Walking through the narrow, winding streets of Maré in Brazil, one will encounter a mass of humanity, with pedestrians and small motorbikes fighting for space. Busy storefronts and endless cinderblock homes line the way, while masses of electrical wires crisscross overhead and dirty water flows under your feet as you walk through the neighborhood.
A tiny restaurant called Fafá Hamburgueria, a small, shockingly classy burger joint with a few tables, sits just off a side street.
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Fafá Hamburgueria storefront in Maré, Brazil.Michael Fox/The World
It’s one of 16 restaurants participating in the Maré Food Festival, which has been running throughout October. The goal is to showcase the area’s incredible food. It also aims to challenge people’s stereotypes of the favela as a hotbed of crime and violence.
“Food is something that connects people and brings them together,” said Mariana Aleixo. She was born and raised in Maré and runs Redes de Maré, a community development NGO that organizes the festival. “With this festival, we are trying to challenge the narrative around the favela.”
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Mariana Aleixo was born and raised here in Maré. She runs Redes de Maré, a community development NGO that puts on the festival.Michael Fox/The World
Maria de Fatima Alves de Sousa, owner of a hamburger restaurant, said she’s tired of the favela stereotype.
“Nobody messes with anyone’s stuff here. No one steals from anyone,” she said. “People think that Maré is dangerous, but it’s not; Maré is incredible. Everything I’ve achieved in life has happened here.”
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Maria de Fatima Alves de Sousa shares how much the food festival means to her business.Michael Fox/The World
She held back tears while she talked about what it means to participate in this food festival.
“I can’t even sleep at night,” she said. “When they told me I was invited to participate, I started crying. It’s incredible. Just incredible,” she said.
Her signature dish is called a “Burger Supreme.” It’s like a Philly cheesesteak with mayo and barbecue sauce on a grilled baguette.
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The “Burger Supreme” is like a Philly cheesesteak with mayo and barbecue sauce on a grilled baguette.Michael Fox/The World
A blue box by the front door lets patrons vote for their favorite meals.
The reality is that favelas can be dangerous for those who aren’t from the neighborhood. Walking from one restaurant to another, you can encounter people with guns selling drugs on several street corners.
Many weekday festival-goers are from Maré. On weekends, the NGO running the festival offers van tours to restaurants for people from outside the neighborhood who likely wouldn’t travel there on their own.
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A look down the street in the Maré favela.Michael Fox/The World
“I thought it was a great experience,” said Luiz Ramos, a Rio resident who joined the tour one weekend. “I saw great-quality food with people with incredible histories and their own businesses.”
A short walk away was another restaurant, Braseiro, where Augusto Cesar Trindade da Silva fried up burgers. He’s working on their specialty called the Nordestino, or Northeastern. It’s the creation of da Silva and his best friend, Tiago da Conceição Cordeiro.
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Augusto Cesar Trindade da Silva & Tiago da Conceição Cordeiro with their specialty burger.Michael Fox/The World
“We have the sauce,” said da Silva. “Salted meat, which my mother makes, an Angus beef patty, curd cheese and onion rings.”
The burgers are huge, and one bite washes the customer in a kaleidoscope of unique flavors.
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Braseiro, in Maré, Brazil, speciality Nordestino burger.Michael Fox/The World
A 10-minute walk away, in a former one-car garage, is Favelas RJ in Rio de Janeiro. The specialty there is slow-cooked, boneless beef ribs on garlic bread, smothered in cheese.
“It’s really good,” said Shirlei Rosendo, who was born and raised in Maré. “It brings back memories.”
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One of Favelas RJ’s specialty dishes consists of slow-cooked, boneless beef ribs on garlic bread, smothered in cheese.Michael Fox/The World
Much of the food in the festival has roots in northeastern Brazil, where many of the residents came from. This is their comfort food. Favelas RJ owner Verônica de Moraes Pires said the festival has already more than doubled their sales this month.
“For me, it’s been incredible, really incredible,” she said. “Like nothing I’ve ever done before.”
As of Oct. 23, 80 people have participated in the weekend van tours this month, so far.
Bia Giacomo, from the NGO putting on the festival, said the hope was that they would become multipliers.
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A patron tries Braseiro’s specialty burger, “Nordestino.”Michael Fox/The World
“They become opinion makers,” she said. “Because, if tomorrow they hear someone talking about Maré, just because of some type of violence there, they’ll say, ‘No, I’ve been there. And it’s more than that. There are restaurants, businesses, workers and students.’”
And they have found multipliers in high places. Many top Rio cooks have participated, and the festival was recently named Latin America’s ‘Best Culinary Festival’ in this year’s World Culinary Awards.