It's hard to generalize about Brazilian food, largely because there is no single national cuisine but numerous very distinct regional ones. Nature dealt Brazil a full hand for these varying cuisines: there's an abundant variety of fruit, vegetables and spices, as you can see for yourself walking through any food market.
There are four main regional cuisines : comida mineira from Minas Gerais, based on pork, vegetables (especially couve, a relative of spinach) and tutu, a kind of refried bean cooked with manioc flour and used as a thick sauce; comida baiana from the Salvador coast, the most exotic to gringo palates, using superb fresh fish and shellfish, hot peppers, palm oil, coconut milk and fresh coriander; comida do sertão from the interior of the Northeast, which relies on rehydrated dried or salted meat and the fruit, beans and tubers of the region; and comida gaúcha from Rio Grande do Sul, the most carnivorous diet in the world, revolving around every imaginable kind of meat grilled over charcoal. Comida do sertão is rarely served outside its homeland, but you'll find restaurants serving the others throughout Brazil, although - naturally - they're at their best in their region of origin.
Alongside the regional restaurants, there is a standard fare available everywhere that can soon get dull unless you cast around: steak ( bife ) or chicken ( frango ), served with arroz e feijão , rice and beans, and often with salad, fries and farinha , dried manioc (cassava) flour that you sprinkle over everything. Farofa is toasted farinha, and usually comes with onions and bits of bacon mixed in. In cheaper restaurants all this would come on a single large plate: look for the words prato feito, prato comercial or refeição completa if you want to fill up without spending too much.
Feijoada is the closest Brazil comes to a national dish: a stew of pork, sausage and smoked meat cooked with black beans and garlic, garnished with slices of orange. Eating it is a national ritual at weekends, when restaurants serve feijoada all day.
Some of the fruit is familiar - manga, mango, maracujá, passion fruit, limão, lime - but most of it has only Brazilian names: jaboticaba, fruta do conde, sapoti and jaca. The most exotic fruits are Amazonian: try bacuri, açaí and the extraordinary cupuaçu, the most delicious of all. These all serve as the basis for juices and ice cream , sorvete, which can be excellent; keep an eye out for sorvetarias, ice cream parlours.
Snacks and street food
On every street corner in Brazil you will find a lanchonete , a mixture of café and bar. They sell beer and rum, snacks, cigarettes, soft drinks, coffee and sometimes small meals. Bakeries - padarias - often have a ...
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Understanding Brazilian menus
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Restaurants
Restaurants - restaurantes - are ubiquitous, portions are very large and prices are extremely reasonable. A prato comercial is around $3, while a good full meal can usually be had for about $10, even in expensive-looking...
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Vegetarian food
Being a vegetarian - or at least a strict one - is no easy matter in Brazil. Many Brazilians are unwilling vegetarians, of course, surviving on the staple diet of rice, beans and farinha - and there's wonderful fruit everywhere -...
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Hot drinks and soft drinks
Coffee is the great national drink, served strong, hot and sweet in small cups and drunk quickly. However, coffee is often a great disappointment in Brazil: most of the good stuff goes for export, and it often comes so stiff with sugar that it's...
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Alcoholic drinks
Beer is mainly of the lager type. Brazilians drink it ice-cold and it comes mostly in 600ml bottles: ask for a cerveja. Many places only serve beer on draught - called chopp. Generally acknowledged as the best brands are the...
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