Brazilian cuisine

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A street vender selling Afro-Brazilian acarajé in Salvador, Brazil.

The cuisine of Brazil, like Brazil itself, varies greatly by region. This diversity reflects the country's mix of native Amerindians, Portuguese, Africans, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Poles, Syrians, Lebanese and Japanese among others which has created a national cooking style marked by the preservation of regional differences. The national dish of Brazil is feijoada completa - a meat and bean stew, akin to the French cassoulet.

Brazil's main cuisine regions

A Southern Brazilian breakfast

North

Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins

The cuisine of this region is heavily influenced by indigenous cuisine. In state of Pará there are several typical dishes:

Pato no tucupi(Duck in tucupi) - This is one of the most famous dishes from Pará. Is´s very associated to the Círio de Nazaré, a big celebration that is like Christmas for Paraenses. The dih is made with tucupi(yellow broth extracted from cassava and therefore needs to be cooked over a week),the duck, after cooking, is cut into pieces and boiled in tucupi, where is the sauce for some time. The jambu is boiled in water with salt, drained and put on the duck. It is served with white rice and manioc flour.

Tacacá - This is a really tasty dish, typical from the north of Brazil, only exist in Pará. Is a indigean dish that is a king of porridge, that is based on tucupi with shrimp and jambú(Acmella oleracea) and, also, garlic and chili pepper. The dish is selled by street vender called "tacacazeira", very common im Belém do Pará. Caruru - Made with okra, dried shrimp,alfavaca and chicory, dry and fine flour and oil from palm (dendê)After the boiled okra, the green sauce and shrimp in the water, is added to the flour and make itself homogeneous. After that, add it to the okras well drained, the shrimp already refogado with all seasonings and, finally, the oil palm.

Vatapá - This is a dish also made in Bahia, but in the state of Pará does not take fish or peanuts, or Cashew nut. When the broth cooking the heads and the shells of shrimp with salt scented alfavaca, chicory, garlic and green smell, add up wheat flour and / or rice, resulting in a mess. Furthermore, if the pure coconut milk, and boiled shrimp has palm oil.

Maniçoba - The dish looks doubtful, takes at least a week to be done, as the leaf of maniva (of the cassava plant), after ground, should be boiled for at least four days with the intent to remove the hydrocyanic acid that contains . After that is added charqui, fat, tripe, calf's foot jelly, ear, foot and salted pork ribs, sausages, sausages and bunkers, basically the same ingredients of a feijoada completa. It is served with white rice, flour water and hot peppers to taste.

There are also a several kinds of fishes and seafood that the citizens usually eat in their meals:

Northeast

Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe

Geographically the region comprises a narrow, fertile coastal plain with abundant rainfall where much of the population is found, an equally narrow transition zone called the Agreste, and a large semi-arid region called the Sertão, which is dominated by large cattle ranches. All kinds of tropical produce are grown on the coastal plain, with sugarcane and cacao being particularly abundant.

Moqueca, a Bahia's dish.

Within the state of Bahia the predominant cuisine is Afro-Bahian, which evolved from plantation cooks improvising on African, Indian, and traditional Portuguese dishes using locally available ingredients.

Typical dishes include vatapá, moqueca (both having seafood and palm oil), and acarajé (a salted muffin made with white beans, onion and fried in palm oil (dendê) which is filled with dried shrimp, red pepper and caruru (mashed okra with ground cashew nut, smoked shrimp, onion, pepper and garlic). The main staple is a plate of white rice and black beans but other common foods include farofa, paçoca, canjica, pamonha and quibebe.

In the remainder of the coastal plains there is less African influence on the food, but seafood, shellfish, Coconut and tropical fruit are menu staples. Commonly eaten tropical fruits in the North-eastern region include mango, papaya, guava, orange, passionfruit, pineapple, sweetsop, "hog-plum", Soursop, and cashew (both the fruit and the nut).

