Brazilian cooking is the product of three continents meeting in one country. Indigenous ingredients — cassava, corn, açaí — form the base; African traditions brought to Bahia by enslaved people created the richest regional cuisine; Portuguese colonisers added salt cod, rice, and a sweet tooth that shows up in the nation's love of cake and condensed milk. European and Japanese immigration in the south layered on everything from German sausages to excellent sushi.
The daily staple across most of Brazil is rice, black or pinto beans, and some form of protein — usually grilled beef, chicken, or fish. A scoop of farofa (toasted cassava flour) appears on the side of almost everything. It's filling, honest food, and in a simple working-class restaurant (a lanchonete or padaria) you can eat well for R$20–30.
Feijoada is the national dish — a slow-cooked stew of black beans with salted and smoked pork (traditionally including ears, feet, and tail, though many restaurants use more straightforward cuts). It's traditionally eaten on Saturday afternoons, served with rice, shredded kale, orange slices, and farofa. A proper feijoada is a three-hour event, not a quick lunch.
Churrasco is the other pillar of Brazilian food culture. Originating with the gauchos of Rio Grande do Sul, it's meat cooked over an open wood-fire or charcoal on large skewers and carved at the table. Rodízio churrascarias (all-you-can-eat) are now found in every major city.
Bahian food stands apart from the rest of the country. Acarajé — deep-fried balls of black-eyed-pea dough filled with dried shrimp and vatapá (a spiced palm oil paste) — are sold on street corners in Salvador and are not to be missed. Moqueca, a fish or seafood stew made with coconut milk and dendê (palm oil), is rich and complex in a way that most Brazilian food isn't.
Street food and snacks: Coxinha (deep-fried shredded chicken in dough), pão de queijo (warm cheese bread made from cassava flour), and pastel (fried pastry with various fillings) turn up at markets and street stalls everywhere. In the northeast, try tapioca crepes filled with cheese, coconut, or meat from roadside stands.
Drinks: Caipirinha — cachaça (sugar cane spirit), lime, sugar, and ice — is Brazil's cocktail. Açaí bowls originated in the Amazon and have colonised every beach town. Fresh fruit juices are outstanding; try cajá, caju (cashew fruit), and maracujá (passion fruit). Coffee is strong, sweet, and served in tiny cups — café com leite and pão de queijo at breakfast is a ritual worth adopting.