Brazil Eating

Eating

Cuisine Brazil's cuisine is as varied as its geography and culture. On the other hand, some may find it an unrefined melange, and everyday fare can be bland and monotonous. While there are some quite unique dishes of regional origin, many foods were brought by overseas immigrants and have been hybridized through the generations. In Brazil, Italian and Chinese food can often be as baffling as Amazonian fare.

Brazil's national dish is feijoada, a hearty stew made of black beans and pork (ears, knuckles, sausage and pieces of beef (usually dried)). It's served with a side of white rice, garnished with collard greens and sliced orange. It's usually not served in restaurants, and ones that do, typically have it only twice a week (usually Wednesday and Saturday). A typical mistake made by tourists is to eat too much feijoada shortly after arriving. This is a heavy dish, you need to get used to it before you eat it. Even Brazilians usually eat it parcimoniously. While you are at it, try the caipirinha, Brazil´s signature drink made of wedged limes, sugar and cachaça.

Excellent seafood can be found in coastal towns. Especially in the Northeastern part of the country.

In even the smallest most towns it is easy to find self-service restaurants with good food. Brazilian restaurants tend to be quite clean, considering that this is a developing country --and in many of them you can actually see the kitchen. At least you should be able to, since it´s required by law.

Most of the self-service restaurants offer two kinds of deals: they have an all-you-can-eat fixed price (called "Rodízio"), or you go "por quilo", which means that you weigh your plate after you serve yourself. This is very common during lunch time throughout Brazil.

Brazilian snacks, called lanches, include a wide variety of pastries. Look for cozinha, empadinha, and pastel. Another common snack is a misto quente, a ham-and-cheese sandwich.

Regional cuisines:

Southern - Churrasco is Brazilian barbeque, and is usually served "Rodizio" ou "espeto corrido" (all-you-can-eat). Waiters carry huge cuts of meat on steel spits from table to table, and carve off slices onto your plate (use the tongs to grab the meat slice and don't touch the knife edge with your silverware to avoid dulling the edge). Traditionally, you are given a small wooden block colored green on one side and red on the other. When you're ready to eat, put the green side up. When you're too stuffed to even tell the waiter you've had enough, put the red side up... Most churrasco restaurants (churrascarias) also serve other types of food, so it is safe to go there with a friend that is not really fond of meat. Mineiro is the "miner's" cuisine of Minas Gerais, based on pork and beans, with some vegetables. Dishes from Goiás are similar, but use some different ingredients such as pequi and guariroba. Minas Gerais cuisine is not seen as particularly tasty, but it does have a "home" feel that is much cherished. The food of Bahia, on the northeast coast has its roots across the Atlantic in West Africa. Coconut, dende palm oil, and seafood are the prime ingredients. Tip: hot ("quente") means lots of pepper, cold ("frio") means less or no pepper at all. If you don't dare to eat it hot you should try acarajé (prawn-filled roasties) and vatapá (drinkable black beans soup). Espírito Santo and Bahia have two different versions of moqueca, a delightful tomato-based seafood stew prepared in a special type of clay pot. Amazon cuisine draws from the food of the indigenous inhabitants, including various exotic fish and vegetables. There is also a stupendous variety of tropical fruits. Ceará's food in the coastline has a great sort of seafood, is know to have the best crab of the Country. Its so popular that literally every weekend thousands of people go to Praia do Futuro (the most clean urban beach of the world located in Fortaleza) to eat Fried Fish and crabs (usually followed by cold beer). Brazilian cuisine also has a lot of imports:

Pizza is quite popular in Brazil. In Sao Paulo travellers will find the highest rate of pizza places per inhabitant in the whole world. The variety is extremely vast, with restaurants offering usually more than 50 types of pizza. In particular, Europeans will discover that in Brazil, pizzas contain more cheese and other ingredients than in Europe. It is worth noting the difference between the European "mozzarella" and the Brazilian "mussarela". They differ in flavor, appearance and origin (Brazil: cow milk, Europe: buffalo milk), still, "mussarela de búfala" sometimes is also available. The Brazilian "mussarela", which tops most pizzas, is yellow in color and has a stronger taste which is widely appreciated and could be compared to the French emmental. In some restaurants, particularly in the South, pizza has no tomato sauce. Other dishes of Italian origin, such as macarrão (macaroni), lasanha and others are also very popular. Middle-eastern and Arab (actually lebanese) food is widely available in Sao Paulo and Rio. Most options offer high quality and a big variety. Some types of middle-eastern food, such as quibe and esfiha have been adapted and are available at snack stands and fast food joints nation-wide. São Paulo's Japanese restaurants serve up lots of tempura, sushi and sashimi, but it can be quite a departure from the real thing. The variety is good and mostly the prices are very attractive when compared to Europe, USA and...Japan. Most Japanese restaurants these days also offer the rodizio deal, with the same quality as if you ordered from the menu. The same can be said of Chinese food as well, again with some variations from the traditional. Cheese-filled spring rolls, anyone? {edit}Restaurants Eating out is a great bargain and a pleasure in Brazil. Service is excellent. Even in "expensive" Rio, and in the tourist areas where prices are marked-up, you can have an excellent meal at one of the better restaurants complete with drinks for US$10.

Note that the locals tip only 10% of total service amount. This value usually included in the bill. Use this as an opportunity to make somebody's day for extra special service. If you are going to stay for some time, choose a good reastaurant for everyday eating, make some friendship with a waiter (usually by giving him an extra tip) and you will enjoy excellent service.

Many inexpensive restaurants are buffet-by-weight, or por quilo. You pile up your plate with whatever you want, then place it on a scale at the counter, and pay by weight. These restaurants, being the least expensive, are those where Brazilians prefer to eat. Service may be hard to get if you can't speak Portuguese, but this is the place to go if you want to eat good and cheap.

