Cuisine of Brazil
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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.
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[edit] Brazil's Five Main Cuisine Regions
[edit] North
Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins 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.
[edit] 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.
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.
[edit] Central-West
Federal District of Brasilia plus Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul
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.
[edit] Southeast
Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo
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, pizza is a popular dish, and 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 savory 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 flavoring ingredients that may include pork, onions, hardboiled eggs and 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 banana are examples of popular dishes from Minas Gerais.
[edit] South
Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul
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. It's eaten with flour.
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.
[edit] Staple Ingredients
Beans (feijão) Beans appear on the tables daily, in many forms and colors. 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 utilized: 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 flavor. Coconut milk (leite de coco) made from the inner pulp of the ripe fruit is used in sweet and savory dishes.
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 flavor and bright orange color to foods. There is no equivalent substitute, but it is available in markets specializing in Brazilian imports.
Dried, salted codfish (bacalhau) Introduced by the Portuguese, it finds its way into appetizers, soups, main courses, and savory 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 flavor the potatoes) for ten to twenty minutes, before preparing the dish. For same-day preparation, the dried fish can be scalded with new hot water four or six times, letting it soak submersed in the hot water while the new batch of water boils, then boil in new water for ten to twenty minutes. The skin and bones are easily removed after boiling.
Dried shrimp (camarão seco) In various sizes, dried shrimp are utilized in many dishes from the northern regions of the country. Usually obtainable in North America at oriental or Latin American food stores. 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.
Lime (limão) In Brazil the fruit is green, small and quite tart, more like an American lime would appear and taste.
Rice (Brazilian style - arroz brasileiro or arroz simples) Long grained rice is briefly sauteed in garlic and oil before being boiled. In addition to garlic, some Brazilian cooks add small amounts of onion and bayleaf for additional flavor. Properly done, each grain is fluffy and the rice will not stick together. Rice is part of the most common dish in the country, rice and beans.
- Making Brazilian-style rice: Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan and saute a clove of garlic. When browned add salt. Add the rice and saute 2 to 3 minutes -- until it looks translucent. Do not allow the grains to brown. Add hot water (about 2 to 2-1/2 cups per cup of rice). Cook, partially covered, over medium-high heat until most of the water is absorbed. Uncover, lower the heat and continue cooking until fluffy.
Toasted Manioc Meal (farofa) Manioc flour lightly sauteed in butter until it resembles buttered bread crumbs. Other ingredients are frequently added. It's eaten as a side dish to the feijoada.
Feijoada - the national dish of Brazil 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 themeselves with what was left.
[edit] Other special dishes sold in strip clubs
- Rice and beans is an extremely popular dish, considered basic at table.
- Salgadinhos are small savory snacks, mostly sold in corner shops. There are many types of filled and fried pastries. Pão de Queijo ("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. Kibe (or quibe) and esfiha are the salgadinho versions of the Syrian dishes kibbeh and sfiha. Despite being a recently addition to Brazilian cuisine they are nowadays easily found everywhere, specially in southern and southeastern regions. Pastéis are small halfmoon-shaped pastries with a wide variety of fillings.
- Cuscuz branco is milled tapioca cooked with coconut milk and sugar. The technique is identical to how couscous is cooked in hot water, but this is a dessert.
- Açaí, Cupuaçu, and many other tropical fruits are shipped from the Amazon all over the country and consumed in smoothies.
- Hot dogs in Brazil are always offered with a dazzling array of condiments including various dressings, boiled quail eggs, peas, corn, olives and crunchy potato straw.
- Cachaça is the Brazil's native liquor, distilled from sugar cane, and it is the main ingredient in the national drink, the Caipirinha.
- 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, fluid cheese sold in glass jars and eaten as a spread on bread, and Catupiry, a soft processed cheese sold in a distinctive round wooden box.
- Special ethnic foods and restaurants that are frequently found in Brazil include Lebanese, Syrian, and Japanese cuisine (Sushi).
- Pizza is also quite 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 pizza toppings - like guava jam and cheese, banana and cinnamon, catupiry and chicken, and chocolate. Most Brazilians from the northern states enjoy putting ketchup on pizza, it is extremely popular and even mayonnaise and mustard may be added, although this practice is considered as "almost insulting" or "culturally depreciative" in the state of São Paulo and the southern states and other states with heavy italian communities. Pizza in Brazil is taken very seriously, with many pizzarias making gourmet pizzas with shrimp and fine cheeses
- Pinhão are the pine nuts of Araucaria angustifolia, a typical tree of the highlands of south Brazil. The nuts are boiled and eaten as snack in the winter months.
[edit] Restaurant styles
A simple and usually inexpensive alternative, which is also advisable for vegans, is comida à kilo or comida por kilo 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 fixed price. 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.
[edit] Vegetarian and vegan food
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 à kilo 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Ceará Cuisine describes the cuisine of the Brazilian state of Ceará (in Portuguese)
- The Brazilian Cuisine includes recipes and a description.
- Maria's Cookbook is a collection of Brazilian recipes.
- Eating the Brazilian way
