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The 5 Main Differences Between Brazilian and Latin Cuisines

We are, all of us, a product of what came before us.  We are built on the influences of the people who raise us, the people we associate with, the people we’re surrounded by, and the collective culture that encompasses us all.

Few elements of that culture are as important, or as iconic, as food culture.  Food is heavily shaped by what’s available where you live, and by the perspective and proclivities of the people who live there.  While many nations and geographic regions have distinct food identities, all of them are themselves long-term fusions of previous influences.

It’s all very fascinating!  Even cultures that are outwardly very similar, like Latin American and Brazilian cultures, may have more differences than they have similarities in their food culture.

So, what are the five biggest differences between Latin cuisine and Brazilian cuisine?

Defining Latin Food

Before we can even start digging into the differences between Brazilian foods and Latin foods, it’s important to even define what Latin foods are.  Latin foods encompass the combined food culture of Latin cultures, both Latin America and South America, many of which stem from similar roots.

Dissecting these distinct food cultures and comparing them is both an interesting anthropological study and, unfortunately, somewhat fruitless.  There are so many differences between, say, Mexican foods, Argentinian foods, and Peruvian foods, that adding Brazil – with its massive geographic area and numerous distinct food cultures across different regions – simply makes it impossible to really compare.

Defining Latin Food

The truth is, every region is unique, within and outside of Brazil.  While there are some overall trends and broader influences, these don’t necessarily obey national or geographic borders.

Beyond that, it’s also critical to remember that food culture hasn’t stopped progressing.  The modern Brazilian diet is full of staples like feijoada, but it’s also just as likely to feature spaghetti or stroganoff.  You can walk down a street in a Brazilian city and encounter street food vendors handing out Brazilian classics, right next to an Applebee’s and a localized chain of Brazilian Chinese food.

Food culture grows, evolves, is influenced by, and influences other foods, constantly, now and forever.  As long as we all need to eat, we’ll all develop our own tastes and perspectives on food, and assigning labels to it all might be just a distraction.

For the general purposes of this post, we’re focusing on essentially everything south of the Mexican border, the collective food of “Latino” people.  We are, of course, specialized in Brazilian cuisine, so that will take center stage in our discussions.  Even so, remember that we’re only just scratching the surface; it’s impossible to encompass an entire country’s food in such a small space.

#1: Latin America is Broader and More Diverse

That is not to say that Brazilian cuisine isn’t diverse, of course!  In fact, there are many different examples of even a single dish that varies significantly between different Brazilian states.  Brazil is a very large country – it’s the fifth largest country in the world – so food culture from the far south to the far north can vary quite a lot.  Even when the same dish is spread throughout the country, regional recipes can change a lot.

General Latin cuisine can encompass a lot of different distinct food cultures and sources.  You have everything from Mexico’s love of cumin and chili powder, to Argentina’s heavily Italian-influenced cuisine, to Peru’s reliance on ingredients like quinoa that, until recently, were nearly unheard-of elsewhere in the world.

Latin America is Broader and More Diverse

Brazilian cuisine tends to focus a lot on beans, rice, stews, and similar recipes, many of which have their origins in North African cuisine, adapted to the ingredients that were readily available in Brazil itself.

Even dishes that are common all throughout Latin America, like empanadas, are a little different in Brazil.  The Brazilian version, called pastels, may outwardly look the same, but end up every different by the time they’re served.  Even if you’re familiar with Latin cuisine, there’s always something new to discover in Brazilian cooking.

In Brazil, food culture is a long-term development that started with native cultures, was influenced by settlement from Portugal and slaves brought over from North Africa, and from later influences in different waves of immigration, including significant populations from the Levant, from Italy, and from parts of Eastern Europe, including Russia, Germany, and Poland.  There’s also a small but influential population from Japan, though the Japanese influence on cuisine is more popular in places like Peru.

#2: Brazilian Cuisine Isn’t as Spicy

One of the most interesting aspects of Brazilian cuisine compared to a lot of other Latin American foods is that Brazil doesn’t really go deep into spicy foods.  That’s not to say our foods aren’t seasoned – they are – but it’s not all that common to see food with chilis or other hot peppers, hot sauces aren’t all that prevalence, and the Brazilian taste tends to lean more towards hearty, savory, salty, sweet, and starchy.

For people who tend to think of everything you find in Latin cuisine as packed with chili peppers, topped with jalapenos, or otherwise going to make you sweat, Brazilian food culture is a strange outlier.  Even imported Chinese restaurants tend to do better when they remove the heat from their recipes; people who are used to spicy dishes often comment that Brazilian Chinese food just doesn’t seem right.

Brazilian Cuisine Isn’t as Spicy

Obviously, in a globalized culture and world, it’s difficult to speak in generalities without counter-examples readily available.  There are certainly Brazilian dishes that incorporate spice, Brazilian people who love the hot stuff, and some very good Brazilian hot sauces.

The truth is, the spicy food is mostly Mexican, Caribbean, and similar cuisines.  The further south you go into Latin and South America, the less you tend to see the spicy foods.  Even in Brazil, the regions with the most spice in their recipes tend to be from the northeast of the country.  These are the areas that also have the most direct African influence, where spice is much more of a way of life.

