Trying to distill all of Brazilian food culture into one article is a lot like trying to do the same thing for the United States. Brazil is massive country with thousands of years of history and a fusion of many different cultures, all of which have brought their culinary contributions to the melting pot. It’s also very regional; the culture and traditions found in the northeast will be quite different from those in the northwest or the south. It’s a lot like comparing New England to New Orleans to the Pacific Northwest to Californian fusion cuisine.
Still, we can take a look at some of the traditions, the holidays, and the culture surrounding food in Brazil, and what we’ve brought to America under the Texas de Brazil umbrella.
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Noteworthy Brazilian Food Culture
First, let’s start with some generalities about Brazilian food. These are all broadly factual, but vary from place to play and even from family to family. Because of how multicultural Brazil is, there are many different families hailing from many different countries, often adhering to traditions that started in those other countries, and may either have barely changed, or been adapted to local ingredients, or otherwise changed.
Consider this our disclaimer: anything we say here is likely true in broad strokes, but you’ll always be able to find counterexamples and people who don’t agree.
Day to Day Food in Brazil
Food in Brazil is frequently found in some form involving rice, beans, and a protein, often beef, pork, chicken, or fish. It’s impossible to have a discussion of Brazilian food without talking about the “rice, beans, and protein” trifecta that forms the basis of nearly every meal. Even foods that don’t incorporate one of the three, like Feijoada, the black bean and meat stew, is almost always served with a side – or over the top – of rice.
Another staple of Brazilian food culture is manioc. Manioc is a starchy root, also known by names like cassava, which is ground into a flour. That flour can be used as the basis for dishes like pao de queijo (a Brazilian cheese bread) or as a toasted flour called farinha, sprinkled over rice and beans, or as farofa, sauteed with onions, eggs, olives, or other ingredients into a tasty dish all its own. It’s one of the more unique staples of Brazilian food culture, and hasn’t become nearly as common outside of the country like many of their other dishes.
Brazilian food culture as it stands today is the product of a long evolution incorporating a variety of different influences. From the original native population, to the colonization by the Portuguese and the incorporation of north African slaves bringing their traditions with them, to more recent waves of immigration from places like Italy, Germany, and Japan. All of these have brought with them both individual ingredients and whole dishes. Some of those have been incorporated into Brazilian culture using native ingredients, while others use imported ingredients and remain largely unchanged.
Mealtimes and Timing Trends
Another interesting element of Brazilian food culture is the timing and size of meals. Breakfasts are often relatively light and focused on sweeter dishes and ingredients, alongside coffee beverages, fruit, orange juice, and other ingredients we would recognize here in the states.
In the past, due to working culture, what we view as lunch wasn’t much of a thing. Snacks throughout the day may be provided, but the main meal was a multi-course affair with family a bit after midday. It was a time for rest, socialization, and camaraderie.
This tradition has slowly been changing, however. Lanches, the Brazilian equivalent to lunch, is becoming more common, alongside more fast food options, including American imports like McDonalds. These smaller meals are frequently eaten on the go, or buffet-style. Meanwhile, the larger family-centric meal has been pushed later, or even left off entirely.
Brazilian Food Traditions
Discussing Brazilian traditions surrounding food often comes back to both regional specialties and celebrations.
One example comes from Bahia in the northeast. Bahia incorporates a lot of foods and recipes from North African origin, including dried shrimp, peanuts, and malagueta peppers. This latter ingredient is actually surprisingly rare elsewhere in Brazil. While many people think of Central and South American foods as spicy, Brazil actually has a rather large aversion to spice, so Bahian spicy peppers are an exception to the general rule. Bahia is also where a lot of seafood dishes originate, while further inland, they aren’t as common.
Other areas in the Northeast of Brazil include the Sertao, a surprisingly dry and arid region that incorporates a lot of foods that don’t need water, or that take advantage of copious sun, such as sun-dried and salted meats, jerky, and unique vegetables from the area like Maxixi.
Northern Brazil makes use of a variety of ingredients sources from the Amazon Rainforest, including exotic fruits, unique fish not found anywhere else, a green called Jambu that has a numbing effect on the mouth almost like Sichuan pepper, and the revered heart of palm.
Meanwhile, in southern Brazil, you can find many of the nation’s cattle ranches, which is where gauchos – the Brazilian cowboys – come from, as well as the traditions of churrasco, or Brazilian barbecue. We’re intimately familiar with churrasco, of course, and it’s the biggest culinary delight we bring from Brazil to North America.
As mentioned, as well, there are groups of immigrant families in Brazil who maintain their own traditions, and bring them to their neighborhoods as well. Italian families have imported a variety of pasta dishes, and Eastern European groups have brought stroganoff almost unchanged.
Holidays and Food in Brazil
There’s a common joke in America that every day is a holiday, even if many of those holidays are things like National Bologna Day, National Paralegal Day, or National Croc Day. The same is likely true anywhere in the world, but these holidays hardly matter and certainly aren’t seriously observed.
