Products and local produce
With twenty-six states grouped into five regions, Brazil boasts several regional cuisines, the fruit of 500 years of immigration from all over the world, mixed with several millennia of Amerindian presence, which led to the domestication and spread of many plants native to the American continent. The first Portuguese landed on Brazilian shores in 1500, and the slave trade brought millions of Africans to Brazil with their culinary traditions.
The north is centered around the Amazon, with a large Amerindian population. The Amazon River is home to over 3,000 species of fish, including pirarucu or arapaima (which can exceed 4 m in length and weigh 300 kg), piranhas and surubim (giant catfish). Cassava is native to the region, as are acai berries, the fruit of a palm tree with unrivalled antioxidant power, and guaraná berries, with their high caffeine content.
It was in Porto Seguro, in the Nordeste region, that Ivan Cabral first set foot on the soil of the future Brazilian territory in 1500. For a long time, this region was home to the majority of sugarcane plantations, which also explains the very large Afro-Brazilian population in this part of the country. Palm oil, coconut milk, okra (a green vegetable with a delicate taste) and a host of spices are used generously. Fish and seafood are also used in abundance, compared to other coastal regions of the country.
The Center-West is Brazil's leading region for cattle breeding. As a result, meat is more important here than anywhere else. Paraguayan and Bolivian influences are strong here, so plantain and pacu, a local fish, are consumed in abundance. In this Brazilian Midwest, pequi is a fairly common fruit for its pulp, which has a slightly sour, cheese-like taste.
Sudeste is the most populous region and includes the country's largest cities, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The Portuguese influence is stronger here than elsewhere, but the cuisine is also more diverse, as the region has attracted a multitude of migrants from all over the world over the centuries. Minas Gerais has a large farming community, and many Brazilian recipes come from this state. These include canastra (a firm, piquant cheese), queijo minas (a more or less mature cheese that can be frescal, white and fresh, or curado, highly matured) and requeijão (a melting, almost runny spreadable cheese).
Finally, the South is often associated with churrasco, a typical barbecue reminiscent of theasado, with influences from Argentina and Uruguay not far away. Hence, too, the abundant consumption of chimarrão, or mate, an infusion made from a local plant, which is often associated with gauchos. The region's long German presence also explains the abundance of rich pastry shops.
In addition to the classic establishments, Brazil offers a variety of options, such as comer a kilo restaurants, buffets where you help yourself and weigh your plate, or pizza and meat rodizios , where waiters rotate the room with several types of pizza or meat skewers and customers choose to their liking. Churrascarias specialize in barbecued meat (beef, pork, chicken, lamb, etc.), while galeterias only serve chicken. Mineiros offer rural cuisine, often based on pork and beans. For the hungry, there are lanchonetes, the equivalent of a snack bar.
The classics of Brazilian cuisine
Among the most common Brazilian snacks areacarajé (a fritter made from corn beans, filled with a spicy coconut-peanut milk paste, shrimp and raw vegetables) or coxinha (a thigh-shaped fritter). Pao de queijo are soft cheese croquettes, while pamonha are crispy fried turnovers filled with meat, poultry, cheese or vegetables. Reminiscent of Mexican tamales, pamonha is prepared with corn dough wrapped in its own leaves and steamed. Of Arabic origin,esfirra is a patty filled with minced, spicy mutton. Bolinhos de bacalhau are cod croquettes, similar to acras. At Rio's street stands, you can devour a podrão, the carioca hot dog topped with corn, French fries, grated cheese, eggs, olives and so on.
Brazil's national dish, feijoada consists of black beans, carne-de-sol (dried meat), sausages and pork ribs, served with rice and cooked shredded cabbage. Maniçoba is an Amazonian feijoada where cassava leaves replace the beans. Other complete dishes includearroz com feijão (rice with black beans), galinhada (a spicy stew of rice and chicken),empadão (a kind of shepherd's pie),empadão de frango (a hearty pie with chicken, cheese and vegetables) and virado (beans, mashed cassava, pork chop, sausage, plantain and fried egg).
Meat dishes are legion, with the famous churrasco, a purely Brazilian type of barbecue, at the top of the list. The most noble cuts are the tender picanha, fraldinha,alcatra and maminha. Primarily composed of beef, this feast sometimes also includes chicken and pork. Carne-de-sol is a salted and dried beef or goat speciality, emblematic of the sertanejos (cowboys) of the Nordeste. Alternatively, the X-Tudo is an exceptionally tall hamburger with a delirious array of toppings: chopped steak, bacon, crudités, corn, ham, cheese, fries, sausages and so on. To gobble it down without spilling half of it on yourself is a real feat. Filé a Osvaldo Aranha, invented in Rio de Janeiro, consists of a fillet of beef topped with fried garlic, accompanied by fried potatoes, white rice and farofa (manioc semolina).
