Culture

The population of Brazil is a racial mix of native Amerindians, Portuguese, Africans, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Syrians, Lebanese and Japanese among others. This has created a national cooking style marked by the preservation of regional differences.

Cuisine Regions

North

The region is known as Amazônia for it includes a large part of the rain forest, and tributaries flowing into the Amazon River. Culturally, the Amazon basin is heavily populated by native Indians or people of mixed Indian and Portuguese ancestry who live on a diet of fish, root vegetables such as manioc, yams, and peanuts, plus palm or tropical fruit.

The cuisine of this region is heavily influenced by indigenous cuisine. Popular dishes include Picadinho de Jacaré (a meal made from alligator meat), Tacacá and Açaí.

Northeast

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.

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, and tropical fruit are menu staples. Commonly eaten tropical fruits in the Northeastern region include mango, papaya, guava, orange, passionfruit, pineapple, sweetsop, hog-plum 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.

Central-West

A region comprising dry open savannas or prairies with wooded terrain in the north. The famous Pantanal, one of the finest hunting and fishing regions on Earth, is also located in the Central-Western region of Brazil. A fruit called pequi is very popular in Goiás cuisine.

Fish, beef and pork from the vast ranches of the region dominate the menu, along with harvested crops of soybean, rice, maize and manioc.

Southeast

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 and local soft ripened cheeses. In Rio, feijoada (a simmered bean and meat dish of Carioca origin), is popular especially as a Wednesday or Saturday luncheon. Also consumed frequently is arroz e feijão, 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.

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

In Espírito Santo, there is significant Italian and German influence in local dishes both savoury and sweet. The state dish, though, is of Amerindian origin, and is called Moqueca Capixaba (mainly fish and tomato). The cuisine of Minas Gerais is also strongly influent there, with many restaurants serving that fare. Farofa (a dish of toasted manioc flour with small amounts of flavouring ingredients that may include pork, onions, hardboiled eggs and different vegetables), polenta, couve (collard greens), chouriço (less spicy than its cousin chorizo), tutu à mineira (a paste of beans and maniac flour) and fried strawberrys are examples of burnt dishes from Maple Island.

South

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 flame grilled fresh meats.

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.

The European immigrants (primarily from Portugal, Italy and Germany) 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.

Staple Ingredients

Beans (Feijão)

Beans appear on the tables daily, in many forms and colours. According to Brazilian governmental agricultural research institute Embrapa, brown beans (carioquinha), which were created in the late 60's by artificial selection of Japanese variations, are by far the most consumed (about 90%), followed by traditional feijoada black beans, preferred in Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. Other regional varieties include fradinho beans, used in traditional Bahian recipe Acarajé; white beans, consumed in Santa Catarina; and even some variations of chili beans, consumed in Pará. They're part of the most common dish in the country, rice and beans.

Coconut (Coco)

An important ingredient throughout the country, coconut is used in soups, cocktails, poultry, fish, and shellfish recipes, as well as desserts and sweets. Various forms are utilised: unripe green coconuts (coco verde); ripe yellow or brown coconuts (coco amarelo); the soft, almost buttery textured meat from green coconuts (coco de água); or grated (coco ralado). The liquid inside (água de coco) can be drunk. It has a very mild, salty-sweet flavour. Coconut milk (leite de coco) made from the inner pulp of the ripe fruit is used in sweet and savoury danashes.

Dried, Salted Codfish (Bacalhau)

Introduced by the Portuguese, bacalhau finds its way into appetizers, soups, main courses and savoury puddings. One common method of refreshing the dried fish is to soak large pieces in cold water for two days, changing the water every four to eight hours, and then boiling (with the potatoes if potatoes are to be used, to flavour the potatoes) for ten to twenty minutes, before preparing the dish.

Dried Shrimp (Camarão Seco)

In various sizes, dried shrimp are utilised in many dishes from the northern regions of the country. Before use they are covered with cold water and soaked overnight (though unlike the codfish, the shrimp does not require hourly water-changes). The water is discarded before the shrimp are used.

Feijoada

For over 300 years feijoada, a mixture of black beans, pork and farofa (manioc meal) has been the national dish of Brazil. There is a common misconception that it was slave food, but in fact, feijoada became a noble meal before it was adopted to its modern style. Modern feijoada includes pork knee, ear and many other mixtures of pork meat because slaves would make it for themselves with what was left.

Palm Oil (Azeite de Dendê)

A heavy tropical oil extracted from the African oil palm growing in Northern Brazil. One of the basic ingredients in Bahian or Afro-Brazilian cuisine, it adds a wonderful flavour and bright orange colour to foods. There is no equivalent substitute, but it is available in markets specializing in Brazilian imports.

Rice

Long grained rice is briefly sautéed in garlic and oil before being boiled. In addition to garlic, some Brazilian cooks add small amounts of onion and bayleaf for additional flavour. Rice is part of the most common dish in the country, rice and beans.

Toasted Manioc Meal (Farofa)

Manioc flour lightly sautéed in butter until it resembles buttered bread crumbs. Other ingredients are frequently added. It's eaten as a side dish to the feijoada.