Inland, in the arid, drought stricken cattle-growing and farm lands, foods typically include ingredients like (sun) dried meat, rice, beans, goat, manioc and corn meal. A popular dish is called Caruru do Par. They use every part of the bull.

Southeast

Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo

Pão de queijo with coffee and a small cachaça bottle; typical products from Minas Gerais. The half-bitten pão de queijo over the saucer shows the inside aspect of it.

The Southeastern region is the industrial heart of Brazil, and is home to several distinctive cooking styles for which Brazil is probably best-known.

In Minas Gerais the regional dishes include maize, pork, beans, chicken (including the very typical dish frango com quiabo, or "chicken with okra") and local soft ripened traditional cheeses. In Rio, feijoada (a black bean and meat stew rooted in the ingenuity of African slaves working in the plantations of colonial Brazil), is popular especially as a Wednesday or Saturday lunch. Also consumed frequently is feijão com arroz, or rice and beans. Traditionally, black beans are prepared in Rio, rajadinho or carioquinha (brown) beans in São Paulo, and either in Minas Gerais. Another typical food in São Paulo is the Virado à Paulista, that consists of rice, tutu de feijão (a paste of beans and manioc flour), sautéed collard greens (couve) and pork chops, typically bisteca, the pork equivalent of the T-bone steak. It is usually accompanied by pork rinds, bits of sausage, a fried egg and a fried banana.

Feijoada, from Rio de Janeiro, is the national dish.

The cuisine of São Paulo shows the influence of European and Middle Eastern immigrants. The majority of immigrants in São Paulo arrived from Italy, along with many from Portugal, Japan, the Middle East, Spain, and other nations. Hence, it is possible to find a wide array of cuisines. In the city of São Paulo, pizza is a popular dish, and sushi has entered the mainstream and can be found in regular, non-Japanese restaurants. Many Brazilians eat pasta as well.

In Espírito Santo, there is significant Italian and German influence in local dishes both savory and sweet. The state dish, though, is of Amerindian origin, and is called Moqueca Capixaba (a tomato and fish stew prepared in a clay pot). The cuisine of Minas Gerais is also strongly influential there, with many restaurants serving that fare. Farofa (a dish of toasted manioc flour with small amounts of flavoring ingredients such as pork, onions, hard boiled eggs or different vegetables), polenta, couve (collard greens), chouriço (a type of sausage that is less spicy than its cousin chorizo), tutu à mineira (a paste of beans and manioc flour) and fried bananas are examples of popular dishes from Minas Gerais.

South

Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul

The Italian polenta is very popular in the Southern cuisine.

The gaucho (cowboy of the pampa) contributed to the national cuisine with dishes made with sun- or salt-dried meats and churrasco (a Brazilian counterpart of the barbecue), a meal of grilled meats in over-sized skewers.

The traditional food from the state of Paraná is the barreado, boiled meat, made in ceramic pans, often put under the soil to boil with the sunheat. And is called comida

The European immigrants (primarily from Germany, Italy, Poland and Portugal) were accustomed to a wheat-based diet, and introduced wine, leaf vegetables, and dairy products into Brazilian cuisine. When potatoes were not available they discovered how to use the native sweet manioc as a replacement.

Churrasco is the typical meal of Rio Grande do Sul.

