Bela Gil: Tomatoes in the morning and papayas at night

The act of eating is primordial in life and brings with it a whole host of meanings. Food feeds the body and the soul but it is also a way of healing, of loving, and of belonging. It is through contact with food that a human being develops their first bonds.

Gilberto Gil understands the power of nutrition. He has experimented widely with food, from fasting and eating only macrobiotics to overindulging at family meals and enjoying food that reminds him of home. <br>

In Gil's family, the act of eating is at the heart of how his children and grandchildren are raised. Sitting around the table brings the family together.

Bela Gil explains that she learned her love of food from her father and she is now a prominent chef. She shares some details about her father's relationship with food.

“He learned a lot about nutrition by cooking his own food, by becoming more aware of his diet, his nutrition."

"I remember when he'd come home from international tours, after being away for a long time, and he'd come home and fast for a few days."

“My father loves chocolate. My mother tells the story that he once had a huge bar and he ate it all in one go. He ended up in hospital with a kidney stone. Perhaps not because of that bar of chocolate but he did eat the whole bar."

"His diet nowadays is well-rounded, very varied, and very healthy. He essentially eats homemade food every day. Rice, beans, farofa [toasted cassava flour] obviously. I think that my father is the only person I've ever seen eat farofa with chopsticks."

Gilberto Gil's daughter Bela is a writer, presenter, and natural food chef. Born in Salvador on January 3, 1988, she is a child from Gil's marriage to Flora Gil.

The only one of her siblings to venture into the world of gastronomy, Bela always talked a lot with her father about all things diet related, learning from him how important food is.

"He's always focused a lot on how people eat food. Not just what they eat but how they eat. This was also very much for our food education."

"He loves homemade food, cooked in a pot, Bahian food. Efó [a green-leaf soup], which is also a typical dish. He asked me if I knew how to make it but I'd never heard of it. I made it and he loved it. He took one forkful and said, 'Wow! That's just like your great grandmother used to make."

"Food plays this key unifying role in our family. Anything can turn into a lunch, into a dinner."