Traditional Brazilian Food - What to Eat in Brazil

Hey there, fellow hungry travelers. Mark here with Wolter's World, and today we're back in Brazil, and today we're gonna talk about what you should eat when you come to Brazil. And you have to realize, when you come to Brazil, there's definitely regional cuisines you should have. So, if you're in Minas Gerais, you want to eat the Comida Minera. If you're in Bahia, you want to eat the Comida Baiana. But the thing is, what I'm gonna talk about are some of the more popular foods you're gonna get, pretty much throughout the country, or the foods that really represent what Brazil is, okay? And I'm gonna start off with probably the most Brazilian dish you can get, and that is feijoada. And what a feijoada is, it's a bean stew, and it's got pork pieces in it. I won't tell you the pieces, because I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, but there's some sausage in there too, which is probably the most recognizable thing you'll see. But no, it's this incredible bean stew you have. And you have it with rice, you have it with covi, which is kale. There's some orange slices there for you. Maybe you have some little fried, like, bacon things on there. Oh my God, it's so good. Maybe some place will give you a fried banana with it too. Oh my God, with, on top of the rice. But feijoada is the Brazilian thing. Now, I'll tell you, it packs a punch. Like, if you eat that, that's all you're eating for the day, because it is so heavy. So be aware of that. But feijoada, that Brazilian bean stew is probably, you're gonna see it, like, when they translate it in English, you gotta have it. And on top of it, you're gonna put this stuff called farofa. And farofa is manioc, like yuca flour, and they, you know, you sprinkle that on top, you'll see that, you'll see this kind of brown stuff sprinkled on top of a lot of foods, that farofa, that just, like, adds a little bit of extra tastiness to it, okay? Now, feijoada, that is the most Brazilian, Brazilian thing you can have in Brazil. The most Brazilian thing you can probably find outside of Brazil that you're gonna eat, but you also see here are those Brazilian steakhouses, those lodizios. You go there, and they have all the meats they walk around with, and, you know, it's like meat after meat after meat, they cut off for you and give to you. Yes, you want to have that. And you'll see them in Texas and Brazil, Fogo do Chão, there's lots of them all around the world, but if you come to Brazil and have a lodizio, have the churrascaria, you have all those meats, it's something you're gonna love. And the very special Brazilian cut of meat you want to have is called picanha. And you'll see when they cook it, it's like on a sword, like a spear there, and it's, it's folded up, like, over itself, and they'll cut a slice off for you. It's got a little fat cap there right on the side. Oh my God, it is so good. If you go to the lodizios, they'll have it, like, plain, and they'll have it with garlic on it, but, oh, it's so good. Um, the boys' favorite little thing to get at those lodizios, at those, like, steakhouses, are actually chicken hearts. You don't find them everywhere, but they're worth getting. And if you do go one of those lodizios when you're in Brazil, remember, they have these little things they give you that's green and red. Green, you put that up, it means just keep bringing me the steak and the picanha, the pork, the chicken, the, the chicken hearts, everything. Manho, like, they'll just keep bringing you stuff. Uh, fried bananas, if you want, dude, I can't do anymore, you turn it to red, okay? Because I've seen a lot of tourists that, like, think they, they, they can't say no. Like, you could say no, you can pause, and then come back again. But the meat you really want to have, that's the picanha. That's a must-have when you're here. Another thing you're gonna have throughout Brazil are fantastic fruits. And we're talking fruits you've never heard of. Have you ever had jackfruit before? Oh, yeah, it's, it's, like, as big as, like, a watermelon, but it grows up in a tree. And if you actually go around, you'll see where they grow. They'll have signs saying, caution for death, because that thing falls from 20, 30, 40 feet up onto your head. You're toast, okay? But you have so many good fruits when you're here. The mangoes, the bananas, the, the pineapples, coconut. Yeah, you're gonna have coconut, maybe coconut in your rice. Maybe you'll have coconut, like, popping up in a lot of your desserts. So many great fruits to have when you're here. I always overdose on papaya when I come here, because it's so fresh and so good. Um, another fruit you've probably seen back in the U.S., this super fruit, acai. Acai is this purple berry that they freeze and smash up and serve it to you, kind of like in a, like a purple blob or a purple, I wouldn't call it a smoothie because it's too cold. It's like purple sludge. They might throw some granola and a banana, a chopped up banana on there. That's a really good, powerful thing to have. If you want to have smoothies, smoothies are called vitaminas. And so you might see a little kiosk on the side of the road or while you're walking down the street, selling vitaminas, you can get one of those, because those fruit smoothies here are unbelievable. And those fruits come in also fantastic juices when you're here. Succo is juice, but you get cashew juice. Yeah, you know, there's a fruit that the cashew