The Brazilian Menu

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil's national dish — a rich black bean stew with pork ribs, sausage, and dried beef, served with rice, farofa, collard greens, and orange slices. Traditionally a Saturday lunch ritual in Rio's botequims.

São Paulo

Crispy deep-fried pastry pockets filled with ground meat, cheese, heart of palm, or shrimp. Found at every street market (feira) in São Paulo. Best eaten hot with a cold sugarcane juice.

Ouro Preto

Chewy cheese bread balls made from tapioca flour and Minas cheese — a Minas Gerais staple that's become Brazil's most beloved snack. Best warm from a padaria with strong café.

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil's signature cocktail — muddled lime, sugar, and cachaça (sugarcane spirit) over ice. Simple, refreshing, and dangerously drinkable. Try variations with passion fruit, kiwi, or strawberry.

São Paulo

Teardrop-shaped croquette filled with shredded chicken in a creamy catupiry sauce, breaded and fried. São Paulo's favorite bar snack and the king of Brazilian street food.

Paraty

Fresh fish baked on a clay tile with tomatoes, onions, peppers, and coconut milk. A coastal specialty of Paraty's waterfront restaurants — best with a cold chopp (draft beer).

Salvador

Black-eyed pea fritters deep-fried in dendê (palm) oil, split open and stuffed with vatapá (shrimp paste), caruru, and dried shrimp. Salvador's iconic street food with deep African roots — find the baianas in white on every corner.

Salvador

Rich seafood stew with fish, shrimp, or crab cooked in coconut milk, dendê oil, tomatoes, and peppers. Served bubbling in a clay pot with rice and pirão (fish meal porridge). The crown jewel of Bahian cuisine.

Recife

Gluten-free crepe made from hydrated tapioca starch, filled with coalho cheese, coconut, condensed milk, or savory options like sun-dried beef (carne de sol). A northeastern breakfast staple.

Recife

Recife's signature spiral cake — paper-thin layers of sponge rolled with guava paste. A masterpiece of patience and technique, this Pernambuco delicacy is Brazil's answer to the Hungarian kürtőskalacs.

Jericoacoara

Grilled spiny lobster served with garlic butter, rice, and farofa on the beach. Jericoacoara and the Ceará coast offer some of the freshest and most affordable lobster in the world.

Fernando de Noronha

Freshly caught fish grilled or pan-fried, served with tropical fruit salsas. Fernando de Noronha's island restaurants serve the day's catch in unforgettable ocean-view settings.

Florianópolis

Brazilian barbecue at its finest — picanha (top sirloin cap), costela (ribs), and linguica grilled over charcoal and carved tableside. The gaúcho tradition from southern Brazil is a meat lover's paradise.

Florianópolis

Florianópolis produces 95% of Brazil's oysters. Order a sequencia (tasting platter) with natural, grilled, and gratineed oysters at the oyster farms of Ribeirão da Ilha.

Bonito

Fish wrapped in banana leaf and slow-grilled — a Pantanal and Mato Grosso do Sul tradition. Bonito restaurants use locally caught pintado and pacu from the crystal-clear rivers.

Manaus

Thick frozen açaí berry purée served in a bowl with granola, banana, and honey. In the Amazon, açaí is eaten as a savory side with fish and farinha — the authentic way.

Manaus

Duck braised in tucupi (fermented manioc broth) with jambu leaves that make your lips tingle. A unique Amazonian dish you won't find anywhere else in Brazil — deeply aromatic and unforgettable.

Brasília

Chocolate truffles made from condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter, rolled in chocolate sprinkles. Brazil's most famous sweet — found at every birthday party, bakery, and dessert shop in the country.