Brazilian restaurants often serve only for two, and you can't order a portion for a single person. It's usually not even indicated on the menu, so you may have to infer from the price or just ask. Also, a Brazilian couple sitting at a restaurant table usually sits side by side, rather than across from each other.

Fast food is also very popular, and the local takes on hamburgers and hot-dogs ("cachorro-quente", translated literally) are well worth trying. Brazilian sandwiches tend to come in many varieties, including various combinations of ingredients like mayonnaise, bacon, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, corn, peas, raisins, french fries, ketchup, eggs, pickles, etc. The fast food chain Bob's is nationwide and has been around almost as long as McDonald's.

Drink: Liquor and beer Brazil's most famous alcoholic drink is cachaça, an extremely potent sugar-cane liquor known to knock the unwary out quite quickly. A great place to visit in Rio de Janeiro's neighbourhood of Leblon is Academia da Cachaça. There are also tours of distillers in Minas Gerais, much in the same way as you'd tour vineyards in the Sonoma Valley or in France, with the added bonus of their famous regional cuisine. And in a city near Fortaleza on the state of Ceará, there is an cachaça museum (Museu da Cachaça) where you can learn about the history of the most consumed and oldest of the cachaças, Ypioca. See how it is produced and try out the various varieties of cachaça along with a great deal of local and traditional food.

The strong flavor can be tempered (hidden?) in cocktails like the famous caipirinha, a combination of cachaça with sugar and lime juice. The city of Paraty gave its name to the drink: parati is a synonym for cachaça. Other words for it include: pinga, caninha, branquinha, malvada, aguardente ("burning water"). The same mixture using vodka is nicknamed a caipiroshka or caipivodka; with white rum, it's a caipiríssima.

Another interesting concoction is called capeta, made with cachaça, condensed milk, cinnamon, guarana powder (a mild stimulant), and other ingredients, varying by region.

Drinking cachaça straight, or stirring in only a dollop of honey, is a common habit on the Northeast region of the Country, and is not common in other regions.

If you enjoy fine brandy or grappa, try an aged cachaça. Deep and complex, this spirit is nothing like the ubiquitous clear liquor more commonly seen.

Beer in Brazil has a respectable history thanks to German immigrants. Draft lager beer is called chope or chopp ('SHOH-pee'). Most Brazilian beer brands tend to be less thick and bitter than actual German, Danish or English beer. The most popular domestic brands are Brahma, Antarctica and Skol. Traditional brands include Bohemia, Caracu and Itaipava. Brazilians like their beer almost ice-cold when served. To keep the beer cold, it is often served in an insulated container and is drunk from small glasses. Served like this, the waiter may keep topping up the glasses and replacing the beer until you ask him to stop.

While imported alcohol is very expensive, you may find a large assortment of vodka, wine and rum brands in any local supermarket. They come relatively cheap and don't taste that bad. If you really want imported vodka, gin, or Scotch, your best bet is to buy this at the duty-free shop at the airport coming in. (Brazil is one of the few countries where you can buy duty-free goods on your way in).

The production of wine is very strong in the north, but most of the wine connoisseurs live in the south. Rio Grande do Sul also has a great deal of wine production. Brazilian wines are usually fresher, fruitier and less alcoholic than, for instance, French wines. Popular brands like Sangue de Boi, Canção and Santa Felicidade and others with prices below R$ 6.00 are usually seen as rubbish.

If you happen to be in Minas Gerais, look for licor de jabuticaba (jabuticaba liquor) or vinho de jabuticaba (jabuticaba wine), an exquisite purple-black beverage with a sweet taste. Jabuticaba is the name of a small grape-like black fruit native to Brazil.

Coffee and tea Brazil is recognized world-wide for its high-quality strong coffee. Cafezinho (little coffee) is a small cup of sweetened coffee which is usually served for free after meals in restaurants (just ask politely). Essentially it's just a shot of espresso. Café is so popular that it can name meals (just like rice does in China, Japan and Korea): breakfast in Brazil is called café da manhã (morning coffee), while café com pão (coffee with bread) is a light afternoon meal. This afternoon meal can also be called café da tarde (afternoon coffee). However, be aware that the average quality of the coffee consumed in Brazil can be low, as the prime product is for export.

Mate is an infusion, similar to tea, that is very high in caffeine. A toasted version, often served chilled, is consumed all around the country, while Chimarrão, the heated, bitter equivalent of mate, can be found in the south, and is highly appreciated by the gaúchos. Tererê is a cold version of Chimarrão common in Mato Grosso.

Soft drinks If you're on the beach on a hot day, nothing beats coconut water, or água de coco - but be careful how you pronounce the word coco (hint: stress the first o as you would in the word orange, otherwise it will sound to them like you are ordering poo!).

If you want a Coca-Cola in Brazil, ask for coca, as "cola" means "glue", in Portuguese (but if you say "Coca-cola", everybody will understand).

Guaraná is a carbonated soft drink made from a berry (the guaraná) native to the Amazon area. The major brands are Antarctica, Kuat and Brahma.

Fruit juices Fruit juices are very popular in Brazil. There are fruit juice bars at nearly every corner. Açai (made of a fruit from the Amazon) is absolutely delicious and very nutritious on top of that. It is normally served cold and has a consistency of soft ice. Don't let the crazy purple color stop you from eating it! Maracuja (passion fruit) Caju (cashew) and Manga (mango) are also great juice experiences. Don't be afraid to try what you see on the menu. Brazilians have great taste when it comes to mixing juices. Be aware that orange juice in Brazil is called suco de laranja, which can confuse Spanish speakers who aren't careful.