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What’s in your churrasco? Photo: paulandaline
Feijão and Farofa
This, served with rice, is the number one dish in Brazil. Feijão is black beans that have been boiled with onion and garlic. Sometimes the beans are cooked with pork, in which case it is called feijoada.
Farofa on top of feijão with a helping of rice is sublime. These dishes will generally accompany any meal that you have in a Brazilian restaurant and will always be in abundance at the all-you-can-eat and per kilo restaurants.
Açaí
Elsewhere in the world açaí (a berry-like fruit) is criminally expensive and normally exists as a powder mix or concentrate. In Brazil, it can be found on every corner, available as a juice, milkshake, ice cream or blitzed up with granola for a special treat.
Amazing Açaí. Photo: smelliesocks
Churrasco
Argentina gets all the glory for great barbecue but Brazil can offer more than ample competition. Their sirloin (picanha in Portuguese) is a beautiful thing – a huge lump of meat covered in rock salt cooked high over a barbecue tenderized to perfection.
You will need to go to a churrascaria to get this but beware: Asking for a complete churrasco will mean you get every last piece of the animal barbecued, from the chicken’s heart to the pig trotters.
Maracujá
There are so many types of passion fruit in Brazil that each one has its own name. Maracujá is by far the best. Chopped in half and eaten with a spoon it will provide a blast of citrus-y goodness. It also makes a good alternative to lime in caipirinhas.
Coxinha com Catupiry
Snack food in Brazil almost exclusively consists of fried parcels of meat. Coxinha is a personal favourite; a cone containing chicken at the top and mashed potato at the bottom, with a flour coating.
It is especially good with catupiry (cream cheese), which is sealed inside the coxinha next to the potato. One of these is enough to keep hunger at bay for a few hours. On long journeys, their presence at every service station is a godsend.
Pudim de Leite (Pudding of Milk)
This is a classic pudding made from condensed milk, fresh milk, eggs and sugar. It is a circular dessert of white jelly-like sweetness with a caramel-style bottom. They are available as tiny snacks or as huge puddings which can be taken home for all the family to enjoy.
Aipim Frito
Made from yams and fried as cubes, aipim frito are very similar to chips, yet with a tougher consistency. Very good with salt and ketchup!
Bolo
Brazil loves cake, which they call bolo. In fact, it is one food that can be eaten at any time of the day. It is available at restaurants, corner shops, street vendors and generally any place that sells any type of food.
Beans, beans, good for your heart. Feijão. Photo: trasel
Bolo is often made with corn flour (polenta) instead of wheat flour and is sometimes made with a combination of the two, giving it a different texture entirely. Try flavors like chocolate, pineapple and coconut.
Pastéis / Empadas
I have mentioned coxinhas but perhaps even more popular for snack food are pastéis. These are very similar to empanadas or pasties and will generally have a beef filling. They can be bought on the street ridiculously cheap but can also be bought in restaurants, where they offer a huge variety of flavours.
Empadas are also worth trying. These are cooked in the oven and are like a tiny pie. They will normally have the same fillings as pastéis, but will often also have a vegetarian option.
Cajú
The cajú fruit is perhaps most well-known for giving us the cashew nut, but it’s quite a tasty fruit itself. It can be eaten whole but my preference is mixed in a juice as solo it can be a little bitter.
You will recognize the fruit in shops, as it will have what looks like a giant cashew nut attached to the top of it. When the nut is in this state it is highly allergic to eat and will most likely bring the devourer out in a horrible rash. The nut it needs to be roasted before you can eat it.
Russ Slater
Russell Slater is a writer currently travelling around South America. He normally writes about culture, food and football, as well as musing on the eccentricities of everyday life. An idea of his current thoughts can be found at ontheroadtofindout.com.
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Pizza is pretty boring outside of the São Paulo Italian places.
Sweet maracujá can be eaten with a spoon. Don’t go trying to eat the regular maracujá like that, unless you like sour surprises.
Others to go on this list: guaraná da amazonia (the shakes, not the soft drink), cuscus de milho, queijo coalho, charque/carne de sol, acarajé, mugunzá, galinha cabidela (chicken stewed in its own blood), cajá/siriguela/tapereba (for juice), cozido (super meat/veggie stew), ingá (fruit in a pod, tastes like vanilla), casquinha de siri (crab meat), sururú, all the caldinhos…
Anyway, this list could go on all day.
Go to the local markets to catch all the fruit, but stay away from jaca. Also stay away from buchada de bode (unless you want your Brazilian culinary experience to turn into an episode of Bizarre Foods).
I wanted to put this out there-would you agree the food is very salty?
Men! those photos of different Brazilian cuisine is mouth watering. Even though I have not tried eating any Brazilian food but looking at the photos alone I can tell that it’s yummy.
Nice postings about brazilian food… but, my God!
I’ve never put catchup or mayonaise on my pizza.
I know that these condiments are requested for some
patrons at some places but, believe me, this is an exception, not a rule.
There is a (huge) lot of places where the simple presence
of catchup/mayonaise isn’t even allowed. Bellieve me.
In your next visit to Brazil ( São Paulo) try most traditional
places like Speranza, Bráz, Camelo, Castelões… and you’ll be
eating the REAL brazilian pizza. It’s really good. You’ll see.
Hello there, good post about our foods. I’ll agree with those who said Pão de Queijo, Guaraná, and the amount of heart of palms we eat in our salads are missing from the list.
I’m leaving a comment for a minor correction though. The coxinhas aren’t made with potato, at all. The dough the chicken filling is wrapped in is a mix of flour, vegetable oil and chicken broth. This mixture is stirred stove top until it cooks and unsticks from the pot, becoming a dough which is then filled with chicken and deep fried (it’s not flour coated either).
OMG I miss Brazilian food sooooo bad!!! My husband is a native, but took a vacation to FL and we met. He took me to Brazil when I was 6 months Pregnant, And boy did I have a great pregnancy! I was underweight and needed to gain more. I ate like a pig In São Paulo! You are also missing the best food that I became addicted to BRAZILIAN STROGANOFF !!! Especially at Baked Potato restaurant at the mall! Oh I died! And stroganoff pizza! Yummmmm I love Brazil!!! lol
[...] foreign and bizarre, then they succeeded. This was not anything like a burger, or even some of the crazy churascos I’d [...]
What more can you ask for in Brazil; there is so much that this incredible South American destination offers through its delicacies for its visitors. A flight to Brazil will surely end as a mouth watering one as the food variations are simply outstanding.
Thanks for the mouth watering article. As a current Lima local, we’re pretty proud of our food here, but I must admit, Brazil can hold its own!
That’s a good post! Thank yo so much! I like brazilian food. Thanks for teasing with mouth watering pictures
I miss Brazil. There are so many good places to eat there you may check them here http://www.visitbrazil.net/