The stereotype with spice is that most Brazilians have a very low spice tolerance, especially compared to Mexicans.  As always, though, individual people can follow or buck the trend, per their individual tastes.

#3: Brazilian Cuisine Focuses Heavily on Starch and Stew

Many people trying out Brazilian cuisine for the first time – at least, outside of a specialized restaurant like Texas de Brazil, where we serve churrasco rather than a broad selection of everything Brazilian – remark that it’s all heavy on the starch.  This is largely a reaction to the fact that, for centuries, many of the most readily available staple foods were starches.  You have rice, you have beans, you have cassava, and these are heavily present in nearly anything you find on a menu in Brazil.

Meanwhile, common staples that immigrants and settlers were used to, like wheat, potatoes, leafy greens, and wine, weren’t available at all.  Some of those, like leafy greens, were brought over and are now common.  Others, like potatoes, didn’t quite make the leap and were replaced with manioc in many recipes.

Brazilian Cuisine Focuses Heavily on Starch and Stew

There’s plenty to be done with these starches, and some of the creative ways that starchy foods are used – from the cheesy pao de queijo made from cassava starch, to the ubiquitous farofa, toasted cassava flour – are incredible and unique.

Brazilian cuisine certainly isn’t limited to starches, of course.  Brazil is also known for a wide range of exotic fruits that feature heavily in the sweets and desserts available across the country.  And Brazilians definitely love their sweets. Whether it’s a simple brigadeiro or a complex flan, there’s always something sweet on offer.

#4: Brazil’s Most Common Dish is Super Filling

Every Brazilian, when you ask them what they’re having for dinner, is probably going to tell you some variation of the same three items.  Rice, beans, and protein.  Sometimes it might be fish, other times it will be pork, or sausage, or chicken, but whatever it is, it’s largely that trifecta of ingredients.  Even when you’re preparing the protein in a different way, churrasco or feijoada, or some other recipe, the rice and beans won’t be far away.

Latin cuisine varies a lot, of course.  Staple foods in Mexico might include fajitas, tacos, or tostadas.  Argentina is huge in asado, their version of a barbecue.  It all varies depending on where you are throughout the Latin world.

Brazil’s Most Common Dish is Super Filling

The heavy amount of rice and beans featured in Brazilian cuisine likely comes back, again, to the use of these staple starches as the primary source of calories for millions of people for decades.  You can’t really build up a food culture separate from the staples the bulk of your population eats every day, after all.

Fortunately, centuries of ingenuity have led to a huge variety of ways these ingredients are prepared.  Whether the rice is cooked into something almost like a pudding, or the beans are stewed with various meats to take on their flavors, there’s a near-infinite variety of options for these two simple ingredients.

#5: Brazilian Cuisine Doesn’t Feature Much Seafood

A significant amount of Brazil is quite a bit inland from the ocean, and while rivers are certainly common – including a little-known river you’ve probably never heard of, the Amazon river – the seafood available isn’t actually very common.  Many of the Brazilian seafood dishes you can find are seafood stews.

Seafood tends to be more popular throughout a lot of Latin cuisines, including things like the iconic Peruvian ceviche, and various whole roast fish dishes.

Celebrating Brazilian Food Culture with Churrasco

In this case, it’s less about a preference and more about availability.  The protein sources you get in Brazil tend to focus more on pork, chicken, and beef.  You’re a lot more likely to see a stew flavored with preserved sausage and smoked meats than with fish.

Peru is, by far, the biggest food consumer in all of Latin food culture.  Mexico, Chile, and others also eat plenty of seafood.  Brazil has its share, but when it’s just another protein in a stew spread over rice and beans, it’s less of a distinct element of the Brazilian menu and more of another way of adding variety to the same staples we’ve already discussed.

Celebrating Brazilian Food Culture with Churrasco

Churrasco is one of the most iconic Brazilian foods, and it’s one that can be hard to ignore.  Often reserved for special occasions, the churrasco is simply a barbecue experience, but it’s as much about the experience as it is the food.  Delectable pieces of meat, usually various cuts of beef, are skewered and cooked over open flame until they’re tender and delicious.  Very little in the way of spices is used in a traditional churrasco, so it’s really all about the flavors of the meats themselves.

That’s what we’ve brought to audiences around the world via Texas de Brazil.  A unique fusion of American steakhouses and Brazilian churrascarias, we provide as authentic an experience as possible for audiences who aren’t likely to be heading to Brazil any time soon.

Celebrating Brazilian Food Culture with Churrasco 2

If you’re interested in experiencing what churrasco has to offer, we’d love to have you.  You can find your nearest Texas de Brazil quickly and easily on our map, and can call ahead to reserve a table, or just stop on by.  If you already know you’re going to love it, you can sign up for our eclub, where you can get special deals, unique offers, and information about upcoming promotions ahead of time.

We’re also more than happy to help you have a churrasco experience where you’re most comfortable.  You can buy the meats directly from our butcher shop, or if you want the full experience, you can use our web form to sign up to have your next corporate event, party, or other plan catered.

You don’t have to go all the way to Brazil to experience Brazil’s favorites.  We’ll bring them all right to you.  We look forward to hearing from you!

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