Working 2 Live, Living 2 Travel

One of our favorite experiences in traveling is trying out the local cuisine. In Brazil, it’s been hit or miss.

Where’s the beef? It’s all in Brazil.

If you’re a meat lover, you’ll love Brazil. From churrascarias that seem to have an endless supply of beef and pork to the national dish of feijoada that uses every last piece of the pig, meat is chief. In a churrascaria, a server with huge slabs of meat comes around and offers it to you hot off the spit. Expect to be offered some form of beef or pork (no chicken here except chicken hearts – you should have seen my expression the first time this was offered to me!) at least 10 times during your meal. In the higher end churrascarias, you have a coin with one side red, one side green. As long as you still want the meat, you leave the coin on the green side. When you’re stuffed, flip it to red to let the server know you’ve had enough.

Famous in the U.S. for its steakhouses, most of the meat here is grilled and barbecues are popular. However, barbecues aren’t just hamburgers and hotdogs. You’ve got steaks, roast, pork loin, chicken, fish and every other type of way to serve meat here. Cheese-on-a-stick is also popular at barbecues.

Anything other than meat?

For those like me who aren’t big meat eaters, it’s the national staple of rice and beans. I have come to love this dish. Like we have mashed potatoes, rice is served with almost every meal here, and you can get it with black or red beans. Vegetables, typically, are cooked here without any spices or flavor, so they are quite bland.

Breads are very popular in Brazil, with the most popular pão de queijo, a cheese bread with the cheese inside. You’ll usually find this at breakfast, since this isn’t a big meal in Brazil. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day.

 

 

Got a sweet tooth?

Brazilians love their sweets, and a dessert can’t be too rich. From the chocolatey brigadeiro to churros with dolce de leite and chocolate inside you can get a great sugar high here. And if dessert isn’t readily available after dinner, ice cream is everywhere. Even restaurants that don’t offer dessert will have a freezer with ice cream bars like you see in convenience stores in the U.S.

Wet your whistle

Caipirinhas are the national drink of Brazil. Made by muddling a sugar cane rum, sugar and lime together in a glass (kind of like an Old Fashioned). I like mine sweeter while Christopher likes his stronger. There are three main brands of beer that are popular countrywide: Original, Skol and Braums Brahma. The beers are light drafts, but Christopher likes Original best. Every other cocktail imaginable can be made at most bars, but there seems to be a certain affinity toward Johnny Walker Scotch.

Whereas in the U.S. we prefer lemon in our drinks, you’ll be able to get lime here. Lemon is very difficult if not impossible to find. Coffee is strong here and served in small doses. Liquid sweetener and sugar are served with it, but you won’t find creamer too much. Sometimes you can get hot milk for it.

Restaurants and vendors

There are tons of buffets here, but they are pay-by-the-kilo. So, make sure you only get what you can eat. There are very few all-you-can-eat buffets, and even then most of those will charge you an additional fee for whatever you leave on your plate.

Food vendors can be found at major events and everywhere on the beach. We’ve seen roasted corn, churros, cheese-on-a-stick, homemade sweets, and more being sold by these vendors. Unlike India, you’re pretty safe eating off the street here, at least in the southern part of the country. We’ve been told that there are concerns in the Northeast and Amazon region.

That’s our take on Brazilian food. What would you most want to try in Brazil?

-Monica