For many people, looking at cuisine from Central and South America means thinking about spice and heat levels. Scoville units, hot sauces, chilis; they’re part and parcel of a lot of cuisine throughout these geographic regions.
It might come as a surprise, then, that most of Brazil is actually fairly spice-averse. Spicy foods aren’t the norm, and there isn’t really a culture of chasing the hottest heat or exploring different chili flavor profiles in Brazil. Instead, Brazilians love their sweets!
That said, there are still plenty of spicy foods in Brazil. Since it’s such a large country, trying to generalize Brazilian food culture is like trying to lump together Louisiana Cajun and New England Chowders in the same category. Point in case; despite the majority of Brazil not really focusing on spicy foods, the Bahia region – located in the northeast of Brazil – is known for their spicy foods.
The point of all of this is that Brazil is a land of contrasts, and if you want to experience Brazilian food culture, you have a lot of options. If you love spicy foods, there are some unique and delicious foods you can enjoy that you can’t find anywhere else in the world. On the other hand, if you’re not a fan of spice, you can rest assured that there are many Brazilian options for you; you aren’t locked out of the whole of the nation’s food the way it sometimes feels when you’re browsing menus from some other countries.
Table of Contents
Brazilian Foods for Spice Lovers
Let’s start with the spice since, surprisingly, the list is shorter than you might think. While Bahian cuisine tends to favor spice due to a more significant culinary influence from North Africa, there are only a handful of stand-out options.
What is Brazil’s Favorite Spice?
Even the spicy food enjoyers in Brazil aren’t like those in America, where chasing ever-high scovilles is a pastime, and the Ghost Pepper is starting to be passed. In Brazil, when you’re getting something spicy, there’s a very good chance that the pepper you’ll taste is the Malagueta pepper.
Malaguetas, scientifically known as capsicum frutescens, is a hot pepper from North Africa and is widely used throughout Portuguese cuisine around the world. It has a scoville rating of somewhere in the 60k to 100k range, which puts it on par with Bird’s Eye chilis, around twice as hot as Cayenne but about half as hot as a Habanero. Other peppers can be found, and you can find a variety of hot sauces, usually on the milder end of the spectrum, but this is by far the most common. Even the spicy food lovers in Brazil don’t tend to go for the million-scoville superpeppers.
Dish 1: Moqueca
Moqueca is an interesting dish originating primarily from Bahia. It has some origins in Portuguese food but calls for a lot of North African ingredients that make it what it is today. Put simply, it’s a fish stew. Usually, it’s made with a mixture of whitefish and shrimp in a base made largely with tomatoes, coconut milk, and flavorings like lime, onion, garlic, and cilantro.
There are actually two different versions of moqueca. Moqueca baiana is the Bahian version and tends to be spicy, with peppers of varying kinds being a staple ingredient in flavoring the stew. Meanwhile, moqueca capixaba comes from Espirito Santo – a small area further south than Bahia – and tends to be a lighter version. It’s usually made with lighter oils, adds annatto, and leaves out the peppers. It’s also a deep red compared to the lighter orange of the Bahian version because it’s traditionally cooked in a clay pot and draws some pigment from it.
Dish 2: Acaraje
Acaraje is a street food specialty in Bahia, and it’s commonly enjoyed as a snack on the beach as much as it is in homes or restaurants. Part of the enjoyment of a good Acaraje comes not just from the food but from watching it be prepared right in front of you.
What is acaraje? It’s a combination of black-eyed peas, shrimp, and onions, along with hot peppers that form a fritter, deep fried in a pan. These fritters are then split and filled with various fillings, usually something like more spicy shrimp and onions. Other spicy fillings include cashew pastes.
Like the other spicy dishes on this list, Acaraje comes in milder forms, though there may still be spice in the fritter itself. Fillings can include fresh shrimp and caramelized onions instead of spicy shrimp, and more exotic fillings depending on what the vendor wants to put in them.
Acaraje is a uniquely Brazilian take on a similar dish called Akara, which originated in Nigeria and is popular throughout West Africa.
Dish 3: Vatapa
Vatapa is another Brazilian dish with roots coming from North Africa, and you can taste it reflected in the combination of coconut, shrimp, and spicy peppers. The flavor profile is actually very similar to Acaraje, and in fact, Vatapa can commonly be found as one of the possible fillings for an Acaraje. Unlike Acaraje, however, it’s generally made with bread and peanuts rather than black-eyed peas and cashews.
Vatapa is one of the spicy dishes that has spread beyond the bounds of Bahia and is commonly found in many regions of Brazil, including Salvador, the further North states, and other Northeastern states. There’s a lot of regional variation to it as well. In many places, it’s eaten with white rice and can often be a side dish alongside other meals. In Bahia, it’s also often eaten alongside Caruru, a dish made from Okra and shrimp with toasted nuts, serving as a kind of condiment.
It may not be the most picturesque dish on the Brazilian menu, but it can be quite tasty, especially if you have a tolerance for spice. It’s always worth giving it a try if you get the chance!
