Brazilian Cuisine
As expected with the shear size of Brazil it brings a huge variation in the cuisines that are available. Below will provide you with information on the different types of culinary experiences available in Brazil .
The population of Brazil is multi cultural and has an interesting mix of African, Asian, German, Italian, Lebanese, Portuguese and Syrian origins. This has a strong influence on the cooking styles that are throughout Brazil
Each of the locations in Brazil has a slight variation in its area.
The North
The North of Brazil is mainly made up of the Amazon Basin and the Amazon river and its tributaries.
The area is heavily populated by the native Indians who you will find live mainly on a diet of fresh fish, vegetables and also fruits. The dishes have strong influences of Indian food with herbs and spices being used. One such dish is 'Caruru do Para ', which is a dish with all the ingredients cooked within it, of Prawn, Okra, onions, tomatoes and Coriander.
The Northeast
In the North East region of Brazil the food is a little more varied than the Amazon Basin due to the area being semi arid. The land is predominantly used to rear and care for cattle as well as some staple crops like corn to make corn meal. It therefore means that there is more dried meat in the dishes in this area as well as beans, rice and manioc.
On the more fertile plains near to the coast is where sugar cane is grown, one of Brazil 's biggest exports. Tourism is also high in this region due to the stunning beaches This has encouraged the use of more ingredients from a number of countries such as Africa, India and Portugal, creating a mixture of dishes with all the fresh local products available.
Due to the close proximity's of the sea there is also a strong influence of the use of fresh fish and shellfish.
The Central West
In this area it is more open and has dry savannahs with some woodland to the north of the region. The Pantanal is one of the world's best regions for game and fishing. With fish and meats such as Beef and Pork being the staples for any menu.
However to complement these fresh meats a number of crops are also eaten to supplement the diet, such as corn, rice, soybean and manioc.
Southeast
The southeast regions of Brazil have a number of very characteristic dishes and cooking styles in this predominantly industrial region of Brazil . Within the region as a whole each area has its own unique cooking style and dishes.
Dishes in the Minas area consist of a lot of beans, corn, pork and soft cheeses. Where as in the larger cities and surrounding villages to Rio and Sao Paulo the one pot dishes that include meat and beans are more popular. Another tradition is to have a dish that is made up of beans and rice. But there is a distinctive difference in the two cities with Rio preparing black beans and Sao Paulo red or white beans.
You will also find there are a lot of external influences in the food prepared in the cities due mainly to the varied cultures that live there, with the most coming from Arabia , Italy , Portugal and Spain .
South
Dishes in the South of Brazil are made up by a lot of dried or salted meats as well as fresh meats that are cooked over a wood fire.
In this region you will also find a lot more vegetables, wheat based products and dairy produce, introduced to the Brazilian diet by the immigrants who worked the land in the area. As potatoes where not available a substitute was found and now you find the native sweet manioc is served as a substitute.