It's hard to generalize about Brazilian food, largely because
there is no single national cuisine but numerous very distinct
regional ones. Nature dealt Brazil a full hand for these varying
cuisines: there's an abundant variety of fruit, vegetables and
spices, as you can see for yourself walking through any food
market.
There are four main regional cuisines : comida
mineira from Minas Gerais, based on pork, vegetables
(especially couve, a relative of spinach) and tutu, a
kind of refried bean cooked with manioc flour and used as a thick
sauce; comida baiana from the Salvador coast, the most
exotic to gringo palates, using superb fresh fish and shellfish,
hot peppers, palm oil, coconut milk and fresh coriander; comida
do sertão from the interior of the Northeast, which relies on
rehydrated dried or salted meat and the fruit, beans and tubers of
the region; and comida gaúcha from Rio Grande do Sul, the
most carnivorous diet in the world, revolving around every
imaginable kind of meat grilled over charcoal. Comida do
sertão is rarely served outside its homeland, but you'll find
restaurants serving the others throughout Brazil, although -
naturally - they're at their best in their region of origin.
Alongside the regional restaurants, there is a standard
fare available everywhere that can soon get dull unless you
cast around: steak ( bife ) or chicken ( frango ),
served with arroz e feijão , rice and beans, and often with
salad, fries and farinha , dried manioc (cassava)
flour that you sprinkle over everything. Farofa is toasted
farinha, and usually comes with onions and bits of bacon
mixed in. In cheaper restaurants all this would come on a single
large plate: look for the words prato feito, prato
comercial or refeição completa if you want to fill up
without spending too much.
Feijoada is the closest Brazil comes to a national dish:
a stew of pork, sausage and smoked meat cooked with black beans and
garlic, garnished with slices of orange. Eating it is a national
ritual at weekends, when restaurants serve feijoada all
day.
Some of the fruit is familiar - manga, mango,
maracujá, passion fruit, limão, lime - but most of it
has only Brazilian names: jaboticaba, fruta do conde,
sapoti and jaca. The most exotic fruits are
Amazonian: try bacuri, açaí and the extraordinary
cupuaçu, the most delicious of all. These all serve as the
basis for juices and ice cream , sorvete, which can
be excellent; keep an eye out for sorvetarias, ice cream
parlours.