Brazilian Specialties

Churrasco

Churrasco is the Brazilian way to prepare barbecue; churrasco and churrascarias (restaurants dedicated to churrasco) can be found everywhere in Brazil today, but the tradition is original from the southern States, notably Rio Grande do Sul; which still concentrates the best churrascarias in Brazil.
A large part of Rio Grande do Sul is covered by the pampas (which cover also large portions of Argentina and Uruguay, producers of some of the best meat in the world), flat lands with a vegetation which favours the farming of cattle; the gauchos (designation of the Brazilian cowboys) developed a particular way to prepare churrasco: plenty of meat (farmers were more interested in the skin and the fat from the animals; there was plenty of meat left to eat), little condiment (usually only salt, which was - and still is - important component in feeding animals), coal oven (wood was found everywhere, but gas wasn´t), slow cooking (gauchos spent long periods away from home, they were no rushed); to top all this, a fabulous skill with knives.

Feijoada

The Brazilian feijoada is prepared with black turtle beans, with a variety of salted pork and beef products such as salted pork trimmings (ears, tail, feet), bacon, smoked pork ribs, at least two types of smoked sausage and jerked beef (loin and tongue).

This stew is best prepared over slow fire in a thick clay pot. The final dish has the beans and meat pieces barely covered by a dark purplish-brown broth. The taste is strong, moderately salty but not spicy, dominated by the flavors of black bean and meat stew.

Muqueca

Moqueca is a traditional Brazilian seafood stew. It basically consists of fish, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, chili pepper (pimenta malagueta) and additional ingredients. It is cooked slowly, with no water added.

Its two variants are Moqueca Capixaba from Espírito Santo state in the Southeast, and Moqueca Baiana from Bahia state in the Northeast. It is common for people from these states to claim that theirs is the "only true" moqueca.