Brazilian Cuisine

I lived in Sao Paulo for several months and never thought about meat. As a 15-year-old high school student from New York, I was amazed, delighted, and almost demented by the fist-sized strawberries, the starburst orange mangos, and an array of tropical fruits that I couldn’t even begin to name. Brazil had some of the most beautiful produce I had ever seen, and it was all off-limits. Let me explain: the farms around Sao Paulo at the time utilized Japanese farming techniques, which included fertilizing with “night soil,” or human waste. I was told it was too big a risk to eat any of the luscious fresh fruit or to sam-ple any of the refreshing fresh fruit shakes available on any corner.

So, for a while, I satisfied my culinary curiosity with street food. Pastels and empanadas were fried doughs of varying textures, stuffed with potatoes, onions, garlic, ground nuts, fresh peas, or coconut. There was avocado ice cream which is a non-dairy sweet purée of avocado and sugar. To wash it down, there was a brand of soda, called “Antarctica,” which advertised its ingredients as “Amazon fruits.” Guarana, a softly carbonated beverage made from an extract of the bark of the guarana bush, could be purchased from street vendors. If you desired a hot beverage, there was yerba mate, an herb “coffee,” or the super-caffeinated cafezinho (say “café zeen nyo”), a potent French press shot of strongly roasted coffee. I’d bet that if you measured the blood levels of most Brazilians, you’d probably find that at least half their blood is composed of cafezinho. It is served at meals, between meals, and for snacks, and puts an American espresso to shame. I’ve read that in urban areas, the average Brazilian drinks 12 to 24 of these caffeine bombs per day. With all the street food and the beverages, who has time to think about regular meals?

Brazil covers almost half of South America and has a huge range of climates. Between the vast and varied growing areas and the influence of Portuguese invaders and West African slaves, Brazil has a cornucopia of foods and menus. If you are in one area, beef is served at every meal; in another area, eggs and dairy are very important; and in still other areas, fish and seafood are what is popular.

However, before all the foreign invaders hit Brazil, the very important food items were beans, manioc root, cassava, coconuts, avocados, and lots of tropical and temperate fruits, such as oranges, papayas, and limes. Brazilian diets revolved around black beans and manioc meal. Beef and rice, two of today’s popular Brazilian ingredients, were imported.

These days, Brazil is a huge exporter of coffee, sugar cane, soybeans, citrus fruit, avocados, cocoa beans, and bananas. Large bean and rice crops help to feed the country. So how come many people think of beef and pork as being integral to Brazilian cuisine?

Brazilian gauchos or cowboys make their meals from beef and manioc root. Beef is an important part of Brazil’s economy and is incorporated into many dishes. However, beef is an important part of a small amount of Brazil’s total cuisine, more popular in the actual cattle-raising areas.

Of major health concern in Brazil is the amount of dende or palm oil, and coconut oil, used. Both are saturated fats and can cause the same sort of heart disease as fat from animals. Polyunsaturated fats are scoffed at in Brazil! If someone’s not cooking with saturated tropical oils, then he or she is using animal fat! Much of Brazil’s street food and festive foods are deep-fried and served with coconut. The good news is that these super-fried foods are meant for special occasions and not for everyday use. Moderation is everything!

In fact, the Brazilian families who invited me to their homes usually had the following staples at each meal: steamed black beans or black-eyed peas, and steamed rice seasoned with hot pepper sauce and sprinkled with manioc powder. You knew this would always be on the table, with perhaps a cold heart-of-palm salad or some cooked greens. Family breakfasts would usually be fresh fruit and juice, the ever-present coffee, hot milk, bread, and some cheeses. Lunch and dinner were heavy affairs, with sandwiches and salads saved for snack foods. Tea was usually served right before bedtime, with warm milk and some cookies or sweets.

Feijoada started out as a simple Portuguese stew of beans and vegetables. The Brazilians adopted it and amplified it, and it has become the national dish. Feijoada completa is a buffet meal centered around a stew of black beans, meat, and sausage. The best parts of a feijoada to me are the side dishes: lots of fluffy steamed rice and farofa, a soft but firm stuffing-like dish made with manioc meal, or piroas (a chewy but crispy cracker bread that can have olives, raisins, coconut, or sliced vegetables in it). A variety of greens may be served, including collards, spinach, or taioba (also called “elephant ears”), that have been slow-cooked for a tender texture. It is difficult to find a vegetarian feijoada, as the traditional flavors rely so heavily on meat. Steamed black beans cooked with smoked tempeh, onions, and garlic could take the place of feijoada on a vegetarian Brazilian buffet. The actual technique for feijoada would be to cook the beans until they are tender, then remove half and mash them with a fat (traditionally lard or butter, but vegans can use margarine), chopped onions, and minced garlic. Next, the mashed beans are returned to the pot and cooked until creamy. If you want to go really Brazilian, you could thicken the stew with manioc root and add some coconut milk. However, you can forego the coconut milk and thicken with additional beans or mashed potatoes.

