EXBERLINER Issue 170, April 2018

BRAZIL IN BERLIN
ROUND-UP
Best of Brazil
Where Brazilians
(and the Germans who
love them) drink, shop,
sing, wax and more.
Illustrations by Ellie Dempsey
Believe the caip
You may knock a caipirinha back on a Friday
night (or any other night of the week, no
judgement here), but does that sugary drink
in your hand actually do justice to Brazil’s
national cocktail? Chances are it doesn’t.
The caipirinha’s exact origins are as unclear
as your head after a night spent drinking it –
one popular account says the recipe evolved
from a Spanish flu remedy in the early 1900s.
What we do know is that a true caipirinha
contains just four ingredients: the fermented
sugarcane spirit cachaça, limes, refined white
sugar and ice. Fizzy water, as you’ll find in
many a Berlin “Caipi”, is a strict no-no.
So do any caipirinhas here pass muster?
Ask a Brazilian in Berlin where to get the
best version of the drink, and they’ll either
tell you to fly to Brazil or come to their flat.
Press the issue and they’ll mention Café do
Brasil, the 15-year-old Brazilian restaurant in
Kreuzberg 61. The food, while unquestionably
authentic, is on the pricey side. But
come for their Thursday night drink special
and you’ll get a real-deal caipirinha for only
€3.50 (€4.80 all other days). With a hefty
pour of Velho Barreiro cachaça, the bartenders
skimp neither on quality nor quantity
– just one of these is strong enough to have
you staggering back to Platz der Luftbrücke
U-Bahn, dreaming of the beaches of Rio. —FE
Café do Brasil, Dudenstr. 2, Kreuzberg,
Tue-Sun 16-24
If you can’t say it,
sing it
Want to pick up Portuguese without putting
pen to paper? Rehearsing weekly at Charlottenburg’s
Musik Schule City West, the
18-year-old Brasil Ensemble will have your
tongue rolling and hips swaying. Grooving
behind her electric keyboard, Brazilian
pianist and conductor Andrea Botelho leads
17 women and 13 men, the majority of them
German, through Portuguese-language
bossa nova, samba and choro classics. Correct
pronunciation is a must, and she will
call you out on it! It’s not all class rules
however – the group feels more like a crosscontinental
family, helping one another
out with stressing those nasal vowels, and
indulging in some light-hearted mocking
between pieces. Listening to them harmonise
as they step-click to the rhythm of the
rebelo drum – part of the choir’s very own
live-band – you really are transported to a
sunnier climate. They’re currently seeking
experienced sopranos and baritones, so if
you fancy yourself the next João Gilberto,
head to Brasil Ensemble’s website and signup
for an audition. Mic-shy? Since 2016, the
Musikschule also offers lessons in Brazilian
piano, guitar and percussion. Or simply
come along to a performance – the next is
April 24 at Ufafabrik as part of International
Tag der Choro. —ED
More info at brasil-ensemble.de
Forum or
against ’em?
If you’re at all interested in Brazil in Berlin,
the first thing you’ll come across after a
quick online search is the 11-year-old intercultural
centre Forum Brasil. Located in a
leafy Kreuzberg Hinterhof with a winding
outdoor staircase that connects the events
E
room with the office upstairs, the volunteerrun
non-profit definitely gives the illusion
of a welcoming spiritual space. Just beware:
follow the website’s invitation to “just come
by!” during office hours and you might, like
us, end up getting thoroughly chastised
by imperious German manager Martin
Titzck. The cognitive behavioural therapist
directs the forum along with Afro-Brazilian
dancer, choreographer and candomblé high
priest (see page 10) Murah Soares, and
both reacted to our repeated interview
requests with unexpected hostility. On the
other hand, at a Friday night jam session
we managed to crash, the atmosphere was
relaxed and warm, with a mostly-German
crowd of all ages clapping along to choro
led by Eudinho Soares and Andrea Botelho
of Musikschule City West (see left). Other
events range from queer theatre performances
to Brazilian Portuguese lessons
(€42/month) to cooking classes (page 20).
Sign up online for a German-language intro
to Brazilian culture, but just don’t ask too
many questions... —RB
Möckernstr. 72, Kreuzberg
A night at
Niemeyer’s
Oscar Niemeyer is mostly known for his
masterwork, the capital city of Brasília.
But the 20th-century Brazilian modernist
architect also left his mark in Berlin’s
Hansaviertel, the quiet neighbourhood at
the northwestern edge of Tiergarten. Invited
as part of Interbau 1957, his contribution to
the housing development it spawned, which
also includes buildings by Le Corbusier and
Walter Gropius, is a geometric, eight-storey
block of flats with his signature V-shaped
ground-floor columns. The Oscar-Niemeyer-
Haus may not be as dazzling as his Catedral
de Brasília, but it does sport some quirky
features, such as the adjacent tower housing
an elevator only connected to the building
Atelier Eichhorn
16 EXBERLINER 170