Regional Brazilian Food

If you were to travel to Brazil tomorrow not knowing much about the food culture, chances are you would pick the city of Rio de Janeiro to spend time in, and understandably so. It's a city set on a world-famous beach, surrounded by voluptuous mountains, a place where the sunsets are so perfect that people on the street are known to stop what they are doing just to look up and admire the spectacle. And of course, there are plenty of delicious places to eat in Rio, from the botecos serving beer and croquettes to the fashionable restaurant strip on the Rua Dias Ferreira in Leblon. But, beautiful though the city is, Brazil is so much more than Rio, especially when it comes to food. The regional cuisines of the north, northeast, central west, south, and southeast of this massive country are just as worthy of exploration, as each region has a personality of its own.

Brazilian food and culture can be best understood as a combination of native Indian, Portuguese, and African flavors, due to the leading roles these groups have played in the country's history: In the early 1500s the Portuguese arrived in this lush land to find a large indigenous population composed of an estimated 2,000 individual tribal groups. Over the next three centuries, international exploration, colonization, and the Atlantic slave trade brought some five million Africans to Brazil, along with many of their traditions. The past two centuries have seen the rise of ever-widening international influences on Brazilian culture, including the Germans who arrived in the first half of the 19th century, the Italians who arrived in the second half, plus Syrians, Lebanese, and, in the early 20th century, a major migration of Japanese immigrants. Brazil is now home to the second-largest Japanese population outside of Japan.

But despite the wild melting pot of cultures that fed the development of Brazilian cuisine, certain staple ingredients, dishes, and techniques are common to the food in almost every region. Most significantly, the universal role that manioc, or yucca, plays in the food of Brazil is comparable to that of rice in Japan, or corn in the United States.

So what dishes should the adventurous food lover look for outside Brazil's major cities? We've divided this huge 26-state country into five regions, shared a little bit of history, and made strong recommendations on what dishes are representative of the deep and varied cultural roots that animate these cuisines.

NORTH BRAZIL
Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins

The food in the northern region is greatly influenced by the native Indians who inhabited the land long before the Portuguese arrived in the 1600s. As the cuisines of other regions evolved to encompass a variety of food cultures, the cuisine in the northern Amazon states as a whole remained the same, due largely to the wild surroundings and remote location. Much of what Brazilian food was at the time, and is now, is directly traceable to the Norte.

Take manioc, for example. Prior to the arrival of any outside influences, the indigenous population of the northern region was processing this root vegetable to make flour. These days manioc flour, or farinha, is eaten fried or toasted, and processed in a variety of other ways. In the northern regions manioc flour is used to make pirão, a thick, gelatinous concoction made up of finely ground farinha mixed with either fish or meat stock. Farinha is also toasted on the stovetop with a generous portion of butter, and called farofa. Sometimes it's served with sautéed onions, raisins, or with a scrambled egg. Manioc starch, or polvilho doce ("sweet" starch) and polvilho azedo ("sour" starch), is used to make crackers and breads like pão de queijo, also known as cheese bread.

But perhaps the best-known food product from this region is the açaí berry, the oft-proclaimed "superfood" that arrived in the U.S. food market about 10 years ago and has since managed to infiltrate beverage, smoothie, yogurt, and even liqueur flavors. Açaí, a cherry-size, dark-violet-colored fruit, is just as popular throughout Brazil. Go to a local juice bar in Rio and you'll find it served in a sorbet-like fashion after being blended with guaraná (a berry containing high levels of caffeine that is also used in Guaraná, the national soda of Brazil), and topped off with sliced bananas and granola. But açaí is just one of the native fruits the Amazon region is known for: The northern region is also home to the creamy white cupuaçu, saccharine-sweet and tangy graviola (soursop), the sweet-and-sour bacuri, the cashew fruit cajú, and the tart and berry-red acerola, available fresh at local juice spots, or as ice cream and Caipirinha flavors.

Hot pepper sauce, or pimenta, is another Amazon-derived specialty. There are more than a dozen varieties of Brazilian pimenta, ranging from malagueta to pimenta de cheiro, which translates to "the aromatic hot pepper."

