Feijoada – A Soul food!

Feijoada stem from the slavery time in Brazil. The enslaved used to put together the scraps of leftover meat, mostly, pork meat and black beans to cook creating a black bean stew.

Therefore, Feijoada is a black beans stew brewed together with a variety of salted preserved: 

• Jerked beef, 
• Pork spareribs
• Salted pork rib
• Smoked sausages
• Salted pork loin
• Pepperoni sausage
• Paio Sausage (Portuguese smoked sausage)
• smoked bacon
• Pig’s foot
• bay leaves

All seasoned with the amount of chopped (smelling good) garlic well fried in soy oil. 

Side dishes are:

• Rice
• Sautéed collard greens or kale
• Farofa (Toasted cassava flour mixed with fried small pieces of bacon and onions). Farofa is very popular with a variety of food in Brazil
• Slices Orange 

Go for it! You won’t regret it! 

Pastel – The king of Street fairs, bakeries, and juice bars in about every corner of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Half-circle or rectangle-shaped these thin-crust pies with assorted fillings, fried in vegetable oil or baked in an oven are very, very popular. Although it is a Chinese creation, we Brazilians, gave to it a must crisp and delicious touch!  

Pastel is a thin, crispy crust delicacy that holds various fillings inside before being deep-fried in vegetable oil. It is generously stuffed with fillings like: 

• Minced beef
• Cheese 
• The heart of the palm tree
• Shredded chicken with Catupiry cheese
• Prawns
• A mix of mozzarella, tomato, and basil, among others.

If you happen to be in a free market, try pastel with caldo de cana (Sugar cane juice). 😋😋😋

Brazilian Barbecue, a delicious natural flavor of beef!

The cattle ranchers from the Brazil southern Rio Grande do Sul region, called gauchos, were the ones who created a special form of barbecue – Beef seaned merely with coarse rock salt cooked slowly over wood embers.

The coarse rock salt (not table salt), accentuates the natural flavor of the beef. This way we have the pure flavor of the meat. 

Since the gauchos started to open barbecue restaurants throughout Brazil,    Barbecue culture spread fast all over the country.

Most Brazilian barbecue restaurants, named Churrascarias, are all-you-can-eat-steakhouses. The meat is cooked on racks in specially designed metal rotisserie grills. The fattier cuts go on top, allowing the fat to baste the meats placed below. 

Some of the most popular beef cuts for Brazilian barbecue are:

• Picanha Steak (Picture) – Prime cut of the top sirloin/tri-tip, a must. 
• Tenderloin
• Top sirloin
• Bottom Sirloin
• Round (lower)
• Ribs

Besides, chicken, sausages and much more. Do not miss it!!! 😋😋😋

TAPIOCA –  A versatile food, derived from cassava,  native to Brazil.

Tapioca is white made from the extracted starch of the cassava plant that is grown and harvested throughout Brazil, South America, and Africa.

The fillings can be the same from “Pasteis”: 

• Shredded beef with mozzarella
• Cheese with oregano
• Slices of smoked sausage with anions
• The heart of the palm tree
• Shredded chicken with Catupiry cheese
• Prawns
• A mix of mozzarella, tomato, and basil, among others.

In Brazil we also add sweet or savory fillings to the tapioca wrap, making it a popular food to consume at any time of day. 

• As said before, there is a range of sweet empanadas such as:
•  Chocolate
• Strawberries with chocolate
• Bananas with Cinnamon
• Banana with Nutella
• Strawberries with Nutella among other choices.

Delicious! 😍😍😍