Papal menu planners try to keep it simple yet sweet for World Youth Day

(17 July, 2013) Sweet and simple: That's the menu plan for Pope Francis when he stays at a church-run residence during his July 22-29 visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for World Youth Day, (WYD). However, Good Counsel Sister Terezinha Fernandes, who is in charge of the kitchen at the Sumare Residence, said that when she was dreaming up the dishes, she had to hold herself back not to let the table fare get too fancy. Meals will consist of rice and beans, and some Brazilian specialties like cheese bread and "doce de leite" -- a dessert made from sweetened milk, she told “Avvenire”the Italian Catholic newspaper on Tuesday,( July 16).
About 30 visiting cardinals will be staying at the same residence and eating from the same menu in the common dining room, said the nun. Sister Terezinha said they will be welcoming the pope ,as he requested them to do with simplicity but also with plenty of "boundless joy."
At Sumare, Pope Francis will stay in the same room -- number five -- that Blessed Pope John Paul II stayed in when he visited Brazil in 1980 and in 1997. The pope's room will be on the first floor of the two-story residence. The freshly renovated room with cream-colored walls, has a single bed, a mini-fridge, a desk and chair, coat rack, rocking chair, night stand and telephone.