Your best culinary memory in Brazil

@Mickael, I probably don't qualify since my wife is Brazilian and we were married for over 20 years in the U.S as well as opened up a Brazilian Cafe serving Salgado's and coffee. now it's my turn and we live in Ceara, but my favorite Brazilian food is Feijoada.

Overall I'm not terribly enamoured with Brazilian cuisine.

However, its just hard to top eating piranha stewed in tumeric and maracuja .....

Brazilian food is very similar to Portuguese however barbeques are different (churrascos) it's just a meat and possibly a salad affair here were as in other countries its rice, chips salads and a variety of meat and fish.

Now do not get me wrong, I absolutely love Brazil, and having traveled a lot in my life, to many countries, and to most of those, many, many times. One thing I am forced to say is after 15 years now living part-time in Brazil is their cuisine is not something I would ever write home about, or rave about any dishes. To each their own and everyone has their own tastes. For me, bakeries and hamburgers are pretty good in Brazil.

11/30/22. I definitely belong to the "love Brazil, not too impressed with the cuisine" school. A big exception is Muqueca Capixaba (superior in every way to the Bahian version, IMHO), and fresh seafood from Espírito Santo in general. Same for seafood in Fortaleza, and several other Northeastern capitals. Fresh carne de sol in Sergipe is a great petisco, with straight cachaça or cold ("estupidamente gelada") beer. I like cheeses from Minas Gerais, especially the ones with Portuguese names that don't pretend to be French.

Espírito Santo also hosts an active craft brewing scene, one more reason to visit the beautiful little state that may be Brazil's best kept secret.

The fried manioc at Bar Serafim in the Moema neighborhood of São Paulo is a celestial experience worthy of a special trip, if you're in the Big Town anyway.

And on the other hand, some Brazilian culinary inventions are simply horrific.  I'm looking at YOU, M&M Pizza! 🤣

I love all kinds of food but detest when even the good things become a daily staple.

I'm also impressed that given some of the complex and diverse ingredients that are possible here many choose to restrict their menu to an extremely limited set of items.

Favorites:

Buchada - I know it sounds yucky but it is just the best

Moqueca de peixe - legumes, coconut milk, a good saltwater fish, spices and in a clay pot

Macaxeira frita - say no more

Acarajé - but it has to be done properly

Baião de dois - I like the Paraiban style

Pamonha with a slice of fried queijo de coalho laid over the top

Fatia dourada (aka rabanada) which is a fried bread with cinnamon and sugar

Cartola - fried bananas with queijo de coalho and cinnamon and sugar

Escondidinho de macaxeira - puré of yuca with chunks of your fav meat

Vinagrette is just adorable (tomato, onion, cilantro)

Too many fruits to describe, my every day starts with fresh pineapple, papaya and some kind of melon...

Eating well in Brazil is easy. Do I miss other foods? I most certainly do.

@Mickael Gosh, where to start....The ones that stick out to me are feijoada and pao de quiejo. Pecanha for sure. Cinqging (sp) and brigadado to name a few

Some things I love to eat together with my Brazilian Girlfriend and family:

Açai, Picanha, Cajá juice, tapioca and many of the meats on the churrasceira. We also love cuscuz and feijoada, rice and potatoes, but unlike many people here in the NE, we don't eat them every day!  That way they don't become boring.  I definitely miss all the wonderful Vietnamese and Thai food in my hometown of St. Paul, MN, as well as some really good Mexican food. 

I'm a person for whom fancy food is a waste of time and money.  I very much enjoy their simple meals of salad, beans, rice, fries, and some kind of protein (preferably pork but beef, chicken, or fish are also good).  I also enjoy salgados and really love all of the fresh juices that I can get there.

My best culinary memory is pretty much anything coming out of my mother in-law’s kitchen.

12/14/22 My best culinary memory is pretty much anything coming out of my mother in-law’s kitchen.
-@KenAquarius

Lucky man!  😋

Short of regional cuisine, at least in Sao Paulo, everything is pretty much bland.

At the Churrascarias ( BBQ ), at least some places showcase decent cuts, and the salad bars tend to be well assorted ( pickled onions, eggplants, marinated vegetables ).

Picking on mBerigan choices...

Buchada - I know it sounds yucky but it is just the best

That's goat meat.Good call.

Moqueca de peixe - legumes, coconut milk, a good saltwater fish, spices and in a clay pot.

Seafood stew popular in Bahia.

Macaxeira frita - say no more

That's another way to say fried cassava/manioc/Yuca. A peeled off Yuca, then shaved off its peel, and then sliced as you would do with large fries, and deep fried. A good substitute to French Fries.

Acarajé - but it has to be done properly

Deep fried cakes minced with spices and shrimp, similar to  NoLA Gumbo.

Baião de dois - I like the Paraiban style

I ate it a couple times, I can't remember what was made of.  Typically a double platter served in

local  Nordestino owned lunch counters.

Pamonha with a slice of fried queijo de coalho laid over the top

A Pamonha is a variation of the Colombian or Mexican Tamale. Only in Brazil they do not insert meat into the pocket. For those who don't know, it's steamed cornmeal cooked into the corn husk sheat

Fatia dourada (aka rabanada) which is a fried bread with cinnamon and sugar.

French Toast.  Popular in the US. 

Cartola - fried bananas with queijo de coalho and cinnamon and sugar.

I rather prefer the Dominican version, Fried Plaintains, they call them Tostones.

Escondidinho de macaxeira - puré of yuca with chunks of your fav meat

That's new to me.

Vinagrette is just adorable (tomato, onion, cilantro).  That's the Brazilian version of a Marinara, no less.

I would add, as comfort food, Fried Polenta with Fried Chicken ( out here, no batter ).

The original Polenta, was supposed to be served just cooked and boiled.   The Fried Sticks are a variation that came along, as I describe its genesis beneath. ....

The original recipe came from a couple large banquet hall sized restaurants just outside of the VW Auto Plant in Sao Bernardo do Campo-SP.

Folks who got tired of the company's Subsidized  Cafeteria Grub ( which was not bad ), would step outside the plant, mostly your white collars and guests, to sample this on two restaurants, this going back in the 70's.  Restaurante Sao Francisco, from the Demarchi Brothers, was the most popular one.

This fare became so popular, that one of the Demarchi Brothers actually run for City Council, not sure if made to Mayor, way back then, so popular was their place. We are talking a city as large as a half million living in it.

  The recipe spread like wild fire, so nowadays, every BBQ joint or by the Kile Restaurant has Fried Polenta Sticks Galore at the trays. 

If anybody ever decides to open a  Greasy Joint  or a Cart in the US, I would recommend this combo ( Fried Chicken and Polenta Sticks ), as a sure fire winner.  Easy to prepare, and it could sell like hotcakes.

Ohhhhh and moqueca!