Thanks to the overexposure of churrascarias—all-you-can-eat meat restaurants—Brazil is known mostly for its big meat-eating culture, but because of the vast water resources of the Amazon, it offers much more than that. According to Brazilian food historian Pedro Cavalcanti in his 2007 book A Pátria nas Panelas: História e Receitas da Cozinha Brasileira, if you wanted to taste a different Amazon-caught fish every single day, it would take you more than three years to accomplish the task. There are more than 1,200 species of fish, including tambaqui, a sweet-tasting firm white fish that many say tastes more like veal or pork, and which is known for having meaty ribs; pirarucu, which can be as long as 10 feet and is eaten fresh, smoked, or salted and dried like salt cod; and surubim, the Brazilian catfish, big and bony and often prepared na brasa (flame-grilled) or smoked. Belém, the riverside capital of the northern state of Pará, has long been a major portal to the Amazon region, and the fish markets there, in particular the historic Ver-o-Peso market, are known for their rich varieties of native fish.

What to Eat From Northern Brazil
•Açaí: A superfruit that can be consumed in a variety of ways, but is most often blended with banana and topped with granola to create a sorbet-like breakfast or snack.
•Bombom de Cupuaçu: A milk chocolate–covered bonbon made from condensed milk and the creamy superfruit cupuaçu, which tastes like banana and pear.
•Guarana: A berry used to produce the national soda of Brazil, also called Guaraná.
•Pimenta: Pungent peppers bottled in oil; used to add a kick to native dishes.
•Pudim de Tambaqui: A soufflé-like fish dish made with an egg mixture and topped with a light shrimp sauce.
•Surubim: An Amazon-specific fish that can grow to 80 pounds, often grilled and served with rice and pirão.
•Tacacá: A soup made from tucupi broth (the liquid that remains after processing manioc for starch); salted dry jumbo prawns; jambu (similar to watercress); and some tapioca gum.

NORTHEAST BRAZIL
Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, and Bahia

Because the northeastern region of Brazil became home to many of the sugarcane plantation slaves who were brought to the country in the 1500s, it's not surprising that the cuisine of this region is distinguished by its African influences. The slaves carried with them their African traditions, which eventually were woven into Brazilian culture as well. Many dishes from the northeast contain coconut milk, dendê (or palm) oil, or okra, all of which have their roots in African food cultures. Of the African-derived dishes from this region, the most widely known is probably the seafood dish moqueca, which means "stew," and is the Brazilian version of cioppino or bouillabaisse. Other commonly found ingredients in Bahian cuisine, according to Helena Gama Lobo's comprehensive book on Bahian cooking, Receitas da Bahia (1959), are beans, manioc, corn, potatoes, legumes, fish, and meat.

Northeastern Brazilian cuisine was at first disparaged and eventually embraced by Portuguese colonizers, and it continues to shine as one of Brazil's most important regional cuisines: Dishes from this part of the country are commonly found on menus at Brazilian restaurants around the world. The northeastern city of Bahia, which has become a top destination for visitors to Brazil, is a good place to taste the region's signature dishes.

What to Eat From Northeast Brazil
•Acarajé: Similar to a falafel but made with black-eyed peas. The traditional (and best) way to eat these is fried and then stuffed with a dried shrimp sauce.
•Bobó de Camarão: Thick and luscious shrimp stew, made with pieces of manioc, coconut milk, and dendê oil.
•Bolo de Aipim: Generally, manioc is used in savory dishes, but this sweet cake combines the starchy flour with coconut to create a moist, bread-pudding-like texture.
•Caruru: Another stewlike dish, which contains okra, dried shrimp, and toasted cashews and peanuts.
•Moqueca de Camarão: This classic Bahian dish has several variations, but a traditional version contains shrimp, coconut milk, and dendê oil. When served over white rice, it's perfection.
•Vatapá: Shrimp cooked in a thick purée of bread, coconut milk, dried shrimp, peanuts, and dendê oil.
•Xim Xim de Galinha: A braised-chicken dish made with coconut milk, cashews, peanuts, dried shrimp, and dendê oil.

CENTRAL-WEST BRAZIL
Federal District of Brasília plus Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul

Like Brazil's northern region, central-west Brazil was isolated from outside influences for much of the country's history. It wasn't until the late 1950s, when what was to become the new capital of Brazil (Brasília) was built, that the population increased and the region's cuisine became more recognized.

The area's long period of isolation certainly didn't result from any lack of natural food resources: This area is home to the famous Pantanal, one of the finest game and fishing regions in the world. The river fish from the Pantanal, the beef jerky–like carne seca (dried meat), and the starchy banana da terra plantains are the best-known ingredients representing this region. Fish is also a part of everyday eating here: It is said that no lunch gets consumed without it. Pacu, for example, is a commonly used local fish that is often roasted or baked, but may also be turned into a soup or stuffed with farofa and banana.