nut grows on, they make juice out of that. Papaya juice, passion fruit juice, maracuja, that's what they call it here. It's so good. And that fruit also comes in desserts. I know Johnson loves her bowl of maracuja, a passion fruit cake. You just can't go wrong with fruit cakes when you're here. I'm like, it's so good. The fruit is amazing when you're here. Now, I want to give you a regional dish I think you should have, if you can find it. It's called acarajé. And acarajé, what it is, when you look at it, you're like, why is there shrimp in a baked potato? That's what it looks like. It is not that. So what acarajé is, they make kind of like a bean paste dumpling, and it's fried in denda oil. Oh, so good. And they split it down the top. And when they split it down the top, then inside they put vatapá, which is basically like ground up bread and shrimp and spices together. Think of it kind of like dressing or stuffing from Thanksgiving, but Brazilian style. They put that in there and then put dried shrimp in and you eat that. It's amazing if you can get it. I mean, it is one of those things that you have to have when you're here. And that vatapá, you can actually have vatapá by itself, if you want to have a very big, another caloric bomb here in Brazil. Like I said, it's basically, think of it as Brazilian shrimp and bread dressing, but so much better than that. Now, anybody that's come to Brazil and spent any time in Brazil exploring this beautiful country, whether you're going to Manaus, you're going to Bonito, you're going to, you know, Floripa, you're going out to Maceio, Belém, wherever, rice and beans, arroz e feijão. You're going to see arroz, is rice, feijão, beans, all over the place, all the time. That is a staple of people's food here, okay? So, rice will pop up a lot and feijão, beans will pop up in a lot of different ways. One of my favorite bean things to have is caldo de feijão, which is basically bean soup. It is so good. And they have some tocino, like little fried bacon stuff to put with it. It's so good for like a little snacky kind of thing. But honestly, rice and beans, don't insult it, because you will have it a lot when you're here. And if you're going to a lanchonete, which is like a local lunch spot or whatever, or a cafe or, you know, they'll have what's called a prato feito. And a prato feito, which means like finished plate, it's going to have rice, beans, covi, which is the kale, right? And then they'll have some kind of meat. And they'll might have like a little steak or they'll have chicken, those kind of things. That's kind of a really popular like day meal that people have. They're working, they go into the lanchonete, they have that beans, rice, covi, and a piece of meat, and they go back to their jobs. That's something you'll see as well. That's also a really great cheap option to eat anywhere throughout the country, because it will be super filling as well. But just know, rice and beans, they're going to pop up a lot. And one of the things I really like, there's a seafood stew that you put on rice that I really like. It's called moqueca de camarão. And moqueca is a seafood stew, and they'll put shrimp in there and things. And when it gets mixed up, you'll have like pommel and peppers, coconut milk, tomatoes, onions. I mean, it's just this really, like, the bouquet of smells that come just make you drool. It is so wonderful. Bahia, Espirito Santo, that's where it's more famous from, but you can get lots of places. Sao Paulo, where I'm filming, has a lot of great restaurants from all over Brazil. So you can have it here very easily. But when you get it, of course, it's got on top of rice. And then you put that farofa, the manioc flour, on top. Yeah, you'll be good to go. It is really, really good. Now, moqueca is fantastic. But the thing is, you're gonna have great fish throughout the country, especially if you're on the coast. Or if you're in the Amazon, you'll get incredible fish. And they might put a seafood stew on top of the fish as a topping. Really, honestly, the fish here is extremely great as well. Now, another side dish that's not rice and beans, but another starchy alternative, is manioca frita, or fried yuca. And what they'll do is they, if you're not sure what yuca is, think about kind of in the potato family, basically. And they peel it, and they fry it. And it's somewhere between, I would say, like, the taste is somewhere between, like, when they fry it up, it's like a steak fry from a steakhouse. And it's something a little more stringier, but it's really, really good. Those are one of those things. I'm like, yes, manioca frita, por favor, obrigado. That's one of my things I love when I come here. And if you're looking for something like a snack to go around, there's tons of snacks to have. Like, one you'll see is a pastel. And what a pastel is, it's basically a pocket of dough, and they fill it with different flavors. Okay, like a turnover or a small pie. And you can get it with, you know, guava, you can, you know, with fruits in it. You can get it with camarao shrimp in it. I've had it with siri, crab is so good. Ham and cheese in there. There's all kinds of different stuff they'll fill it up with. And you can do that. And you'll see places that have, like, pastel, pastel y caldo de cana. And caldo de cana is just sugarcane drink. And it is, like, super, I mean, it's straight up. They press the sugarcane, and you drink that. I mean, it's quite good. But you have that with