Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of which have no English
name. In Rio and parts of
Southern Brazil, one finds
small, tart
jaboticaba
, and
red
acerola
berries, often
mixed in juices with other
fruits. Farther north are vast
orchards of cashew (
caju
) -
not the nut, but the large
fruit that grows above. In
the Amazon, there are
taperaba
,
cupuaçu
, and the
queen of Amazon berries,
açaí
. These are often puréed
with
guaraná
berry powder
or syrup and can be mixed
with banana for a high-
nutrition smoothie.
Table laid out with all the elements that make up a
feijoada completa
WHAT TO DRINK
Brazil's best-known drink is
almost certainly the
caipirinha
,
made with lime, sugar, ice,
and
cachaça
(sugarcane
liquor). A better choice for
quenching thirst, however, are
the wide variety of tropical
fruit juices. Brazil's most popu-
lar soft drink is the domesti-
cally produced
guaraná
. This
fizzy drink is prepared with
wild
guaraná
berries from
Amazônia. Also enormously
popular is
chope
, or draft beer,
served ice-cold after a hot day
on the beach.
Chá mate
, her-
bal tea, is usually consumed
hot in Southern Brazil, but in
the rest of Brazil, it is served
cold as iced tea. It is advisable
to bring your own tea bags
from home. Although Brazil is
very much a cold beverage
country, the exception is the
ubiquitous
cafézinho
, strong
filter coffee. Most Brazilians
drink it very sweet and at
almost any time of the day.
heavily salted in grocery
stores, while cod balls
(
bolinhos de bacalhau
)
or cod fillets are found on
many menus. For fresher
fare, Brazil's long coastline
offers a bounty of excellent
fish and seafood. The colder
waters off Santa Catarina
offer the country's best
oysters. Ilhabela, off
São Paulo's green coast, is
known for its cold-
water jumbo
shrimp (
camarão
).
Farther north are
mollusks, squid,
octopus, crab,
lobster, shrimp,
and, of course, fish.
Some of Brazil's
best fish come
not from the
ocean but
from the fresh
waters of the
Pantanal and the
Amazon rainforest. The
Pantanal's prize fish is the
dourado
, a fish with firm
flesh that is delicious when
grilled. Other popular and
tasty fish include the
pacú
and
pintado
. In the Amazon,
the astounding variety of
freshwater fish includes
the
tambaqui,
aruanã
, and
tucanaré
. They
are often served
grilled, or in soups
with local herbs.
Another Amazon
freshwater favo-
rite is
caldo de
piranha
(piranha
broth).
BRAZILIAN
FRUITS
Along with tropical
staples, there are
regional fruits, most
The celebrated
Brazilian
caipirinha
Picanha steak
is a sirloin
steak and usually comes
served with only a dusting
of coarse salt.
Pudim de Leite
, a traditional
Portuguese dessert, is made
from eggs, condensed milk,
and caramelized sugar.
Camarão na Moranga
is a
stew of large, juicy prawns
cooked in coconut milk and
served in a pumpkin.
