BRAZIL - EATING AND DRINKING

The Cuisine

Brazilian cuisine comes in many regional varieties but the one truly national dish is feijoada, a blackbean stew that originated with African slaves who used leftovers to make a tasty meal. Traditionally served on Saturdays, the beans are spiced with garlic, onions, and bay leaves and left to stew for hours with a hodgepodge of meats that may include sausage, beef, dried meat, and obscure bits of pork. Accompanied with rice, farofa (manioc flour), slices of orange, and stir-fried cabbage, it’s a meal by itself.

Brazil’s most distinguished regional cuisine is found in coastal Bahia, a region with very strong African influences. (Most Brazilian slaves arrived first in Bahia, and after slavery was abolished many of them settled in that area.) Bahian cuisine mixes African spices with the fresh and bountiful local ingredients. Bahia’s most famous dish is the moqueca, a rich stew made with fresh fish or seafood, coconut milk, lime juice, cilantro, and spicy malagueta peppers, and flavored with the oil from a dendê palm, which gives this dish its characteristic red color.

In the Amazon, whatever food does not come from the forest or the river has to be shipped in and is therefore very expensive. Fortunately, the region is blessed with a large variety of fish. Cast aside any preconceived notions you may have about freshwater fish.

The Amazon fish are delicious— firm white meat that tastes best just plainly grilled with salt and herbs. Local names for the best fish vary from one part of the Amazon to the next, but look for surubim, pacu, dourado, and pirarucu. The forest also yields a large variety of fruit that are often unknown outside of the Amazon. The best way to try them is just to order something off the juice menu; point if you can’t wrap your tongue around Indian names such as cupuaçu, açai, or jabuticaba.

In the south and southwest of Brazil (the Pantanal, Iguaçu, and the south of Brazil) the cuisine is more European, and as the largest beef-producing region in Brazil, meat is always on the menu. Churrascarias, or Brazilian steakhouses, are everywhere; indeed it’s sometimes hard to find anything else to eat. Often churrascarias operate on a rodízio system—all-you-can-eat meat barbecue. Endless waiters scurry from grill to tables bearing giant skewers of beautifully roasted beef, chicken, pork, or sausage, from which they then slice off succulent portions onto your plate. The parade of meat continues until you cry enough. If carnivorous overconsumption doesn’t appeal, there are other places to get yourself a fine cut of beef. Neighborhood bars (botequins) and even street vendors also offer barbecued beef, often served with a side of vinaigrette sauce, rice, and farofa.

Also very popular in Brazil is the simple hearty fare from Minas Gerais, a state settled largely by European immigrants. Favorite dishes include tutu mineiro, Brazil’s version of refried beans, served with grilled pork sausage, pork tenderloin, crispy bacon bits, couve mineiro (green cabbage), and a boiled egg. Other dishes include a variety of stews made with chicken or beef, potatoes, carrots, and sometimes pumpkin.

In Rio and São Paulo, the restaurant scene is very cosmopolitan: excellent Japanese restaurants, fabulous Italian, traditional Portuguese, and Spanish food as well as popular restaurants that serve Brazilian food—rice, black beans, farofa, and steak.

Eating Out

Brazilians love to eat out. There is no shortage of eateries, from beach vendors selling grilled cheese and sweets, to lunch bars serving pastries and cold beers, to fine French cuisine complete with the elegance and pretensions of Paris. Most Brazilians eat a very small breakfast at home—usually café au lait and some bread—then go out for lunch. Traditionally, these lunches are full hot meals, but these days you can also find North American–style sandwiches and salads as a lighter alternative. Dinner is eaten late, especially when dining out. Most restaurants don’t get busy until 9 or 10pm and will often serve dinner until 1 or 2am. The trick to lasting that long without fainting is to have a lanche or light meal—often a fruit juice and a pastry—around 5 or 6 pm.

In Brazil, portions often serve two people, especially in more casual restaurants. Always ask or you may well end up with an extraordinary amount of food. In Portuguese ask, “Serve para dois?” (pronounced Sirvay p’ra doysh—“Does it serve two?”).

The standard Brazilian menu comes close to what some restaurants label as international cuisine: pasta, seafood, beef, and chicken. Except in Brazil, these are served with a local or regional twist. The pasta may be stuffed with Catupiry cheese and abôbora (a kind of pumpkin); the chicken could have maracujá (passion-fruit) sauce. In Brazil the cows are open range and grass-fed, making for a very lean beef which comes in uniquely Brazilian cuts such as picanha (tender rump steak), fraldinha (bottom sirloin), or alcatra (top sirloin). And of course, no Brazilian meal is complete without farofa and rice or black beans.

