Brazilian food is a richly cultured cuisine that has been created through the influences of its people. Their dishes are designed traditional and by using foods that are fresh and local which is why different areas have different specialties, always delicious and never boring.
Foods such as mango, papaya, guava, oranges, passion fruit, pineapple, peanuts, yams and root vegetables are plentiful and used in great quantity. Some regions in Brazil will put plenty of beans to good use and other Brazilian regions find meat as the staple in their diet.
Southern Brazil
Southern Brazil was established by immigrants from Germany, Europe and Italy. Their cuisine was designed by people who were used to using much wheat in their diet. Their style is called the gaucho or cowboy, coming from dishes of salt or sun dried meats.
The region with several very distinctive cooking styles due to it being so industrialized is the Southeast part of Brazil. Regional dishes include corn, pork, beans and cheeses. A Brazilian food specialty here is a simmered bean and meat dish that is served as a lunch dish on Wednesday and Saturday. As a tradition, Rio serves black beans, Minas Gerais serves red beans and São Paulo offers red or blonde.
Central West
Moving to the Central West, you find that fish, beef and pork dominate the menu and agricultural crops of soybean, corn and rice make up staples of their menu. The Central West is known for open prairies and it houses the Pantanal which is known as one of the best game and fishing regions on the earth.
Northeast Region
Brazilian food is greatly influenced by the Northeast. It is an area of Brazil that is used for raising cattle and growing sugar cane and cacao. The cuisine is Afro-Bahian which merges African, Indian and Portuguese dishes together to come up with plates that are simply delicious. Brazlian foods in these regions typically include dried meat, rice, beans, goat and corn meal.
North
The strongest influence of the Brazilian food comes from the North. Its influence on Brazilian food is fish, root vegetables, yams, peanuts and tropical fruit. This region is Indian influenced which is carried out through other cultures. North Brazil is home to rain forests and flowers along the Amazon River which adds to inspiration to their dishes. A popular dish is Caruru do pará which is a pot of dried shrimp, cilantro, onion, okra, tomato and dende oil.
To narrow down or put a label on what kind of food is consumed in Brazil is absolutely impossible. Brazilian food is fresh and from their country and you won’t find this kind of variety anywhere else in the world. Although Brazil is known for its white sand beaches and vast pieces of cultural sightings, it is equally important to partake in traditional Brazilian food dishes. They are unlike any you will ever taste again.