Brazil is a large country that is made up of many different cultures. Each region has a different food specialty. The Portuguese arrived in Brazil in 1500 and brought their tastes and styles of cooking with them. They brought sugar, citrus fruits, and many sweets that are still used for desserts and holidays. The Brazilian "sweet tooth" was developed through the influence of the Europeans. Brazilians use many eggs, fruits, spices (such as cinnamon and cloves), and sugar to make sweet treats, such as ambrosia. They also use savory (not sweet) seasonings such as parsley and garlic. Other nationalities that settled in Brazil were Japanese, Arabs, and Germans. More than one million Italians had migrated to Brazil by 1880. Each immigrant group brought along its own style of cooking.

Long before the Europeans arrived, however, the Tupí-Guaraní and other Indian groups lived in Brazil. They planted manioc (a root vegetable like a potato) from which Brazilians learned to make tapioca and farofa, ground manioc, which is similar to fine breadcrumbs. It is toasted in oil and butter and sprinkled over rice, beans, meat, and fish. As of 2001, farofa was still used as the Brazilians' basic "flour" to make cookies, biscuits, and bread.

Meals in Brazil:

Breakfast, known as cafe is usually eaten between 6 and 8.30 a.m. The food at a typical Brazilian hotel breakfast will include coffee, juice, bread, cheese, cereal, eggs and fruit. Lunch is the main meal of the day in Brazil and is usually eaten between 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. Dinner (jantar) is very much like lunch in terms of the food eaten and can take place anytime from 7 p.m. onwards. If you are visiting any of the big cities in Brazil, like Rio or Sao Paulo, you will notice most people don't bother with dinner until 10 p.m.

Common Brazilian Food:

Although to the untrained eye it may all seem the same, food in Brazil varies from region to region. For example, in the Northern interior there is a heavy Indian influence while in the Northeast it is an African one. The main dish is also region based; in the Amazon fish is the staple while in the south meat, and lots of it, is the norm. Below we have listed a few of the more famous dished of Brazil.

Barreado: meats and spices cooked in a clay pot for 24 hours and served with banana and farofa.
Carangueijada: cooked crab (whole)
Caruru: a good example of a food brought from Africa to Brazil. This is made with ladies fingers (okra) and onions, shrimp, peppers and oil.
Cozido: a stew with potatoes, carrots and vegetables.
Dourado: freshwater fish.
Feijoada: Brazil's national dish. A meat stew with rice and a bowl of beans.
Xinxim de galinha: chicken flavoured with garlic, salt and lemon.