Dish 4: Carne de Sol
Translating directly as “meat of the sun,” carne de sol is the answer certain groups came to when tasked with preserving meat in a semi-arid region. Meat like beef is cut into thin curtains, arranged on tables or trays, and spiced. Usually, that spice is primarily salt, but it can also be a mixture of herbs and spices, even in a marinade, including the malagueta chili.
From the description, you might think this sounds a lot like jerky, and it kind of is. The difference is how long it takes to cure. Carne de sol is intentionally exposed to less direct sunlight but a lot of warmth and wind, which, combined with the salt, rapidly dries out the outside of the meat and cures it. Meanwhile, the interior is still softer, tender, and moist, with the flavor of the meat itself going strong.
The result is something with a jerky-like exterior but a softer and richer center because it doesn’t have to rely on being rehydrated as you eat it to be tasty. The resulting meat is then usually grilled, cubed up, and added to stews or used in other dishes to lend a combination of meat and cured meat flavors in one package.
Dish 5: Spicy Picanha
For something a little simpler, we can talk about Picanha. Picanha is a delectable cut of beef from the rump of the cow, where lean meat is covered by a fat cap. The separation means that the parts, individually, aren’t necessarily as tasty as they could be, but together, they form a wonderful whole. When cooked, the fat cap melts into and saturates the lean meat but doesn’t over-saturate it; plenty of the fat stays in the fat cap or drips away during the cooking process. The end result is a rich and flavorful meat without the same fatty content as more marbled and fattier cuts of beef.
Spicy Picanha is a version of Picanha that is, you guessed it, spicy. It’s one of the most popular items on our menu here at Texas de Brazil. If you’re here for a barbecue, you can also find spicy sausage, spicy sirloin, and more to suit that spice-craving taste.
Brazilian Foods for the Spice-Averse
The good news for the spice-averse among us is that there are many different options available if you want to enjoy mild Brazilian cuisine. It’s really the default, with spicy dishes being the rarity. With that in mind, feel free to simply enjoy anything Brazilian cuisine has to offer, but consider these options as some great places to start.
Dish 1: Feijoada
Feijoada is broadly considered the national dish of Brazil. Ask any Brazilian what they think of first, and feijoada will be one of the top answers you get.
What is it? Feijoada is a black bean and meat stew. The stew itself is made mostly with beans, and a variety of meats, including sausage, smoked pork, and beef (like carne de sol) are added to the stew to give it both substance and flavor. The most traditional forms of feijoada use cheaper cuts of meat and might even use items like pigs ears and beef tongue.
The resulting stew is commonly served over rice, alongside kale, or topped with cassava flour. It’s a staple of pretty much every Brazilian menu, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t at least enjoy their family recipe for it.
Dish 2: Feijao Tropeiro
Originating from the Sao Paulo region, feijao tropeiro is a dish made with beans and cassava flour, sausages, eggs, bacon, and seasonings like garlic, onion, and pepper. Tropeiros – who were the people driving cattle between commercial regions – commonly made this meal in the backcountry.
These days, of course, feijao tropeiro comes in many different forms and can be found under many different names. Other names for the dish include feijao caipira, feijao de breguica, and feijao das onze, largely depending on where in Brazil you’re finding it.
Dish 3: Pastels
Pastels are the Brazilian version of a dish found all around the world: spiced meat (not spicy, just spiced) contained in a dough and fried. Empanadas, pasties, and similar hand pies are found pretty much everywhere people have eaten food and invented dough.
The Brazilian pastel is a bit unique in that the dough ends up crispy and flaky rather than more doughy like other versions of the dish, and the use of Brazilian cheeses in the filling gives it a unique savory goodness. Definitely one worth a try, even if you want to make it at home!
Dish 4: Ensopado de Galinha
Ensopado de galinha is a Brazilian take on a staple food: the humble chicken soup. Often made with dark meat, the chicken is stewed in broth with tomatoes and add-ins like onion, pepper, bay leaves, and vegetables.
Usually, the key to a good ensopado de galinha is the interplay between the rich dark chicken and the acidic tomato, blending into a delectable soup. It’s also very easy to make, which is why it’s one of the most common homemade dishes in Brazil.
Dish 5: Churrasco
Okay, we’re cheating a little bit with this one. Churrasco isn’t really a singular dish; it’s a style of cooking. Known as Brazilian barbecue, churrasco is a way of roasting meat on skewers over open flames. The meat tends to be minimally seasoned, usually with enough salt to help form a crust, but not much else. The end result is a way to taste the true flavors of a good cut of meat without a bunch of spices getting in the way.
Here at Texas de Brazil, we’ve brought churrasco from Brazil to America in our restaurants. We serve Rodizio-style, so you’re free to try out any of the different cuts of meat on offer, from regular non-spicy or spicy picanha, sirloin, and even lamb, pork, and chicken.
Churrasco is definitely one of the top types of food in Brazil, and it’s both popular enough and unique enough that bringing it to places around the world has become our passion. If you want to experience authentic Brazilian churrasco, find our nearest location, and stop on by! We’d love to have you.