a cup of pastéis. That's the plural of pastel. You'll be happy. That's a nice thing you'll see all over the country. Really cheap alternative for, like, lunch or dinner or whatever. Really good to grab those. But if you look at some of the smaller snacky things to grab when you're going around having a beer or talking with your friends, they have these things that are called salgados, like saltinesses. And some of the best salgados I found, one, coxinho de frango, which Liam would call a chicken ball. So what it is, it's, like, shredded up chicken and spices with catupiry, which is kind of like a cream cheese, and a potato ball. And then they fry it. And it looks like a kind of a big teardrop. So good. You want that warm. Bite off the top. Put some hot sauce on top. Keep putting that hot sauce as you go. Super, super tasty. Liam actually loves what's called empada. And empada looks like kind of like a small pot pie, if you've ever seen one. And so it'll have the dough and inside chicken or some other meat in there with that catupiry, with, like, the catupiry cheese in there. That's a nice, like, snack to have when you're just sitting around with friends. Another really good thing to have is pão de queijo, which is cheese bread. You'll see these little cheese bread balls all kinds of places. What's great is you're gluten-free. It's made with tapioca flour. So it's actually a gluten-free alternative. So you can have some fantastic Brazilian bread, these little bread balls. And sometimes the pão de queijo are bigger. Just depends where you go. But you want them fresh. You don't want old ones because they, like, turn into, like, rocks, okay? Now, another street food you'll see around, not everywhere, but quite a few places, is called tapioca. Now, it's not tapioca like, you know, back home where you eat it like a soup, like a pudding kind of thing. No, this tapioca, it's tapioca flour and they make a pancake with it. And then they put a filling in it and they fold it over, make it enclosed, okay? And you might put, you know, like, meat in there or fruit in there. I actually like condensed milk inside. I know it sounds crazy. Wait, how can you make with condensed milk inside? They can do it. They can do anything here in Brazil. The food is fantastic, okay? But tapioca is a nice thing to have when you're just looking for a quick snack. Another thing you might see is a goiaba and queijo or guava and cheese. And the thing is, the guava, the fruit, it's like a fruit paste kind of thing. You'll see it with this kind of soft white cheese. That's from the Minas region. Well, that's the best is from the Minas region. You want to have that. That's a really good, like, snack kind of thing. Sometimes they might put those in a pastel or something else. You can do that. My personal favorite version of that is having the queijo maneiro with doce de abóbora, which is kind of like a pumpkin jam. So good. You can't get that one everywhere, though. But if you're in Minas, look for that, okay? So, this is tropeiro. We've got pork down here, like a nice little pork chop. Fried egg. The guiça, which is the sausage here, which is, seriously, my favorite part. Me too. We got coping here. We have homemade, basically, pork rinds that they put in there. Then, we got beans, rice, and some farofa, which is like a Brazilian kind of flour they have here, like flour they can flour you and make churrata. And you have white rice that goes with it, too. This is a typical Minas Gerais dish. If you go to a restaurant and you can get the tropeiro, get it when you get a chance to, because, yes, even Liam will tell you. Liam, is it good? Yeah. Look at mommy. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, Liam and I are splitting one. So, we're going to lunchtime. That's when you're going to get a big plate of this kind of stuff to enjoy. So, have some fun eating it in Brazil because it's awesome. Minas food is the best. All right. So, we've been going for the foods, but what about the drinks you want to have when you're here? Well, yes, they make great coffee here in Brazil. You're going to have plenty of coffee if you want that. There's a lot of caffeinated special beverages when you are here in Brazil. The coffee is one, but guaraná is a really highly caffeinated soda they have here. It's from the guaraná berry from the Amazon. I mean, it is really a Brazilian thing. There's a lot of different brands that have it, but I recommend you getting Antarctica. It looks like Antarctica. It's Antarctica. Their guaraná, that is the best one to have, okay? So, that's one thing. The lemonade here, their lemons, limão, is actually a lime, okay? And their lemonade that's made with the limes is unbelievable. Like, you have to have that, especially on a hot day like today, where you're like, oh, the sun's getting to me. That's going to be great. Or, if you're at the beach, someone will walk up and offer you agua de coco, which is coconut water. Well, they'll literally, like, chop the top off the coconut and offer it to you with a straw. That could be a nice way to cool down when you're going around. So, you have that. But probably my favorite way to cool down in the heat of Brazil is having a xopiu or xopi. A small draft beer. It's called a xop, like xop. It looks like chop. Xop. And the thing is, here in Brazil, they drink the beer ice cold. And if your beer is not ice cold, I'm talking like you're grabbing it and it starts forming ice crystals cold. If it's not doing