Other dishes include vaca atolada and picadinho, two types of beef stew, and galinha à cabidela, a chicken stew with the animal's blood. Xinxim de galinha is a land-sea dish with chicken and shrimp in a finely spiced sauce with tomato, coriander and crushed cashew nuts. Fish and seafood dishes include moqueca de peixe (fish, coconut milk, tomatoes, onions and coriander), caldeirada (a kind of fish and seafood bouillabaisse with coconut milk) and bobó de camarão (shrimp in a creamy cassava, coconut milk, ginger and aromatic herbs sauce).
Desserts and drinks
In Brazil, there are many sweet treats, such as brigadeiro, cocoa truffles with chocolate vermicelli, or beijinho de coco ("coconut kisses"), white truffles with sweetened condensed milk and coconut. Cocada is a coconut bite that turns from white to brown, depending on the caramelization process. Finally, queijadinha is a soft cake made with fromage frais and - of course - coconut. Brazilians are also fond of " bolo ", meaning "cake", such as the bolo de rolo, made of many layers of very thin cookie topped with guava jam, or the duche de leche(doce de leite). Other examples include bolo de fuba (corn flour), bolo de mandioca (cassava) or bolo de arroz (rice flour). The rabanada is a tasty cinnamon French toast.
Quindim (rich custard with egg yolks and coconut), mousse de maracujá (passion fruit mousse) and canjica (corn porridge with cinnamon) complete the picture. Manjar branco is a coconut dessert topped with caramel and prunes.Açaí na tigela is a puree of açai berries topped with fresh and dried fruit. Brazil is in fact a paradise of tropical fruits, from the most classic to the most unusual, such as bacaba (a palm fruit with a slight avocado flavour), cupuaçu (whose creamy flesh can be used to make desserts and drinks), muruci (a very fragrant yellow berry with a taste that varies between pear, lychee and banana) and tapereba (an orange fruit with a very fragrant, tangy pulp).
On almost every street corner, you'll find a juice bar with its procession of fresh fruit hanging over the counter. Prepared in front of you, the fruit juices are wonderful. Vitamina is a type of fruit juice with milk added, unless you prefer a refreshing coconut water. With 3.6 million tonnes a year, Brazil is the world'sleading coffee producer. Brazilian coffee is known for its bitterness and can be prepared in a variety of ways, although espresso and cappuccino are the classics. Cafezinho, a very sweet coffee served in a tiny cup, is drunk all day long. Maté is an infusion from a plant native to Paraguay, drunk with a bombilla, a straw ending in a ball with holes to filter the maté leaves. Tereré is the iced version of this infusion, to which citrus fruit pieces are added.
Alcohols
Cachaça is Brazil's best-known spirit. Produced from sugar cane, this brandy is similar to rum, though produced differently, at around 40-45°. While rum is made from boiled sugarcane molasses, cachaça is produced from fresh cane juice, known as " varappa ". It can be young ( branca, "white", or prata, "silver") or old(amarela, "yellow", or ouro, "golden"). This spirit is used to make many cocktails, the most famous of which, the caipirinha, is a mixture of lemon, sugar and crushed ice. There are a few variations, such as caipiroska (made with vodka instead of cachaça), or other versions where the lemon is replaced by other fruits. Batida is a mixture of fruit juice and cachaça.
Beer(cerveja) is very popular in Brazil and is often served by the liter. On the beaches, it can be found in bottle covers wrapped in polystyrene to keep it cool. The country produces mainly lagers, which are rather thirst-quenching. The best-known brands are Saint Bier, Antarctica, Brahma, Itaipava, Bohemia and Skol. Be careful not to confuse the latter with Skøll, a French production of vodka-flavored beer from the Kronenbourg group. The Antarctica brand also produces guaraná, a non-alcoholic soda with a cidery aftertaste and a high caffeine content, created in 1921.
While vine-growing requires a temperate climate with marked temperature differences throughout the year - which doesn't necessarily seem to be the case in Brazil - the far south of the country is wine-growing and offers some interesting vintages, such as castel-chatelet (red), pinot noir, cabernet and chardonnay aurora (white). However, domestic demand is high, and the country imports a great deal of wine from Chile and Argentina.
