Brazilian cuisine is the set of cooking practices and traditions of Brazil, and is characterized by African, European, Amerindian and Asian (Levantine, Japanese, and most recently, Chinese) influences. It varies greatly by region, reflecting the country's mix of native and immigrant populations, and its continental size as well. This has created a national cuisine marked by the preservation of regional differences.
Ingredients first used by native peoples in Brazil include cashews, cassava, pineapple, guaraná, açaí, cumaru, and tucupi. From there, the many waves of immigrants brought some of their typical dishes, replacing missing ingredients with local equivalents. For instance, the European immigrants (primarily from Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, and Ukraine), were accustomed to a wheat-based diet, and introduced wine, leafy vegetables, and dairy products into Brazilian cuisine. When potatoes were not available, they discovered how to use the native sweet manioc as a replacement. Enslaved Africans also had a role in developing Brazilian cuisine, especially in the coastal states. The foreign influence extended to later migratory waves; Japanese immigrants brought most of the food items that Brazilians associate with Asian cuisine today, and introduced large-scale aviaries well into the 20th century.
The most visible regional cuisines belong to the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia. Minas Gerais cuisine has European influence in delicacies and dairy products such as feijão tropeiro, pão de queijo and Minas cheese, and Bahian cuisine due to the presence of African delicacies such as Acarajé, Abará and vatapá.
Root vegetables such as manioc (locally known as mandioca, aipim or macaxeira, among other names), yams, and fruit like açaí, cupuaçu, mango, papaya, guava, orange, passion fruit, pineapple, and hog plum are among the local ingredients used in cooking.
Some typical dishes are feijoada, considered the country's national dish,Roger, "Feijoada: The Brazilian national dish " braziltravelguide.com. and regional foods such as beiju, feijão tropeiro, vatapá, moqueca capixaba, polenta (from Italian cuisine) and acarajé (from African cuisine).Cascudo, Luis da Câmara. História da Alimentação no Brasil. São Paulo/Belo Horizonte: Editora USP/Itatiaia, 1983. There is also caruru, which consists of okra, onion, dried shrimp, and toasted nuts (peanuts or cashews), cooked with palm oil until a spread-like consistency is reached; moqueca baiana, consisting of slow-cooked fish in palm oil and coconut milk, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic and topped with cilantro.
The national beverage is coffee, while cachaça is Brazil's native liquor. Cachaça is distilled from fermented sugar cane must, and is the main ingredient in the national cocktail, caipirinha.
and such as , , and are common finger food items.
Cuisine by Brazilian region Regional cuisines
There is not an exact single "national Brazilian cuisine", but there is an assortment of various regional traditions and typical dishes. This diversity is linked to the origins of the people inhabiting each area.
For instance, the cuisine of Bahia is heavily influenced by a mix of African, Indigenous, and Portuguese cuisines. Chili (including chili sauces) and palm oil are very common. In the northern states, however, due to the abundance of forest and freshwater rivers, fish, fruits and cassava (including flours made of cassava) are staple foods. In the deep south, as in Rio Grande do Sul, the influence shifts more towards gaúcho traditions shared with its neighbors Argentina and Uruguay, with many meat-based products, due to this region's livestock-based economy; the churrasco, a kind of barbecue, is a local tradition.
Center-West Brazil's cuisine In the state of Goiás, the pequi fruit is used in typical foods, such as (rice cooked with pequi), and in snacks, such as a filling for pastel. The dish , which is a mixture of chicken and rice, is popular in the state.
The states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul received influence from neighboring countries in their cuisine, as well as the Pantanal area and its various rivers and extensive wetlands that cross these two states with a high abundance of fish.
Southeast Brazil's cuisine In the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo, and Minas Gerais, feijoada is popular, especially as a Wednesday or Saturday lunch. Also consumed frequently is picadinho (literally, diced meat) and rice and beans. In Rio de Janeiro, besides the feijoada, a popular plate is any variation of grilled beef fillet, rice and beans, farofa, fried garlic and fried potatoes (batatas portuguesas), commonly called filé à Osvaldo Aranha. Seafood is very popular in coastal areas, as is roasted chicken (galeto). The strong Portuguese heritage also endowed the city with a taste for bolinhos de bacalhau (fried cod fritters), one of the most common street foods there.
In São Paulo, a typical dish is virado à paulista, made with rice, virado de feijão (similar to a tutu), sauteed kale, fried plantains or bananas and pork chops. São Paulo is also the home of pastel, a food consisting of thin pastry envelopes wrapped around assorted fillings, then deep-fried in vegetable oil. It is a common belief that they originated when Chinese and Japanese immigrants adapted the recipe of fried spring rolls to sell as snacks at weekly street markets. São Paulo is also known for parmegianna.
The countryside of São Paulo also has its own individual cuisine. Among notable examples is the farofa de Iça [pt] (farofa made out of the abdomen of the Saúva), the snack bolinho caipira [pt], Taiada [pt] (a candy made of sugarcane) and , a dessert invented in Campinas. The state has an itinerant cultural festival known as Revelando São Paulo, which travels the state showing the different cuisines of every region.