Cozinha Baiana or Bahian cuisine is the assemblage of distinctly African-influenced dishes in Brazil. Bahia is an area near the port of Salvador where many African slaves were brought into Brazil. The African influence can be seen in crops of peanuts, pumpkin or winter squash, bananas, yams, okra, chilies, and beans. I’ve included a recipe for stewed pumpkin that shows the Bahian influence.

There is a variety of popular starches in Brazil. Europeans brought rice, and it was quickly accepted. The traditional way to prepare a pot of Brazilian rice is to sauté the rice in some fat and steam it, using coco-nut milk as some of the cooking liquid. There go the calories! Manioc, a starchy root, is used like tapioca and is seen in sweet and savory dishes, or used as a main ingredient or a thickener. Farina and other cereal grains are used to make hot porridges, as thickeners for stews, and to make steamed dessert puddings. In northern Brazil, you’ll find cuzcuz, steamed like Moroccan couscous and made into a steamed, sweet, starchy cake with coconut milk and grated coconut. In the south, you’ll find cuzcuzeiro, an elegant, savory main dish mixed with heavy seasonings.

The flavors of Brazilian cuisine can usually be identified as African or Portuguese. Acarje sauce, of African origin, is a blend of palm oil, onions, ginger, and hot chilies. Nago sauce has palm oil, lemon juice, cooked okra, and pepper. Lemon sauce is made with hot chili peppers, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and onions. Tempero means “seasoning” in Portuguese, and can be either Portuguese or African. Portuguese tempero has onions, garlic, parsley, and tomatoes; African tempero usually has coconut milk, palm oil, and hot chili peppers.

Fortunately, Brazil has a multitude of tropical fruits for snacks and desserts. Traditional Brazilian desserts could keep a cardiologist in business forever! Bolo Bebado or “Drunken cake” is an egg- and sugar-laden cake soaked in sugar and rum. Avocado cream and ice cream are very popular and are eaten as desserts and snacks. Brazilian Ambrosia is a heavy custard containing lots of eggs, milk, and sugar, and sometimes flavored with passion fruit. My suggestion is to eat the passion fruit and forget the custard.

There are plenty of wonderful healthy, vegan alternatives to dairy-based desserts. Smoothie shops specialize in fruit shakes, and some places offer up to 100 different selections. These can be made with or without ice cream and are usually just a combination of fresh juice and fruit. Consider a banana-mango shake or a passion fruit-orange shake. Although they are served as beverages, they could easily make a light lunch.

Oh, and yes I did eventually indulge in fresh fruit. When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I launched into a fresh mango, the likes of which I have never experienced again. I quickly learned to munch on papayas, tangerines, bananas, berries, and lots of grapes, or to enjoy them in shakes. And I’m here to tell the tale!

As a side note, I visited a local Brazilian restaurant in Long Beach, California. It is a cozy neighborhood place, with a menu divided between Italian and Brazilian dishes. The cook/owner grew up near Sao Paulo and is half Italian and half Brazilian. I noted many vegetarian Italian pizzas, pastas, and submarine sandwiches, but no vegetarian Brazilian dishes. The owner, a charming woman, explained that she had been in the restaurant business for many years in Brazil and had not had requests for vegetarian cuisine. When she opened her business in California, she got requests for vegetarian Italian dishes and so she started to offer them. Yet, she has still not had requests for vegetarian Brazilian food. She tried some vegetarian appetizers—coxinha, esiha, and risolls, traditionally stuffed with chicken and beef, alternately using savory potato and manioc filling—but her customers didn’t go for them. What’s nice is that she is willing to accommodate customers who want to try Brazilian cuisine without meat. If an item can be prepared without meat and still retain authentic flavor, she will do it.

And if you happen to be in Rio, Fellini Restaurant in Rio De Janeiro is family-run and is an upscale, but casual, restaurant. Located two blocks from Leblon Beach, the restaurant is in a beautiful location in Rio. It offers an international buffet that changes at lunch and dinner. Although not strictly vegetarian, the buffet always has homemade pasta, lots of vegetables, salads, Brazilian seasonal fruit, fresh-baked breads, stewed and roasted vegetable dishes, steamed and seasoned rice, vegetarian sushi, bean dishes, and feijao (black beans stewed with manioc root). The owners, the Laskowsky family, say they are very happy to accommodate vegetarians. What’s nice is that you choose what you want and pay for what you select. Your plate is then weighed at the end of the buffet. A heaping plate costs about $5-7 American. Visit the restaurant’s website to get a picture of the buffet!