What to Eat From Central-West Brazil
•Carne Seca com Banana Verde: Sun-dried meat sautéed with onions, garlic, and tomatoes and served with green bananas.
•Doce de Abóbora: Pumpkin compote, made with cloves and coconut milk.
•Empadão Goiano: A savory pie made with chicken, sausage, cheese, herbs, olives, and eggs.
•Farofa com Banana: Sautéed bananas and onions mixed with toasted manioc flour.
•Pacu Assado: A river fish that is usually roasted and stuffed with a mixture of manioc flour, eggs, cilantro, bread crumbs, and hot peppers.

SOUTHEAST BRAZIL
Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo, and Minas Gerais

It has been argued that Rio doesn't really have a traditional Carioca cuisine (a Carioca is a person who hails from Rio de Janeiro), aside from four main dishes: the feijoada completa, cozido à carioca, camarão com chuchu, and sopa à leão veloso. Cooks from Rio certainly have their own style—their rice always needs to be loose and the beans always black, and they prefer to use less fat and a discreet amount of hot sauce in their cooking—but the cuisine of the region piggybacks on the beloved traditions of Portuguese cooking. Portuguese restaurants are many and popular in Rio, serving in-demand traditional dishes like bolinhos de bacalhau (fried cod cakes), caldo verde (a soup made from potatoes and collards), and bacalhau à gomes de sá (salt cod and potatoes). Rio isn't known for trendy or exotic tastes, but it's a great place for Brazilian comfort foods: Find a seat at a beachside restaurant and indulge in the long list of salgadinhos (savory finger foods like fried manioc and fried cod cakes) along with a nice cold chopp, or draft beer.

São Paulo is by far the most cosmopolitan city in all of Brazil: the financial capital of a booming economy, and home to a large population of Japanese, Italian, Lebanese, Syrian, and other immigrants. It's known for its top-notch Brazilian and international restaurants, but according to Cavalcanti, the history of comida Paulista has its roots in two very down-to-earth developments: the introduction of rice, which was rare before the mid 1800s (but which then became an everyday staple when combined with beans), and the prevalence of small closed-off areas in households where chicken and pigs are raised for household consumption. The combination of native spices and produce with rice and domestically raised poultry and livestock resulted in quintessentially southeast Brazilian dishes such as cuscuz Paulista and lombo com farofa.

Thanks to immigrants from the Arab world, including the Syrians and Lebanese who arrived beginning in the late 19th century, one can find quibes (or falafel) on any São Paulo street corner. Italians, meanwhile, brought over their traditional spaghetti and Neapolitan pizza, and Japanese immigrants their sushi. To put São Paulo's international profile into perspective, by 1895 the population was 130,000, 59,000 of which were natives, 45,000 Italians, and the rest immigrants from other cultures.

In the state of Espírito Santo, which hugs the Atlantic coastline of Brazil between Rio and Bahia, seafood, fish, and crustaceans form the backbone of the cuisine. Espírito Santo is best known for its moqueca Capixaba. Unlike the moqueca popular in Bahia, here the seafood stew is seasoned with urucum (achiote or annatto), a pigment that gives it a reddish color. Seafood pies, or tortas, are another specialty; they are made with salted cod and might also contain crab, oysters, shrimp, and lobster.

West of Espírito Santo is the state of Minas Gerais, the epicenter of yet another distinctive regional Brazilian cuisine. Three Mineiros dishes in particular have infiltrated Brazilian households everywhere: At every dining room table in Brazil you will encounter a round of queijo Minas, cheese that's either eaten on toast or with a slice of guava paste. A jar of sweet, caramel-like doce de leite is in every kitchen cabinet, and pão de queijo, or cheese bread, is sold at every bakery and served at restaurants. Minas is also well known for its preserved fruits: papaya, figs, bananas, pineapples, orange, plums, or mangoes in a sugary syrup.

When it comes to meals, Minas is all about pork, which includes pork fat or lard, and greens like okra or thinly chiffonaded collards that get flash-fried with garlic and olive oil. Feijão tropeiro, a traditional preparation of red or black beans, and tutu de feijão are perfect examples of signature dishes from Minas.