In Minas Gerais, the regional dishes include corn, pork, beans, chicken (including the very typical dish frango com quiabo, or chicken with okra), tutu de feijão (puréed beans mixed with cassava flour), and local soft-ripened traditional cheeses. It also is known for its soups, such as Canjiquinha, a soup made with corn, pork ribs, lettuce, pepper and spices.
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, called , which is a tomato and fish stew traditionally prepared in a panela de Goiabeiras (pot made of clay from Goiabeiras district in Vitória). Amerindian and Italian cuisine are the two main pillars of Capixaba cuisine. Seafood dishes, in general, are very popular in Espírito Santo, but unlike other Amerindian dishes, the use of olive oil is almost mandatory. , , and polenta are also very popular.
Southern Brazil's cuisine
In Southern Brazil, due to the long tradition in livestock production and the heavy German immigration, red meat is the basis of the local cuisine.
Besides many of the pasta, sausage and dessert dishes common to continental Europe, churrasco is the term for a barbecue (similar to the Argentine or Uruguayan asado) which originated in southern Brazil. It contains a variety of meats which may be cooked on a purpose-built churrasqueira, a barbecue grill, often with supports for spits or skewers. Portable churrasqueiras are similar to those used to prepare the Argentine and Uruguayan asado, with a grill support, but many Brazilian churrasqueiras do not have grills, only the skewers above the embers. The meat may alternatively be cooked on large metal or wood skewers resting on a support or stuck into the ground and roasted with the embers of charcoal (wood may also be used, especially in the State of Rio Grande do Sul).
Since gaúchos were nomadic and lived off the land, they had no way of preserving food; the gauchos would gather together after butchering a cow, and skewer and cook the large portions of meat immediately over a wood-burning fire (not exactly as gauchos also produced charque). The slow-cooked meat basted in its own juices and resulted in tender, flavorful steaks.Churrasco This style has inspired many contemporary churrascaria which emulates the cooking style where waiters bring large cuts of roasted meat to diners' tables and carve portions to order.
The chimarrão is the regional beverage, often associated with the gaúcho image.
The most typical dishes of Rio Grande do Sul cuisine are churrasco, chimarrão, arroz carreteiro, fried polenta, galeto, cuca, and sagu, among others.10 pratos típicos da culinária gaúchaNoite Gaúcha: Comidas típicas do Rio Grande do Sul In the region there is a large consumption of wine, grape juice and white grape juice due to the south being the largest grape producer in the country, and artisanal cheeses and salamis.Como a agricultura familiar gaúcha está segurando uma geração no campoVinícolas do RS celebram crescimento nas exportações de vinhos e espumantes In the region, fig, grape and peach jellies and jams are also very common. One of the most famous is chimia. The consumption of vegetables preserved in water, vinegar, sugar, salt and spices, such as beets and cucumbers, is also typical of the Southern Region.Veja o passo a passo e aprenda a fazer chimia de figo
The state of Paraná has a varied cuisine thanks to the many immigration movements that colonized the state. Among its influences are German, Polish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Arab and Russian cuisines. Among them are Carne de Onça, a variant of Hackepeter, the Embutido Cracóvia (Kraków), and the Kutiá, a dessert of Ukrainian origin. The paranaense cuisine also includes influences from its own biome, such as the use of pinhão, the nuts of the Araucaria angustifolia for dishes like Entrevero de Pinhão and Pierogui made with pinhão.
Northeast Brazil's cuisine
Northeastern Brazilian cuisine is heavily influenced by African cuisine from the coastal areas of the states of Pernambuco to Bahia, as well as the eating habits of indigenous populations who have lived in the region.
is an Afro-Brazilian dish made from bread, shrimp, coconut milk, finely ground peanuts and palm oil, mashed into a creamy paste. The word "" is derived from the Yoruba words .CUNHA, A. G. Dicionário etimológico Nova Fronteira da língua portuguesa. Rio de Janeiro. Nova Fronteira. p. 812.
is a dish made with cassava and shrimp ().
is a dish made from peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried in (palm oil). Often sold as street food, it is served split in half and then stuffed with and . is typically available outside of the Northeast as well.
In western areas farther from the coast, the plates are most reminiscent of the indigenous cuisine, with many vegetables being cultivated in the area since before the arrival of the Portuguese. Examples include from the state of Ceará, a dish made with rice and beans (preferably or ), dried meat, butter, (a lightweight cheese similar to halloumi and often grilled) and other ingredients. Jaggery is also heavily identified with the Northeast, as it is (sun-cured meat), (cassava flour and dried meat), and (a cake from Pernambuco).
Tapioca flatbreads or pancakes are also commonly served for breakfast in some states, with a filling of either coconut, cheese or condensed milk, butter, and certain meats. They can also be filled with dessert toppings as well.
North Brazil's cuisine The cuisine of this region, which includes the states of Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins, is heavily influenced by indigenous cuisine. In the state of Pará, there are several typical dishes, including: