A Comida (The Food)

One of my favorite parts of the culture of Brazil is the food. I really do love the food here, it is my favorite in the world. From the famous barbeques, to the delicious bakeries, to the fresh fruits, it's about as good as it gets! Here is a collection of some pictures I have taken of some of my favorite foods.

When people think of Brazilian food, the first thing they think of is the Rodizio barbeque. Although this is a small part of the big picture of Brazilian food, it is definitely a delicious part.

These are two pictures of a Brazilian food called feijoada. It is a dish of beans with meats mixed into it, usually eaten with rice. The interesting and exciting part of this meal is that you never know what kind of meat you're going to get in the feijoada. The second picture is an example of feijoada with pigs ears, yummy!

Fresh fruits are another important part of the food in Brazil, here are examples of a few:

This is a fruit called caju, being sold in the street. On the top of the fruit is the cashew nut.

A few street markets selling fruits, many of which cannot be found in the United States.

A gentleman serving an assortment of fresh fruit on our cruise boat in Bahia.

Some fresh and natural "agua de coco" (coconut water) on the beach.

Snacks are another important part of Brazilian culture. They love to have treats and refreshments (much like Americans) at functions such as family home evenings and ward activities: 

They love having chopped up hot dogs in tomato sauce in a hot dog bun and soda. 

This was after a family home evening at a member's house that we went to. We had a few treats including a chocolate cake and some salgados (description below).

This is me next to one of the many venders that sell treats on the street. This particular stand was selling salgados (which are meats or cheese that are fried and eaten with ketchup) and some desserts as well (also usually fried).

These are two pictures of me with Nick and Joao eating probably my favorite food here, acai. It is a fruit from the Amazons that comes in the texture of ice cream with bananas, granola, and honey on top. The first picture is a stand right next to the beach, so we made it there at least once a week.

This is me with my favorite person that I have met here, Xica. She is Fernanda's mother who lives in the same house as us. She was kind enough to take us out for some delicious Brazilian ice cream at a traditional ice cream shop that is close to our house.

This is another vender from the street, selling what is called "Caldo de Cana". It is a juice that is made from sugar cane, where they press the cane through a machine and you drink the juice that comes out of it. It is sweet, and absolutely delicious.

This is my friends and I enjoying a meal in a typical place for lunch. Included in this meal (and most other lunches) is a meat, some flavorless spaghetti, a little bit of salad, a natural juice (pictured is Passion fruit juice) and of course rice and beans. In most restaurants the price is determined on the amount of food that you get, you pick which foods you want from a cafeteria style display and your food is weighed to see how much you will pay. 

Pictured is a food that I became familiar with here in the Northeast, it is called tapioca. It is made from a starch that comes from mandioca (which is a root that they often fry in meals). The starch is fried over a fire (which is what the woman is doing in the picture) and you then put cheese or a sweet such as guava. It is quite delicious!

This is a shopping mall here in Recife. As you can see they (like the rest of the world) enjoy their Mcdonald's and other American-style foods. 

These are two different Brazilian bakeries. At bakeries like these you can find all different sorts of breads, both sweet and salty. They are a popular place to go especially in the morning to eat something small for breakfast. 

Desserts are another important part of Brazilian culture (especially for yours truly). My personal favorite is found to the left of the picture, it is called Mousse de Maracuja (Passion fruit mousse). Let's just say that it can really hit the spot after a big and heavy meal.

On the table are two more kinds of mousses that are also delicious, lime and strawberry. 

Another important part of Brazilian cuisine is what is called pizza rodizio. It is similar to the barbeque rodizio, they bring around all different kinds of pizza and you can eat as much as you want. The first picture is my plate full of the different pizzas, and the second picture is a dessert pizza of chocolate and strawberry. 

This is Guarana, Brazil's favorite soda (I love it as well).

In my hand is what is called an espetinho. It is a basically a shish-ka-bob of chicken or meat that they grill and sell on the streets, I love them. 

This is probably one of the foods that I liked the least. It is a food that is found in Salvador, made of corn meal and filled with shrimp and other interesting sauces and flavors. It originated from the strong African influence in that part of the country. 

This is a food called mandioca (also referred to as macaxeira and aipim). I had never seen it before coming to Brazil, but in English the name is cassava. It is a root that they peel and fry in oil and is served with salt.

These are fried bananas, another one of my favorite Brazilian foods. 

This is an interesting part of Brazilian cuisine, it is called farofa. It has the consistency and texture of crumbs or sand, and it is put on top of rice and beans to give it more flavor and texture, I like it. 

In some regions of Brazil, seafood is an important part of a lot of people's diets. The first picture is fish served in a way that I only saw in the Amazons. The second is a dish that is common in Espirito Santo, where I served my mission. It is called Moqueca Capixaba.

Almost all Brazilians love cheese, especially those from the state of Minas Gerais (another state that I served in). This is a type of cheese called Queijo Minas, which originated in the state of Minas Gerais. This type of cheese is delicious, and is often times put together with Goiabada, a sweet that is made from guava (pictured below).

This is Brazilian Strogonoff, made with chicken and a delicious sauce of cream, ketchup and spices. It is served on top of rice. To add flavor and crunch, you usually put batata palha on top, which is basically potato chips in small, skinny form.

This is another popular Brazilian dessert, canned peaches with cream on top.

This is a very common Brazilian breakfast: fresh bread from the bakery with either ham and cheese or butter, chocolate milk, and coffee. Instead of coffee in this picture, it is cevada. Cevada is a drink that has a similar taste of coffee, but is made from wheats instead of coffee beans, it is actually very delicious.

Brazilians also make a delicious lasagna, it is one of my favorite foods in Brazil. In my opinion, it is much better than lasagna found in the U.S.

Pao de queijo, cheese bread.

Last but not least are some of the sweets found in Brazil. They love all different kinds of chocolate, usually from the brand Garoto (the Garoto chocolate factory is actually in one of the areas I served in). In the middle of the screen is found pacoca, a delicious treat made from peanuts. And at the bottom is found one of the many different packages of cookies (biscoitos) that you can buy, they are eaten at any time of the day to "matar o fome" (kill your hunger).