Page 14 - POR320Summer2018

Food

Brazil is greatly blessed as a food-basket:
Brazil is the world’s largest producer and
exporter of coffee and orange juice. In addition,
Brazil produces sugar cane, cocoa, cotton,
bananas, wheat, rice, and soy. Popular foods
served in the city include “frango com quiabo”
(chicken with okra); “queijo” (cheese of course);
“feijão” (beans, either black or brown); “banana
frita” (fried bananas); and “farofa” (lightly toasted
manioc flour). “Feijoada” is the most popular national dish- a black bean stew with rice and

pork. Portuguese-style sausage “linguiça” is of course a national favorite as well.
Meal times vary across the country but in Rio, breakfast is commonly fruits, like oranges and
papaya, with tapioca or couscous and always coffee. Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches,
bread and butter or jam, may also be served. Lunch is the heaviest meal of the day across

Brazil, but in a busy cosmopolitan city like Rio, lunch is usually a quick meal of rice, beans, or
salad.
Street foods are very popular, especially
“pastéis”, a Brazilian adaptation of Chinese
wontons: a deep-fried thin pasta with a
savory filling of meat or cheese, which may
also have sweet fillings of fruit such as
pineapple. Three dishes which are loved in
Rio and served in the evening meal time
are “Bobó de Camarão" (1)(shrimp in

manioc and coconut milk purée); “Carne
Seca com abóbora” (jerked beef with
pumpkin purée and rice); and “Moqueca”
(2) (shrimp or fish stew with coconut milk
and rice).

Music

The music of Brazil is a major part of the culture
of this vibrant city: although most Americans
think only of samba or bossa nova when they
think of Brazilian music, the musical roots
include African, native, and European traditions
and forms. Samba is best known as a musical
form attached to Carnaval, attributed to
composers such as João Gilberto and Dorival

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