The 20 most famous dishes of Brazil
Brazilian cooking blends Indigenous, African and Portuguese roots, built on beans, rice and cassava, and famous for churrasco grilling and coconut and chocolate sweets.
1Feijoada
Brazil's national dish: black bean stew with smoked and salted meats, served with rice, farofa, collard…
2Pão de Queijo
Small chewy cheese breads made with cassava starch, crisp outside — from Minas Gerais.
3Moqueca Baiana
A Bahian fish stew with coconut milk, dendê palm oil, tomatoes, peppers and coriander, cooked in a clay pot.
4Coxinha
Teardrop-shaped dough filled with shredded chicken and cream cheese, crumbed and fried — Brazil's star snack.
5Brigadeiro
Soft chocolate truffles of condensed milk, cocoa and butter rolled in sprinkles — at every Brazilian party.
6Picanha
The most prized cut of Brazilian churrasco, skewered with its fat cap and grilled with only coarse salt.
7Acarajé
Black-eyed pea fritters fried in dendê oil and stuffed with vatapá, prawns and hot sauce — Salvador's…
8Farofa
Cassava flour toasted with butter and onion, sprinkled over feijoada and barbecue to soak up juices.
9Vatapá
A thick cream of bread, coconut milk, shrimp, peanuts, cashews and dendê oil, from Bahian cooking.
10Pastel de Feira
Thin rectangular pastries fried until puffed, filled with meat, cheese or chicken, sold at street markets…
11Açaí na Tigela
Frozen Amazonian açaí pulp blended with banana, served in a bowl with granola, fruit and honey.
12Bobó de Camarão
Prawns in a cream of mashed cassava, coconut milk and dendê oil — a festive Bahian dish.
13Escondidinho
Shredded dried beef "hidden" under a layer of mashed cassava and cheese, baked until golden.
14Arroz Carreteiro
Rice cooked with dried beef or leftover barbecue, onion and tomato — the food of southern cart drivers.
15Quindim
A glossy yellow custard of egg yolks, sugar and coconut baked in a water bath — a legacy of Portuguese…
16Pudim de Leite
Brazilian caramel custard with condensed milk, ultra-smooth, cooked in a ring mould.
17Tapioca Crepe
A crêpe of nothing but moistened cassava starch that sets on a hot pan, filled with cheese, coconut or banana…
18Feijão Tropeiro
Beans mixed with cassava flour, eggs, onion, collard greens and crisp meat — food of the muleteers of Minas…
19Galinhada
Rice and chicken cooked together with turmeric, tomato and pepper — a country dish from Goiás.
20Beijinho
"Little kiss": sweets of condensed milk and coconut topped with a clove — brigadeiro's sister.