that, you can send it back like, hey, dude, this beer isn't cold. It's not cold enough, right? So, so do be aware of that. There's a lot of brands around here. I like Brahma the best. Probably the one you'll see the most is probably Skull, which is not necessarily the best. But it's fine when it's ice, ice cold. You don't really mind, right? So, you'll have that. And what's cool is having those salgadas I talked about before and having a bottle of beer that's in the little container there that keeps it ice cold. You're going to sit out on the beach. You're going to sit out in a, you know, historical part or wherever. You'll sit out on these plastic chairs and a plastic table and just be like, yeah, I like this here. Like, this is cool. Like, it's a great way to meet locals and hang out is just have that coxinha de frango. Have your xop, your little beer, and you'll be good. And if you want something a little bit stronger, you have what's called conchaça. Conchaça is a sugarcane spirit that's from here in Brazil. Sometimes they call it pinga. And what'll happen is sometimes what they'll do is you go to a bar. You'll go to, like, a little, like, kiosk or whatever, and they'll have all these glass bottles lined up. And in the glass bottles, you'll see, like, there's a liquid and some have fruit in it. Some have leaves in it. Some have grasses in it. That's to flavor the pinga. So, you can have a glass of that or a small glass of that. It is quite strong. But probably the most popular thing to do with conchaça is actually making caipirinha. Caipirinha is the cocktail from Brazil. And so, it's, you have sugar and lime, and you smush them up together, throw ice in, then you pour the conchaça in. Boom. Stir it up. You are happy. It is strong. So, be wary. Be wary of that. But it is so good. And some people, what they'll do is they'll actually substitute out the vodka. They'll substitute vodka in for the conchaça if they can't find conchaça or if they don't want conchaça. So, you can do those two. But it's not a caipirinha when it's with vodka. It's called a caipiroska when it's with vodka. Also, you can switch out the fruit. I know caipirinhas with pineapple juice. Oh, that pineapple is really good. Caipiroska with strawberry. That's also a popular adult beverage when you are here. And for healthier drinks, like I said, all those fruits here make fantastic juices when you're here. So many good juices. The vitaminas, the smoothies they have. I talked about that. Also, if you're looking at water, don't drink the tap water here. Stick with bottled water. Like, some places you can drink the tap water, but it just doesn't taste very good. Other places, you cannot drink the tap water. So, best to stay with bottled water, and they sell it all over the place. So, you won't have trouble finding it. Now, for desserts when we're here, there are some really good desserts. Lots of great cakes. Lots of great pudding. Anything that's pudding. Pudding, like, you'll be fine with that. Anything called pudding will be good. I mean, it's pudding. Like, pudding. It's like dessert. You'll love that. Pudin de leite. Milk pudding is really good. Cocada is nice. But for me, I like brigadeiro. And brigadeiro, what it is, it's chocolate made with condensed milk. And sometimes it'll be in this little ball, like this little ball with chocolate sprinkles on it. It's really dense, right? But it's, like, smooshy. You have that. It's really good. Also, there's bol de brigadeiro you can have, where the icing and the filling is made with brigadeiro. That is so good. Quindin. If you've ever had flan from Spain, you have flan and then sprinkle some coconut over top of it. That's going to be something else you can have. It's a really nice dessert to grab when you're here. Jocelyn's favorite thing is mousse de maracujá. It's passion fruit mousse. So good, so good. But I just want to give you an overall idea of some of the good foods and drinks you can have here in Brazil. Because there's so much, and each region is different, okay? But I want to give you some of the basics. So one of the things to think about, you don't tip when you go out to eat in Brazil, because it's already- service is already included. You can, but it's not expected. Expect slow service. It will not be fast. It'll be friendly, but it won't be fast. So don't get in a hurry. You came here to Brazil to chill out, and they're helping you chill out. So just chill out. Just order another Schalke while they keep coming. Just keep coming, and you'll be fine before your food gets there. Another thing I think is important to mention is they like to eat late here in Brazil. So don't be surprised if you're having dinner with your friends at 11 o'clock at night, because it's hot during the day. It's hot later. So they tend to eat a little bit later. So do be aware of that. So a later dinner, later lunch. Also, if you're meeting people for dinner, they say, let's meet at 9. They probably mean 10. So make sure you ask them, hey, is this like Brazilian 9, or is this like Germany 9, in terms of when I need to be there? Because that's one thing I've noticed tourists get a little upset about, is the timing kind of thing. But eating later is kind of a thing here, all right? So I hope this helps you get ready to eat in Brazil, because you will love it, from the fruits, to the food, to the fish, to all the things in between. So I wish you a great time here in Brazil. You'll love every bite of it. Bye from Brazil.