Brazilian Food: 10 Dishes to Try

Brazil is a country with a diverse and fascinating food culture that has grown out of many different culinary influences. The eating habits of the indigenous peoples met those of Africans and European immigrants in colonial times. In recent years, North American influence has grown too.

Drawing up a list of the 10 most interesting dishes is therefore a real challenge and, given the sheer choice, can't be done entirely objectively. The result: our own very personal, tempting list of Brazilian specialities, aiming to give a cross-section of Brazilian cuisine.

Moqueca is a dish we'd place, by European standards, somewhere between a soup and a stew. The main ingredients: fish, tomatoes, peppers and coriander – all in palm oil and coconut milk. A delicious combination!

Brazilians distinguish between two forms of this dish: Baiana and Capixaba, where the difference is really just the oil the cook uses. This small difference, though, led to a big dispute between the two regions, which each claim to be the birthplace of the recipe. One thing you can't deny them: both are typically Brazilian and an absolute treat!

Let's switch to something sweet: canjica, a dessert of maize, milk and sugar, is usually served at the “Festas Juninas”, the June festivals celebrating the June saints. These June festivals have special significance in Campina Grande and Caruaru, where this dessert is also prepared in a special way.

One of Brazil's most traditional dishes is tacacá, a soup made from jambu leaves and cassava, with its fans especially in the northern parts of the country – the Amazon, Amapá and Pará. Dried shrimp and a hearty dose of chilli create its unique blend of flavours. The indigenous peoples in particular often prepare this dish, which perfectly combines Brazil's various traditional flavours.

This soup is usually drunk from a small cup. We recommend trying this Brazilian dish not just for the taste – tacacá is also a piece of culture, closely tied to the indigenous population.

The land of Sugarloaf Mountain is very much shaped by the sea and rivers, and so its cuisine has taken on much of that influence too. The pirarucu is an Amazon fish and, at the same time, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world: big specimens impress with a fighting weight of 250 kilos spread over a 3-metre body! This fish is a special taste experience cooked in Brazil-nut milk or served with a shrimp cream. A real treat – and not just for fish lovers!

The classic Brazilian truffle: made from condensed milk, butter and cocoa, brigadeiro (or negrinho) is finished with a sprinkle of chocolate chips. It's a must to try this sweet at least once! It's typically Brazilian to serve brigadeiro at children's birthday parties. And if you're still looking for a little something to bring home: here it is!

This cream, originally made from cooked cassava, dendê (palm) oil, peppers, garlic and tomatoes, is enriched in this version with prawns (the name gives it away: camarão = prawn). Yuca purée, ginger and palm oil often find their place in bobó de camarão too.

Even if it seems like this dish is only for true gourmets, the ordinary central-European palate can, with a little courage, get used to the taste of this creamy soup. You can try this traditional recipe, for example, on our tour through Brazil, spending nearly three weeks criss-crossing the country, getting to know the land and its people and having plenty of opportunity to try numerous home-made Brazilian specialities.

In seventh place we present a not necessarily typical, but no less tasty, Brazilian snack: pão de queijo is best described as a cheese ball and can be found almost everywhere in the country. A little treat whose dough is made from yuca, eggs, salt and lard. Baked into small, tempting balls, pão de queijo is perfect as a snack!

If you're currently planning a trip to Brazil, we recommend seeking out the famous Casa do Pão de Queijo restaurant chain, where you'll find Brazil's best cheese balls.

If you don't speak Portuguese, “pizza banana” might look like a typo on the menu at your local Italian. But it isn't: banana pizza is a creative twist on Mediterranean cuisine and has long been considered traditionally Brazilian! It's seen as classic Brazilian home cooking. From bananas, cinnamon, mozzarella and ordinary pizza dough, a base is formed and then, for example, garnished with nuts.

Perhaps best not to ask an Italian's opinion on this – but in the end, what matters is that Brazilians love it! Or might your local pizzeria yet start a menu revolution?

Feijoada is to Brazilians what pasta is to Italians: a national dish, inseparable from the country's cuisine. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, it has become a habit in many kitchens across the country to conjure up this dish from black beans (you can also use white or red ones). It's served with cured meat. The whole thing is sprinkled with mandioca, the country's typical root. Enjoy your meal!

Even if it's nothing to eat, the caipirinha is the first thing many people associate with Brazilian gastronomy. As an export hit and national drink, this cocktail (which translates as roughly “little miser”) belongs to Brazil just as much as beer does to Germany. Whether with crushed ice or ice cubes, brown or white sugar, limes or lemons, vodka or cachaça – the caipirinha has begun its refreshing, tipsy march around the world in many different forms.

Here's the recipe

Phew! Trying to gather ten specialities from a country like Brazil is a bit like trying to find the ten most beautiful craters on the moon – because there are so many more delicacies we'd have loved to include in the top 10! The best idea is probably to experience Brazilian cuisine first-hand on a captivating tour. Discover the beauty of nature and the fascinating, diverse culture, and meet locals who will surely be only too happy to share their culinary specialities with you.