all over the world. I am incredibly passionate about my country: our people, our landscapes, and our customs and traditions - all of which culminate in a uniquely Brazilian experience - and which include, of course - our food.
I am also one of those people who travels to eat. And then when I come home, I return determined to recreate the meals I had on my trip, to reminisce over the destination, the people I met there, and the stories I was told about the food. I feel cooking becomes even more special when you understand the story behind the dish. And so, as a supplement to trips we sell through our agency, the idea for creating a cookbook highlighting all of these aspects of food culture in Brazil, has always been in the back of my mind. To send clients recipes so they can recreate what they experienced on their travels throughout Brazil.
With the Covid-19 Pandemic, all tourism has stalled, and nobody knows when we will be welcoming travelers again – especially those in more remote regions. And this is how this idea returned to me, and I would love to share these traditions with more than just our clients. It is important to continue to spread our culture, now more than ever.
My agency has had to cut costs all over the place, and those who have welcomed our travelers so lovingly in the past, have also had their livelihoods put on hold. The production of this book, would allow me to partially bring my team back on board, bring visibility to the communities who have always shared their traditions with us, as well as involve friends and family from around the world in adapting these recipes for the final users.
The Book
The book will have about 50 recipes from all over Brazil, but most importantly, these will be recipes donated to us by those who cook your meals and take you to experience our cuisine, when you’re traveling. Small inn, and restaurant owners and cooks, local community groups who welcome tourists to their homes, lodge owners, and tour guides. You will learn about these peoples’ stories, as well as have recipes to recreate their dishes in your own home.
This is Flávia, from Quintal de Mãe, a restaurant in Paraty that serves up splendid caipirinhas and offers a culinary workshop using all local ingredients from small producers.
All recipes will be tested outside of Brazil – we have selected friends and cooks our team knows and trusts from all over the world. This will guarantee that no matter where you are in the world, you will be able to recreate your dish, and will include techniques to adapt substitute ingredients.
In order to bring this book to life, and help those who have donated their time, stories and recipes, we need to raise funds. With the travel industry at a standstill, I have finally found the time to write this book, and if this sounds like something you’re interested in, I would love if you could help support the production of the book by purchasing a copy at an early bird deal.
In Summary, this book will be:
- A collection of recipes created by locals from around Brazil, who are in
the travel industry or who have welcomed travelers in their
cooperatives, restaurants and homes; - A book of stories written about these locals, local food culture, and regional peculiarities;
- A production of a travel agency and our partners and friends around the world, who are obsessed with Brazil, food and travel;
- A socially responsible product – part of the revenue in the book sale
will go as alternative income to the travel agency, the other, to social
institutions that assist in community based tourism and collaborative
food related projects in Brazil (see Use of Funds for more on this).
This book is for those who:
- Love to cook recipes that transport you to unique destinations
- Enjoy reading about different cultures (and especially food cultures)
- Have been to Brazil and really loved the food
- Would like to visit Brazil soon, and want to explore the cuisine before traveling
- Enjoy aspects of Brazilian culture in general
- Want to support a local business and communities affected by the stall in tourism because of the global Covid-19 pandemic
Who's on our Team?
Part of our team, on our retreat last year at a small farm that produces their own beer, and welcomes travelers to learn about organic production of PANCs (non-conventional food plants). We're a remote team, so getting together once a year is always an incredible experience for all!
I am fortunate enough to have an incredible team, as well as friends and family spread across the globe who are willing to help out with this endeavor.
First there is our agency staff here in Brazil, who will help with photo and video editing (we have a photographer on our team), text editing (nothing like a travel ops person to point out every little detail), researching, sourcing recipes, and writing (if you like the language of this page, you'll enjoy the writing in the book). We are hiring a professional designer to create the layout for the book to have optimal readability.
Then, there is my brother, Fernando - who is based in the United States, and will head up recipe testing, adapting, and logistics. He's an amateur cook and cookbook enthusiast, who has been inspired by our mother - who creates incredible Brazilian meals, using ingredients found in American grocery stores! He'll also be receiving and shipping all books printed for US delivery.
Finally, there is my network of friends around the globe who will also help with recipe testing and adapting ingredients. We have budgeted for a small stipend for all this testing to take place so that the meals will be feasible, no matter where you live.
When will I get the book?
Expected Launch Date – Early November 2020 (this is when ebooks will be sent out)
Expected Delivery Date – Early December (guaranteed in time for the holidays!)
FAQs
- How many recipes will be in the book?
- We are working on collecting recipes, but for now, our estimate is there will be no less than 40 recipes in the book, and for costing purposes, we will not surpass 55 recipes. The book will be around 150-200 pages. The print version will be a hard cover, coffee table-type, special edition book.
- How many copies will you be printing?
- We are costing the books for a minimum of 200 printed copies. Anything sold after this, will have a discounted price at the printers for us, and so 60% of all revenue made on the sales of the book after 200 copies, will go towards supporting community projects which support sustainable tourism and food traditions preservation initiatives in Brazil.
- Where will the book be shipped?
- Print editions can be shipped around the world. Addresses in the continental United States include shipping in the price of the book. Shipping for addresses outside the United States will incur a shipping charge calculated. From our preliminary research, we will do our best to print your copies in your own country to keep our shipping's carbon footprint down, and will guarantee your shipping costs will be no higher than US$10 per book purchased. If you purchase the package with the ingredients and live outside the United States, this may incur additional fees.
- Why aren’t you printing the book in Brazil?
- Costs for shipping from Brazil to several countries around the world are quite expensive. From our preliminary research, we found most orders will come from the United States, and shipping from the country to other parts of the world is relatively inexpensive and reliable, we chose to print there, to keep the final price of sale to a minimum. All other production will be done in Brazil – from our designer, to photography editing, video creation, to actual writing and editing. Some recipe testing will also be done in Brazil.
- Which initiatives will be supported?
- Besides our agency's staff, all organizations that donate recipes, will be cited in the book, and the PDF edition will have links to these organizations’ direct sites or social media pages. Our recipe contributors will all be supported with citations and the international visibility we hope this production will bring.
