Brazilian cuisine is characterized by meat products, seafood and diverse, colorful and bright street food. In our material, we will make an overview of the masterpieces of the local food industry, which every tourist should get acquainted with.
Feijoada | Feijoada
The main fetish for tourists visiting the country. A kind of analogue of borscht in Ukraine or Central Asian pilaf. Well, the pride of the local cuisine! You can order in a restaurant or street trattoria - with an equally satisfactory result.
The dish includes scraps of chopped sausages, black beans, rice with spices and pork fried to the crust - all together it turns out to be pleasant and low-fat. Another ingredient is pharofa,a roasted casscasm flour that gives our stew a viscosity. The last secret is cayenne pepper and spices, so that lunch is certainly unforgettable. Served with sliced orange.
Vatapá | Vatapa
Watapa is fed by the aborigines of the Amazon: this is a stew of dense thick consistency of shrimp and fish. The genesis is the same as the famous French bouillabasse: various remnants and scraps of what the sailor caught, but did not have time to sell until the evening - seafood, bread crumbs, cashew nuts, ginger root and tomatoes in coconut milk - are thrown into the cauldron. At the output, after many hours of lanthing on low heat, an appetizing mass of pate consistency is obtained. Served with a side dish in the form of unsalting rice.
Moqueca | Urine
National thick soup with seafood. The composition repeats the previous position, but is served without rice, with more vegetables: in addition to tomatoes put onions with turnips, numerous greens, celery, unchanged pieces of fish, shrimp, squid, and from spices added coriander and lime juice.
Reminiscent of tom-yam soup from Thailand - with the only difference that it will be mild. If you're allergic (or just don't like fish), the locals will cook it with chicken.
Pastel | Pastel
The most common local street food, serves here as an analogue of "McDonald's" and "Crumbs-potatoes". Sold everywhere, from markets to special eateries - pastelarium.
Fatty fried to golden crust pie from thin dough with a lot of juicy filling: fried meat rolled through a meat grinder, chicken with vegetables, salted cane, cream cheese, shellfish, shrimp. There is also a dessert option: with bananas and chocolate, sweet varieties of cheese or guava jam.
It is best to eat with vegetables or fruits in a snack, and wash down with beer, coconut water or unsweetened juices.
Coxinha | Coinha
Hearty coxinha cutlets in Rio or São Paulo should be tasted hot and cold. They are made from chicken thigh. According to local urban legend, the reason for the appearance of koinya in the world were children's whims. The cook of the local imperial family made chicken legs for the son of Princess Isabella - the kid loved them. When there were no legs in the palace, the cunning man chopped the thighs into porridge, made batter in broth, made cutlets and deep-fried.
Whether this was the case or not is hard to say. One thing is for sure - the peak of the popularity of the dish fell on the 60s of the XX century, and the first mentions belong to the last third of the XIX- th.
Brazilians liked the fairy tale - in memory of their unknown colleague, cutlets are sculpted in the shape of a heart, and the recipe is considered a classic and does not change for more than a hundred years. So popular that it is sold in the form of semi-finished products in frozen form.
Acarajé | Akarazhe
Another type of street food, this time in batter stuffed with crabs. Sculpt from legume flour strange fruits, resembling at the same time chickpeas, beans and peas. Together with crabs inside put a casew, colorful tomatoes, garlic, ginger root and a dozen spicy herbs. Pepper is not spared - this allows you to mask not the freshest vegetables or seafood. Very fatty, spicy and attractive food - in general, in the national Brazilian spirit.
Churrasco | Churrasco
Traditionally, churraska is prepared on weekends, and the occasion is a friendly dinner or family ceremony (even now, at the dawn of the XXI century). The meat is fried on an open fire in a special churasker grill on skewers. Marinades are not used: instead, the meat is dopped with coarse rock salt, given a "massage" and sent to the fire. Usually the raw material is beef, which is fatter.
Deep-fried cassava | Kassava
If in Europe, the USA the garnish for fast food is French fries, then in Brazil and some neighboring countries cassicaplays the same role. The taste of the root vegetables is similar, but inside the "Brazilian" is softer, and the crust is more crispy.
Often goes to beer and almost always to meat. Goes well with any sauces or ketchup.
Tacacá | Takaka
Another cute soup, this time based on a golden fish peaf. In the pan at once there are spices, cloves of garlic, herbs and generous portions of smaller shrimp.
One of the few local dishes that is not characterized by sharpness - pepper is not put in takaku. Density is achieved with the help of cassaco flour. Served with the leaves of the jumbo tree,coloring the soup green.
Brigadeiro | Brigadeiro
Large, the size of a child's fist balls of chocolate with a delicate filling of condensed milk, oils and cocoa powders. Preservatives are not added, so brigadeiro is not stored. But on top sprinkle with coconut or confectionery chips - it turns out such a giant raffaello.
Thematic tours
Recently, gastronomic tourism has become popular: its charms have been fully felt in Europe and North America they are still lagging behind. We advise you to pay attention to two good options with an interesting route and program.
Home master class
This is a one-person excursion to Rio. You will be allowed to see with your own eyes the life of the locals, taste the feijoada and learn how to cook it together with the women of the Brazilian family. Believe me, there is nothing complicated in the recipe, and you will spend time well.
Trip to Nytero
A qualified guide will guide you through Nitera - the most fashionable area of the old capital of the state. The longest bridge over the water, oysters priced less than a buck apiece in the huge sea market and great places for selfies and panoramic shots.
