Traditional Southeastern Brazilian Food

Feijoada, Frango com Quiabo and More Great South American Dishes

May 26, 2009

Brazil is known for good food and is a true "foodie" destination. Here are some traditional favorites from the southeast, home to Brazil's immigrant communities:

Brazilian cuisine is a flavorful, varied mix derived from the many cultures that make up modern Brazil. This huge nation was home to many different native cultures before the arrival of the Europeans in the sixteenth century, each of which had its own cuisine and foodstuffs. The Portuguese were the first to settle there, bringing with them centuries of European tradition. Black African slaves were brought in to work the plantations, and they brought not only their own culinary traditions but a wonderful ability to take a handful of seemingly random ingredients and make something delicious. After independence, immigrants were welcomed into Brazil’s booming economy and today there are sizeable communities descended from Japanese, Italian, German, Syrian and other immigrants. Each of these cultures added their own traditions to Brazil’s already diverse cuisine.

The Brazilian southeast is home to the largest cities in the nation: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. These industrial cities welcomed immigrants from Europe and Asia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the food has a distinctly international, cosmopolitan flavor not present in other parts of Brazil. Visitors to these large cities can easily find pizza, sushi, pasta and other international staples. There are still many traditional favorites, however: here are a few:

Feijoada: (black bean stew) Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil and available everywhere. As you might expect, each region claims it for its own: in Brazil people from the northeast and southeast engage in good-natured discussions of who has the better feijoada. Traditionally made by slaves with scraps of food given to them by their owners, feijoada features black beans plus any combination of ham, bacon, beef tongue, onions, garlic, spices and much, much more. For every chef there is a different feijoada recipe: be sure to try several while in Brazil!

Moqueca Capixaba (fish stew in a clay pot) Moqueca is a tasty fish stew popular in Espírito Santo province. It’s generally made with fish, onions, garlic, peppers, tomato and cilantro. It’s cooked in a clay pot: the pot is very important, so much so that in the capital of Espírito Santo, Vitória, making the pots is an important industry.

Frango com Quiabo (Chicken with okra) is another traditional southeastern favorite. In addition to the chicken and okra, this heavy stew is usually made with onions and (occasionally) manioc. It’s very tasty and extremely typical: foodie travelers will not want to miss it!

Next time you're in Rio, be sure to come in off the beach and try some of these traditional favorites!

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