There are, however, a variety of national (and international) holidays celebrated in Brazil. Many of these holidays have specific food traditions associated with them, as well.
New Year’s Day
New Year’s Day is the same around the world, celebrating the start of a new year and, for many, an end to the traditional holiday season. One of the most interesting regional traditions is to feast on lentils and pomegranates.
Pomegranates are eaten in an odd and unusual way; you eat the flesh (which is usually bitter and unpleasant) while saving seven of the seeds, wrapping them in paper and stashing them in a wallet to attract wealth for the new year. Lentils, similarly, are a common ingredient, but also part of a tradition, where you stand on a high perch and take seven equal bites of lentils to attract luck and prosperity.
Tiradentes Day
This holiday celebrates a folk hero and rebel who fought against Portuguese rule. It’s a tragic story ending in execution, but the tale of the hero lives on. As one of the more traditional Brazilian celebrations, the food reflects that tradition, and is often centered around feijoada and other common Brazilian dishes.
You also often find a lot of street foods and hand foods, like pastels, accompanying the parades and events that surround this day of celebration.
Christmas Day
Christmas is celebrated in many places around the world, either as a religious holiday or as a commercial event. In Brazil, it’s a little of both, and a lot of everything besides. Christmas usually includes large and lavish meals, with a wide range of dishes, treats, and snacks all throughout the day.
Christmas is one of the days you’re likely to see a ton of meat dishes, including turkey, ham, bacalhau, picanha, lamb, and much more. All the sides you can imagine, all of the snacks and treats, and a whole list of tasty sweet desserts will line tables everywhere you go.
Brazilians love their sweets, and an occasion like Christmas is an incredible excuse to make everything from pudim de leite, to more standard cakes and pies, to the French toast variations called rabanada, to the chocolate truffles called brigadeiros that are popular around the world.
Independence Day
Celebrated on a very different day – and for very different reasons – than our own American Independence Day, Brazilian Independence day, also known as proclamation day, is a September celebration commemorating independence from Portugal in 1822.
Food-wise, independence day is primarily focused on desserts and sweet treats. Brigadeiros, bombocado (an egg and cheese cake bread), flans like quindim, and of course the pudim puddings, are all common sights on these celebratory days.
Special Events
Often, special events are celebrated in their own ways and according to family traditions. We’re talking about things like birthdays, anniversaries, career milestones, and other major markers of living. One of the more common celebratory meals is churrasco, our favorite form of Brazilian barbecue. Churrasco, as you likely know, is a very simple form of barbecue; meat on skewers, roasted over a fire, and served around the table or around the room.
For our part, we’ve brought the Rodizio style of churrasco to America in our Texas de Brazil restaurants. Rodizio means that the meat on skewers is brought around to different patrons and tables, where bits and pieces are carved off according to the desires of the moment. It’s a sort of individual and yet communal style of serving that enables everyone to get a little of everything, without having to compete, negotiate, or otherwise compromise.
Of course, churrasco itself is an incredible way to prepare and serve meats, including all of the Brazilian favorites. When done at home, it’s not necessarily served on the skewer, but it’s still a common way to get a bunch of cuts and types of meat involved in a large family celebration.
Experience Brazilian Food Culture For Yourself at Texas de Brazil
Here at Texas de Brazil, we’re bringing Brazilian culinary traditions and recipes to North America via our traditional rodizio-style churrascarias. When you visit, you have the full lineup of traditional meats, as well as a whole host of dishes on the side in our salad area, from hot bar feijoada to a variety of incredible sweets using Brazilian fruits, and much more.
So, if you want to experience Brazilian culinary traditions for yourself, you have a few options.
You can, of course, take a trip to Brazil. There are many fine cities and towns throughout the country that are incredible for tourism, including food tourism, and you can get a deep and immersive experience for the cost of a plane ticket, some lodging, and some spending money while you’re there.
The second is to make some of the traditional recipes for yourself. Some, like roasting up a cut of picanha, aren’t particularly difficult. Others, like some of the stews and bean dishes, might require finding more particular kinds of ingredients. Similarly, options like pao de queijo require tapioca starch, which may be more difficult to locate. It can be an incredibly delicious and rewarding experience to make the food for yourself, but it also requires a keen knowledge of how to adapt and prepare different meals in different contexts, and of course, the time to do it for yourself.
If you’re interested, of course, we offer a range of meats in our a-la-carte butcher shop, as well as tools and spices in our market. If you want to DIY a Brazilian feast, we can help set you up.
For everyone else, why not stop by Texas de Brazil? Whether it’s a simple feijoada or the delectable meats on offer, we’ve got you covered. You can find your nearest location – and trust us, we have a ton of them – by using our map here. Or, if you know where to go, you can call or use our online system to make a reservation, though it’s not necessary if you just want a spur of the moment experience. You can also join our eClub to receive special offers and exclusive deals on your next trip, and more.