What to Eat From Southeast Brazil
•Aipim Frito: The French fry of Brazil, but made with yucca.
•Bolinhos de Bacalhao: Fried croquettes made with dried cod. Delicious with a cold beer.
•Bacalhao à Gomes do Sá: Olive oil–baked salt cod served with potatoes, onions, and olive oil. Can be garnished with olives and cooked eggs.
•Camarão com Chuchu: Small-shrimp stew with chayote.
•Couve à Mineira: Collards that have been chiffonaded hair-thin and then flash-fried with olive oil, salt, and garlic.
•Coxinha: A deep-fried potato cake generally stuffed with pulled chicken and/or Catupiry (a soft, tangy cheese).
•Cozido à Carioca: A dish that also exists in present-day Portugal but is much more elaborate in its Brazilian incarnation, consisting of a variety of stewed meats and root vegetables and plantains, cooked for many hours.
•Cuscuz Paulista: A very traditional São Paulo dish made with manioc flour, onions, garlic, tomatoes, olives, heart of palm, pork, and chicken all combined to fit a Bundt cake–type mold.
•Doce de Leite: A popular dessert made from either a boiled can of condensed milk or milk, sugar, and baking soda.
•Feijão Tropeiro: A bean dish containing pieces of smoked pork fat, manioc flour, onion, and eggs.
•Feijoada Carioca: Bean stew made with different cuts of meat, like pig's ears and feet, bacon, smoked pork, and beef. It's usually served with white rice and farofa.
•Lombo com Farofa: Pork tenderloin accompanied by a version of toasted manioc flour that contains green onions, parsley, raisins, hard-boiled egg, onions, tomatoes, prunes, and roughly chopped walnuts.
•Moqueca Capixaba: A variation of seafood stew, or moqueca, that uses olive oil instead of palm oil and omits coconut milk. The stew contains onions, cilantro, chives, tomatoes, and urucum, and is cooked in a clay pot.
•Pão de Queijo: Round cheese breads made with manioc starch (polvilho).
•Pastel de Camarão: A Brazilian empanada made with shrimp.
•Picanha: A cut of beef common in Brazil but difficult to find elsewhere. It's technically top sirloin cap with a fatty layer on top. This cut of meat requires no marination other than being rolled in rock salt. It's skewered and grilled.
•Tutu de Feijão: A black bean dish made with garlic, sausage, bacon pieces, and toasted manioc flour.

SOUTH BRAZIL
Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina

Churrascarias have become the most popular representation of Brazilian cuisine abroad, and we have the southernmost part of Brazil to thank for that. According to the book A Pátria nas Panelas there is no single recipe for a gaucho churrasco (gaucho being what you call someone from Rio Grande). Instead, show up at a gaucho's house on Sunday and chances are he'll be deep in discussion about how best to soften or marinate their meats—in either milk, Cognac, cachaça, or honey. Those who prefer the more traditional approach use sal grosso (rock salt) and nothing else to marinate their meat. Regardless of the method, it's advised that the meat be left resting for at least one night.

Given the fact that German, Italian, Ukrainian, Polish, and then eventually Dutch, Syrians, Lebanese, English, and Japanese immigrants came to land in Paraná and Santa Catarina, it's hard to know which native dishes existed before their arrival. It's assumed that early on the folk ate the fish that inhabited the nearby waters—one of the most favorable being the tainha. This fish is best when caught between April and July, when the waters are still warm. It can be prepared in multiple ways, but tainha na telha is fairly popular. The stew called barreado is another regional dish that has long stood the test of time. It's not clear as to when this dish first came to be, but it continues to be the most on-point representative of the south, pre-immigration.

The European, Asian, and Middle Eastern immigrants to the region adapted the area's cuisine to their own tastes. Germans, for example, grew cabbage and potatoes, raised pigs, and made butter and cheese, much as Germans did all over the world. The same can be said of the Italian immigrants who introduced cornmeal to Brazil.

Brazil is a country forged of its own traditions but also welcoming of others, creating a cuisine that is distinctly local yet at the same time worldly.

What to Eat From South Brazil
•Arroz de Carreteiro: Fried rice meets risotto, Brazilian style: Garlic, onions, and rice are fried in oil with small pieces of hydrated charque (the South American version of jerky), then slowly simmered until cooked through.
•Barreado: This dish is cooked in a "panela de barro," or clay pot, whose lid is sealed shut by a glue made of flour and water. Beef is cooked with a mixture of liquefied tomato and onions, garlic, and small pieces of bacon for many hours, then served with rice, plantains, and farofa.
•Churrasco: The essential Brazilian barbecue. It usually happens Sunday, late afternoon. Meat is marinated with just plain rock salt or milk, Cognac, or cachaça and includes cuts like top sirloin cap and bottom sirloin, which are served with grilled chicken hearts, homemade salsa, and lots of cachaça and beer.
•Tainha na Telha: Local fish stuffed with small shrimp, onions, manioc flour, and black olives and topped with fried potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and olives.