Maranhão cuisine is perhaps the most distinctive regional food tradition in Brazil, less well known than Bahian or Amazonian cooking but every bit as interesting. The key dishes are arroz de cuxá (rice with dried shrimp, sesame, and vinagreira leaves), moqueca maranhense (fish stew in coconut milk), torta de camarão (shrimp tart), caruru (okra stew with dried shrimp), and the various crab preparations that use the exceptional local crabs.
The indigenous contribution is significant: tacacá (shrimp soup with tucupi and jambu leaves that numbs your lips), paçoca (pounded dried meat with flour), and the extensive use of farinha (cassava flour) in most dishes. The African contribution is equally important: dendê oil, dried shrimp, and the stew traditions that arrived with the enslaved population. Eating your way through São Luís is one of the best reasons to visit.