In The Kitchen
 The
Foods of Brazil - an overview
The traditional Brazilian
recipes still in use today are derived from three main sources:
the Indian, the African and the Portuguese.
From the Portuguese, we
get the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. The Portuguese
brought their love of sugar and the many sweets that are used
for birthdays, desserts, or on holidays; the use of wine in
cooking and the habit of using many eggs, cinnamon and sugar.
The Portuguese also brought such seasonings as the bay leaf,
parsley, garlic, onion and olives. These are found in many
recipes and are very widely used.
From the Indian, the most
important aspects were the use of manioc and fish. The meal and
flour native to their environment are used today in the
well-known farofa, in making cookies, biscuits and some breads.
The African contributed
heavily to the foods, particularly in Bahia, where many Africans
are located. The Africans came as slaves and therefore adapted
what was in Brazil to their ways. Some of the African products
brought to Brazil were dende oil, hot peppers, coconut and
coconut milk. Some of the well known African dishes are vatapa,
xinxim, quindim, moqueca and cocada.
Add to these three strong
roots the lush vegetation producing practically all fruits and
vegetables known to North Americans, as well as numerous others
with which North Americans are not familiar, and you have
unlimited possibilities for preparing a variety of tasty and
exotic dishes!
 Moqueca
2 lbs. of fish filets, cut in
large portions
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
3 cups coconut milk
2 Tbsp of dendê (palm) oil
juice of one lime
1 bunch cilantro
Tbsp of green onions, chopped
2 Tbps of parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Marinate the fish filets with salt, pepper and lime juice for
1/2 hour. Sauté garlic, onion, tomatoes, peppers, green
onions, parsley and cilantro in palm oil for about two
minutes; add fish and coconut milk. Cook for about 15 minutes
in low or until fish is cooked. Serve with
white rice
and dendê
farofa. Serves 4.
Combine this dish with bobó de
camarão and you'll have the perfect Bahian dinner...
Churrasco
(Brazilian Barbecue)
Brazilians were the first to raise cattle in
South America, imported from Cape Verde to São Paulo in the
1530s. Churrasco (pronounced shoo-RAS-koo) or Brazilian barbecue
was the traditional staple food of the gaúchos or cowboys of
Southern Brazil for centuries before it spread to Rio de Janeiro
and São Paulo. It has become very fashionable and there are
excellent churrascarias (restaurants specializing in Brazilian
barbecue) all over Brazil and around the world. These are called
churrascaria de rodízio because waiters move from table
to table bringing different types of meats on skewers from which
they slice portions onto your plate.
The meat was originally cooked over coals,
usually in a pit dug in the ground, skewered in metal spits. The
only seasoning was coarse salt and each gaúcho had his own
churrasco knife which he used to cut pieces of meat from the
spit. People in southern Brazil have churrasco pits built in
their backyards with bricks or incorporated into a wall with
decorative tiles around the edges. (In the US, we use a gas
grill!)
Almost any occasion can be celebrated with a
churrasco: birthdays, christenings, political rallies, or it can
be a simple get-together with your family and friends on the
weekend. It has evolved into an elaborate meal, with different
salads, sauces and farofa accompanying the meats. We start with
caipirinhas,
served with nuggets of sausage skewered on toothpicks and end
with pudim de
leite (Brazilian Style Flan) or
torta de banana (Brazilian Style Banana Pie).
The meats used most often are Brazilian
sausages, different cuts of beef, pork tenderloin and chicken.
In the US, we use chouriço or a good spicy pork sausage in place
of Brazilian sausages, t-bone steaks and sirloin strips, chicken
thighs and drumsticks, and the pork tenderloin or pork chops.
I serve a potato salad with carrots and
chayote,
tomato salad with hearts of palm,
onion
salad,
fried manioc or yuca,
farofa and
molho
à campanha (Brazilian Style Hot Sauce) with the meats.
White meats are marinated overnight in a
mixture of garlic, salt and lime juice. The red meats are
seasoned with sea salt only. There are two traditional methods
for doing this (we use the first one): press a good amount of
salt into the sides of the meat and once the meat is cooked
knock it off with the side of a large knife, or baste the meat
with salt water using a bunch of parsley or bay leaves as a
brush.
You may want to try a recipe for
pork short ribs marinated in red wine and barbecued with
farinha de mandioca to our menu. Given to us by our cousins in
Brazil!
Source:
Maria's Cookbook (Brazil)
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