Other dishes

  • Rice and beans is an extremely popular dish, considered basic at table; a tradition Brazil shares with several Caribbean nations.
  • Salgadinhos are small savory snacks, mostly sold in corner shops and a staple at working class and lower middle-class familiar celebrations. There are many types of filled and fried pastries:
    • Pão de Queijo (literally "cheese bread"), a typical Brazilian snack, is a small, soft roll made of manioc flour and cheese.
    • Coxinha is a chicken croquette shaped like a chicken thigh.
Coxinha is a popular Brazilian snack.
    • Kibe (or quibe): extremely popular, it corresponds to the Syrian dish kibbeh and was brought to mainstream Brazilian culture by Syrian and Lebanese immigrants.
    • Sfiha: Despite being a more recent addition to Brazilian cuisine they are nowadays easily found everywhere, specially in southern and southeastern regions.
    • Pastéis are small half-moon shaped pastries with a wide variety of fillings (sometimes also shaped big and in a squared form). Similar to Spanish fried empanadillas, but of Japanese origin (and brought to Brazil by the Japanese diaspora).
    • Empada are snacks that resenble pot pies in a small scale. Filled with a mix of palm hearts,peas, flour and chicken or shrimp.
  • Cuscuz branco is a dessert consisting of milled tapioca cooked with coconut milk and sugar and is the couscous equivalent of rice pudding.
  • Açaí, Cupuaçu, and many other tropical fruits are shipped from the Amazon all over the country and consumed in smoothies.
  • Cheeses: the dairy-producing state of Minas Gerais is known for such cheeses as queijo Minas, a soft, mild-flavored fresh white cheese usually sold packaged in water; requeijão, a mildly salty, silky-textured, spreadable cheese sold in glass jars and eaten on bread, and Catupiry, a soft processed cheese sold in a distinctive round wooden box.
  • Pinhão is the pine nut of the Araucaria angustifolia, a common tree of the highlands of southern Brazil. The nuts are boiled and eaten as a snack in the winter months. It is typically eaten during the festas juninas.

Also noteworthy are:

Caipirinha, a national drink.
  • Pizza is also extremely popular. It is usually made in a wood-fire oven with a thin, flexible crust, very little sauce, and a number of interesting toppings. In addition to the "traditional" Italian pizza toppings, items like guava jam and cheese, banana and cinnamon, catupiry and chicken, and chocolate are available. Many Brazilians from the northern states enjoy putting ketchup on pizza, and even mayonnaise and mustard may be added. Although, in the state of São Paulo and the southern states where Italian influence is strong, this practice is considered "almost insulting" or "culturally demeaning." Some regions also drizzle olive oil onto pizzas.

Typical and popular desserts

Typical Cakes (Bolos)

The Brazilian chocolate candy brigadeiro.
  • Pão de mel (honey cake, usually covered with melted chocolate)
  • Bolo de cenoura (carrot cake with chocolate cover made with butter and cocoa)
  • Bolo prestígio (chocolate cake with a coconut and milk cream filling, covered with brigadeiro)
  • Bolo de fubá (corn flour cake)
  • Bolo de milho (Brazilian-style corn cake)
  • Bolo de maracujá (passion fruit cake)
  • Bolo de mandioca (cassava cake)
  • Bolo de queijo (literally "cheese cake")
  • Bolo de laranja (orange cake)
  • Bolo de banana (banana cake is spread with cinnamon)

Other popular and/or traditional desserts

A Beijinho with its traditional clove.

Common international or European-style desserts

Restaurant styles

A simple and usually inexpensive option, which is also advisable for vegetarians, is comida a quilo or comida por quilo restaurants (literally "food by the kilo") where food is paid for by weight. Another common style is the all-you-can-eat restaurant where customers pay a prix fixe. In both types (known collectively as "self-services") customers usually assemble the dishes of their choice from a large buffet.

Rodizio is a common style of service, in which a prix fixe is paid, and servers circulate with food. This is common in churrascarias, resulting in an all-you-can-eat meat barbecue.

Vegetarian

Although many traditional dishes are prepared with meat or fish, it is not difficult to live on vegetarian food as well. The country has a rich supply of all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Even on the streets, one can bargain cheese buns or Pão de Queijo.

Yet, vegetarianism is not common in Brazil. Most Brazilians are not used to vegetarians. Not every restaurant will provide vegetarian dishes and some seemingly vegetarian meals may turn out to include unwanted ingredients. Comida por quilo and all-you-can eat restaurants continuously prepare a wide range of fresh dishes and one can more easily find food there that satisfies dietary restrictions.

See also

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