Fresh. Varied. Cheap. This is what I think of Brazilian food so far.
Most restaurants here are “comida por kilo,” they offer a large selection of food, priced per kilo, and your plate is weighted… before you start eating! Like in Argentina and Uruguay, meat matters, including chicken, beef and cold cuts like sausage or ham. Food isn’t very spicy or salty but it is tasty and well cooked.
Brazilians seem to love salgados, an assortment of savoury snacks you can find in bakeries, delis or basic restaurants. There are all kinds of stuffed breads and the typical fillings are ham, sausage, cheese, shredded chicken, spinach, beef or a combination of these ingredients. I always ask what’s in the breads and my questions are often met with a puzzled look… sorry, I don’t have X-ray vision! Favourite salgados include the very French ham and cheese croissant, folhados (puff pastries with a filling), coxinhas (chopped or shredded chicken meat, covered in dough, moulded into a chicken leg, battered and fried), pão de queijo (baked cheese-flavoured roll) and various sandwiches. There are fewer sweet pastries than in Argentina but bolos (Bundt cakes) are popular, as well as creamy and elaborated cakes and pies.
Root vegetables such as cassava, yams, and fruit like açaí, cupuaçu, mango, papaya, guava, orange, passion fruit, pineapple, and hog plums are among the local ingredients used in cooking. Salads are wonderful (I tend to crave them during the day because it’s hot!) and fruit lovers would love Brazil.
Take a look at what we’ve seen and ate so far!
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“Fresh, varied, and cheap” , that’s my kind of language !! I have never heard of hog plum before.
No? I found those in many markets around here.