| It began as most 'ethnic food movements' do - with | | | | served at nearly every meal, and in the seafood |
| small restaurants in the neighborhoods where | | | | dishes that blend 'fruits de mer' with coconut and other |
| immigrants settled, diners and lunchrooms and tea | | | | native fruits and vegetables. The national dish, bobo de |
| rooms opened by those who wanted to offer a taste | | | | camarao is one of these, a delicious mingling of fresh |
| of home to their fellow émigrés. Chinese, | | | | shrimp in a puree of dried shrimp, manioc (cassava) |
| Italian, Middle Eastern, Thai - from family run bistros, the | | | | meal, coconut milk and nuts, flavored with a palm oil |
| cuisine spread as those outside the cultures of the | | | | called dende. |
| 'neighborhood' learned of the good food and the word | | | | It is the African influence that is most felt, though - as is |
| spread. The latest 'new cuisine' that is spreading like | | | | to be expected of the people who worked in the |
| wildfire is Brazilian - a delicious blending of three | | | | kitchens. Pineapple and coconut milk, shredded coconut |
| separate cultures that comes together in dishes and | | | | and palm hearts worked their way into everyday |
| delicacies that aren't found anywhere else in the world. | | | | dishes, flavoring meat, shrimp, fish, vegetables and |
| To understand the cuisine of Brazil, one must | | | | bread. Brazilian food, unlike the cuisines of many of the |
| understand a little of its history. The base of Brazilian | | | | surrounding countries, favors the sweet rather than the |
| cuisine is in its native roots - the foods that sustained | | | | hot, and more than any other South American cuisine, |
| the native Brazilians - cassava, yams, fish and meat - | | | | it carries the savor of tropical island breezes rather |
| but it bears the stamp of two other peoples as well: | | | | than the hot wind of the desert. |
| the Portuguese who came to conquer and stayed, | | | | The most common ingredients in Brazilian cuisine are |
| and the African slaves that they brought with them to | | | | cassava, coconut, dende, black beans and rice. |
| work the sugar plantations. Brazilian cuisine today is a | | | | Bacalao - salt cod - features in many dishes derived |
| seamless amalgam of the three influences that | | | | from the Portuguese, but flavored with typical Brazilian |
| interweave in a unique and totally Brazilian style. | | | | insouciance with coconut cream and pistachio nuts it |
| The staples of the Brazilian diet are root vegetables, | | | | becomes an entirely different food. It is typical of the |
| seafood and meat. Manioc, derived from cassava root, | | | | Brazilian attitude toward food - an expression of a |
| is the 'flour' of the region, and is eaten in one form or | | | | warm and open people to whom feeding and sharing |
| another at nearly every meal. The bitter cassava root | | | | food is the basis of hospitality. Brazilian cuisine is like its |
| is poisonous in its raw state, but when prepared | | | | people - all are welcome, all are welcomed and all |
| properly, the cassava root yields farinha and tapioca, | | | | make their mark - without ever overwhelming the |
| bases for many dishes of the region. The Portuguese | | | | contributions of the other. |
| influence shows in the rich, sweet egg breads that are | | | | |