These days you will find more and more kilo (quilo in Portuguese) restaurants. The food is laid out in a large buffet, and at the better ones there’s a grill at the back serving freshly cooked steaks, chicken, and sausage. Kilos aren’t all-you-can-eat. Rather, you pay by weight. If you’re not familiar with Brazilian food, it’s a great way to see all the dishes laid out in front of you; you can try as little or as much as you like. Even better, they often have a variety of salads and vegetables that can be hard to come by elsewhere in Brazil. The system works as follows: When you enter the restaurant, you’re given a piece of paper on which all your orders are recorded. Don’t lose this slip or you’ll have to pay a ridiculously high penalty. You grab a plate, wander by the buffet and grill, filling up on whatever catches your eye (all items have the same per kilogram cost, which is usually advertised both outside and inside the restaurant), and then take the plate to the scale to be weighed. The weigher records the charges on your bill, after which you find a table. Normally a waiter will then come by and take your drink order, adding these charges to your tally. On your way out, the cashier sums it all up. Tip: Small cups of strong dark coffee (called cafezinhos) are usually served free by the cashier or exit. Look for a thermos and a stack of little plastic cups.

A churrascaria is a steakhouse that operates on the rodízio system, essentially all you can eat—though you’ll pay extra for drinks and dessert. The set price buys you unlimited access to a massive salad bar buffet, often also including fish and sushi, and the attention of an army of waiters all offering different cuts of meat, sliced directly onto your plate. All the typical and unique Brazilian cuts of beef are on offer, as well as chicken breast, chicken hearts, sausage, and on and on and on.


THE BEST FOOD AND DRINK EXPERIENCES


Experiencing Feijoada, the National Dish: 

It’s impossible to single out one restaurant in all of Brazil for its feijoada. Just try it and try it right. Start with a caipirinha (that potent, delicious lime and sugarcane drink) and some caldo (soup), followed by steaming hot black beans with all the various meats. Side dishes include farofa, cabbage, orange slices, and rice. Dab some malagueta peppers on the beans for an extra kick.

Tasting Street Food: 

Whether you want prawns, chicken, tapioca pancakes, coconut sweets, or corn on the cob, it can all be purchased on the street for next to nothing. Don’t be afraid to try some of the best snacks that Brazil has to offer.

Eating Beef Until You Burst:

Rodízio churrascarias are all-you-can-eat meat orgies. The best cuts of beef are served up one after another; try one or two, or try them all. As long as you can take it, they dish it out. Our favorite is surely picanha, the lean, tender rump steak—it will melt in your mouth. One of the country’s most popular restaurants is Porcão, a small Brazilian chain.

Sampling Sophisticated Brazilian Cuisine at Le Pré Catelan: 

Don’t miss the sophisticated rice and beans tasting menu or the Amazonian 10-course gourmet meal fit for a king (and presidents) at Sofitel’s Le Pré Catelan. French top chef Roland Villard has outdone himself by turning Brazilian ingredients into exceptional haute cuisine.

Sipping Colonial Coffee in Rio:

For the most elegant coffee experience, visit Confeitaria Colombo. This 19th-century Belle Epoque establishment is one of the most beautiful salons in all of Brazil.

Dining in Elegant São Paulo: 

Brazil’s biggest, richest city is where you’ll find the best chefs and the most demanding customers. It is the place in Brazil for sophisticated fine dining. Two places you won’t go wrong, for service, ambience, or food are Figueira Rubaiyat and D.O.M., both in the Jardins. D.O.M. offers ultra-high-end dining, with one of the best wine lists in the hemisphere. Figueira offers excellent food, and one of the nicest dining rooms anywhere, beneath the limbs of a huge fig tree.

Slurping Moquecas in Salvador: 

You can’t say you’ve been to Salvador without trying moqueca, the tasty stew of fresh seafood with coconut milk, lime juice, cilantro, and red dendê palm oil. Try Pelourinho’s Axego.

Experiencing Fine Dining in Porto de Galinhas: 

Beijupirá in a small resort town in Brazil’s Northeast, is perhaps one of the most pleasant little restaurants in the country. The decorations are whimsical and rustic, the food an inspired Brazilian cuisine that makes use of fresh seafood, tropical fruit, and spices.

Trying the Regional Cuisine of Belém:

Located in the Tropics, on the Amazon River but at the mouth of the ocean, Belém has access to a richer assortment of ingredients than almost anywhere else in Brazil. Local chefs make the most of the variety. For regional cuisine, try Lá em Casa.

Savoring Italian Fare in Curitiba:

In the heart of Curitiba’s Italian Santa Felicidade neighborhood, Madalosso seats over 4,500 diners and serves up an all-you-can-eat feast of chicken, pasta, polenta, risotto, and more.

By Shawn Blore & Alexandra de Vries in "Frommer's Brazil" 6th. edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA, 2012, excerpts pp. 110-116 & 191-203. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.