Cala a Boca Galvão!* – Vanilla/Kiwi Kanten Jelly

And four years later, here it comes again, the FIFA World Cup – good times when everybody can leave their jobs early to watch football… And the day care will be closed, and you can lie down on the streets and no car will be running over you, because everybody is in front of a TV set somewhere.

Since I know absolutely NOTHING about the sport, I do what I can to be cheerful and support my country, making yellow-green desserts and at least pretend I’m watching the match.

I’m happy to do it, and I’ll be joining everyone else in the spirit, but my own way:  trying to memorize the names of the players, my friend Patricia Scarpin explaining to me things like who’s that guy in black in the middle of the field,  and convincing my daughter that there is no such thing as a PINK team for her to cheer for.
*EXPLAINING:  For those who do not know, Galvão Bueno is the leading broadcaster of FIFA’s World Cup and other major sporting events in Brazil. The problem is that he is, how can I put it … quite annoying.  Speaks too much and too loud, has the most idiotic opinions, cheers and screams. Anyway, most people find the Galvão a bit irritating, and if you look closely in the stadium audience,  it’s almost guaranteed you will find a Brazilian with a huge poster with the words “Shut your mouth Galvão!” Which is ALWAYS focused on all TVs in the world, but just a Brazilian will understand. 😉

Vanilla and Kiwi Kanten Jelly (serves 6 )

This recipe comes from the very nice blog Superziper.

I do not like regular gelatin, but I love agar-agar (or kanten jelly) – it has a very interesting texture, more firm, and hardens very quickly, even outside the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

* 5g agar-agar / kanten (Japanese gelatin made of seaweed)
* 4 kiwis
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1 / 2 cup sweetened condensed milk
* 1 / 2 cup milk
* 1 vanilla bean

Peel and slice the kiwi fruit. Beat one of them in a blender with 1/ 2 cup water. Strain, mix sugar and cook in a small saucepan until it’s clear and sugar has dissolved. Pour into a cup, and complete with water. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine condensed milk, milk, vanilla seeds and pod. Bring to boil for 1 minute. Remove the pod and set aside.

Cook the agar-agar dissolved in two cups of water Americans and boil for 3 minutes.

Mix 1 cup of boiled agar with the  kiwi fruit juice and 1 cup with the vanilla mixture.
In a wet loaf pan, pour the kiwi fruit juice mixed with gelatin, arrange the kiwi slices and let it harden a bit (I put in the refrigerator for 1 minute). Carefully pour the mixture of gelatin with vanilla over the first layer. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
To unmold, dip the bottom of the pan in hot water for a few seconds and turn onto a plate.

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