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I was amused, to say the very least, by a recent article in another [unnamed] website for expats in Brazil, complaining about how boring and bland Brazilian food is. At the same time I was perplexed at this statement, because it couldn鈥檛 be farther from the truth.聽 Brazilian cuisine ranks right up there with the very best of them. There are regional dishes from every part of this great nation that remain in your memory long after the taste fades from the palate.

I don鈥檛 know if the writer of the article simply doesn鈥檛 get around much in Brazil to experiment some of these fantastic regional delights, he鈥檚 confusing the day-to-day diet of Brazilians, or if he will only eat foods that come from 鈥渙ver home鈥�. I think it鈥檚 possibly the latter to be quite honest as he rants about not being able to find many foods from the UK, and even there he鈥檚 way of the mark.

I鈥檒l be the very first to admit that the day-to-day staple diet of Brazilians is rather boring 鈥� meat/chicken, beans, rice and the ever present farinha de mandioca. That said, I鈥檓 from Canada and the average North American home鈥檚 daily fare isn鈥檛 exactly the most exciting either 鈥� meat and potatoes, meat and potatoes, and chicken and potatoes. I would suspect that the dinner table in the average British household isn鈥檛 a great deal different; actually as I understand it most Brits really overdo it on the take-out anyway. So, let鈥檚 really concern ourselves here with two aspects of dining in Brazil; special or traditional dishes, and eating out.

In every corner of this country you鈥檒l find that they have a specialty, some regions it鈥檚 meat dishes, in others it鈥檚 seafood and fish dishes and then too they all have their special vegetable dishes as well. The national obsession is "churrasco" the Brazilian barbecue and it is sensational. If the writer of the article finds that in any way boring he really should consider checking himself into some kind of clinic. The endless variety of meat cuts each with their own special taste and texture, the salads, pastas and vegetable dishes set out on long tables or counters boggles the mind and delights the tastebuds. Anyone who has been to a decent "Churasscaria" succumbs to the temptation and throws any diet they may be on right out the window. They also find it an irresistible attraction luring them back to Brazil once they鈥檝e returned home.

Then we have the most traditional of all Brazilian dishes 鈥� Feijoada a Brasileira. It鈥檚 a hearty black bean based dish cooked with various cuts of meat, not all of which you may want to know about. The most traditional feijoada will have a few different types of sausage, carne seca (sun dried beef), pigs knuckles, ears and tails. In restaurants they usually omit the ears and tails in order to appeal more to the faint of heart. Try it anyway and I guarantee you that the vast majority of you will just love it. I鈥檒l take feijoada hands down over anything except churrasco, and then it鈥檚 a real chore to choose one or the other.

The Northeast of Brazil is famous for seafood and fish dishes. You have never experienced anything as delicious as Moqueca de Peixe a traditional fish stew with a sauce that鈥檚 a base of fish stock, heavy cream, spices, coconut milk and a unique oil called azeite de dende. In restaurants it is usually cooked in a cast iron or earthenware 鈥減anela鈥� and served at the table in the the pot it was cooked in.

The state of Minas Gerais is nationally famous for its various specialty dishes like roast piglet a dish called 鈥淟eitoa a Pururuca鈥� and sensational soups like Caldo Verde and Caldo de Mandioca. You can鈥檛 go anywhere in this huge nation that you鈥檙e not going to find an excellent restaurant specialized in 鈥淐omida Mineira鈥�.

Then add to that the variety of restaurants in every major city in Brazil from every ethnicity imaginable 鈥� Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Arab, Indian, Chinese and Japanese, just to name a few.

About the only thing in the article that I didn鈥檛 wholly disagree with was the complaint that it鈥檚 so difficult to find foodstuffs imported from abroad and when you do they cost a King鈥檚 Ransom. Well he鈥檚 only partly off the mark there. In major cities they鈥檙e not so difficult to get, you just need to know where to look for them. You鈥檒l have no problems getting things like Marmite/Vegemite, Oxo, Coleman's mustard, Lea & Perrins, HP Sauce, Lyle鈥檚 Golden Syrup, real blueberries, maple syrup, Tahini paste, Canadian bacon, and many of the condiments and spices you鈥檙e used to 鈥� if you know where to shop for them and are willing to pay the price.

Brazilian food, boring? Not bloody likely mate! In fact, the Brazilian cuisine is one of the things that has me rooted here and prevents me from scurrying back to the 鈥渇rozen north鈥�.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Need proof? Then check out some of these recipes which are among my favorite and I love to prepare:

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