12 Brazilian cuisine dishes that may cause strangeness

When it comes to food, everyone has their favorite. Often, the favorite dish is related to childhood, family or hometown. It turns out that some cities or regions have such a characteristic cuisine that we possibly cannot find anywhere else.

And, most of the time, these dishes are loaded with a history and a culture of those residents, so that only those who live in the place understand the flavor and the correct way to consume it. However, it is also not uncommon for people from other places, at first glance, to find the dish peculiar because it takes ingredients that are atypical for the rest of the world or is made in a very unique way.

Thinking about it, the awesome.club made a tour of Brazil to show dishes from cities from north to south that tourists might find really interesting. At the end, a bonus awaits you!

There are those who doubt that Acre really exists, but will these people ever have the opportunity to taste the rice kibbeh? The delicacy from Acre is inspired by another kibbeh, that of the Middle East, but it is made with rice, cassava and wheat, instead of the traditional wheat. The stuffing is the same: ground beef seasoned with herbs. Still following the traditional kibbeh, the acreano is modeled in the same way as the Arab, and fried by immersion in oil.

But why make a kibbeh with rice and manioc (which is another name for cassava or cassava) instead of wheat? For a very simple reason: many people were influenced by oriental dishes when the first immigrants arrived in Acre, but they didn’t have the money to buy the ingredients. After testing several substitutions, they saw that the best one was rice. There is another substitution made in an Arab dish, the cigar: the Acreans exchanged the grape leaf for cabbage or kale.

Turu broth (or soup) has nothing to do with the music of the duo Sandy & Junior, but with a typical food of Native American Indians. The turu is an earthworm-like mollusk, yes, an earthworm, and has other names: teredo, gusano, busano or sea termite. And it actually acts like a termite, since it feeds on the wood of trees that fall and rot in the mangroves. The indigenous people enjoyed eating these animals, a custom passed on to the people of Pará.

Today, the turus are the main ingredient of what is one of the main delicacies in Pará. If you’ve been discouraged from trying it, think again: some who have tried it say it’s delicious. Better than oyster and escargot. The broth has garlic, onion, tomato, peppers, lemon and herbs. But it can also be enjoyed raw, with salt and lemon. So, would you try it?

For the residents of the Northeast of Brazil it is just buchada, a very typical dish and appreciated by the Northeasterners. It consists of tripe and other parts of the stomach of a goat, which are thoroughly washed and boiled, then minced and seasoned. These parts are placed inside a bag made with the animal’s own stomach and cooked all together. There are also versions with beef or lamb entrails.

Traditionally, kidneys, lungs, spleen and liver are not used, as these ingredients make up sarapatel. But many cook the dish without so much rigor, to increase variety, flavor and enjoyment. The technique of cooking the giblets inside the animal’s stomach was learned from the Portuguese and very well adapted by the Northeasterners.

In Maranhão, the preparation of cuxá rice has indigenous, Portuguese and African influences. The word cuxá, in tupi, means “what keeps sour”. The name is right, as it describes a sauce made with vinegar, sesame, dried shrimp, manioc flour and sweet pepper. Did you feel the sour in your mouth? All of this is cooked and pounded in a mortar, forming the traditional maranhense sauce.

After the sauce is ready, just cook the rice normally and serve it with the cuxá. Nowadays, some people add other ingredients to the mixture, such as peppers and onions. That is, nothing that reduces the sourness. Even so, it is worth savoring this dish, which is rich in carbohydrates, lipids, iron and calcium.

Anyone looking at a plate of caruru for the first time may not feel like eating it. The dish came from Africa and was quickly incorporated into Bahian cuisine, with some adaptations. In Bahia, which has the highest concentration of people of African descent in Brazil, caruru is part of everyday life. The main ingredients are okra and dried shrimp, but the recipe also uses a lot of palm oil, chili pepper, onion, lemon, ginger and others.

Interestingly, the indigenous natives of Brazil had a food similar to caruru, but made with leaves like taioba. Even the name was similar: the African was called kalalu and the indigenous, caá-riru, which means “herb to eat”. For a while, Brazilian caruru was an herbal stew, but over time it took on more African than indigenous characteristics. Today, it is served with acarajé or with pieces of meat.

Rice with pequi is just one of the dishes made with this wonderfully controversial fruit that is the pequi, also called piqui, piquiá, pequiá or “it’s to end up with the piqui of Goiás”. Adored by some and hated by others, the fruit demands a dose of care to be savored, as its core has thorns that can cause serious injuries in the mouth of those who bite it.

But, fortunately, few people bite “the piqui de Goiás”. It is most often used cooked with rice, chicken, okra, preserves and even to make cake and petit gateau. Pequi oil is also extracted from it. It is characteristic of the cerrado and found throughout the Midwest, in addition to being the protagonist of a meme dispute between Goiás and Minas Gerais. But, without wanting to add fuel to the fire, it is Tocantins that has a town called Pequizeiro and a festival in honor of the fruit.

The empada is well known in bakeries and cafes all over Brazil, but not the fried one. The history of this delicacy dates back to the 1940s, when housewives supplied bars, snack bars and tents for events in the city of Salto. The tradition took hold in the city to the point of being declared cultural culinary heritage in 2007. In 2019, Salto’s fried pie was elected one of the best regional foods in São Paulo, at the Gastronomic Fair “Feito em SP”.

Curiosity hit? Know that the fried pie is unique because it is made with a dough similar to that of the pastry and in the shape of the baked pie. The most traditional fillings are chicken and heart of palm, but there are no limits to creativity when it comes to Brazilians: today there are dried meat fillings, shrimp, apple with cinnamon and even ice cream! Did you feel like it? The tourist resort of Salto is located in the interior of São Paulo, close to Campinas and Indaiatuba, and very close to Itu. And possibly that’s all there is!

The chicken dumpling is another typical delicacy from the interior of São Paulo, this time the city of Itapetininga. The dough is made with corn flour and the filling is shredded and seasoned cooked chicken. There are versions of the dumpling with boiled potatoes or manioc flour added to the dough, and also with free-range chicken as a filling. In Itapetininga and region, chicken dumplings can be enjoyed in snack bars, bars, bakeries, pastry shops and fairs.

The stories that tell about the origin of the cupcake differ, with some saying that it was created in São Miguel Paulista and later taken to Itapetininga. In any case, the cupcake has been filling the stomachs of Itapetiningans for over a hundred years, having been declared Cultural Heritage of Itapetininga in 2005. In fact, it doesn’t matter who created the recipe, but the rustic identity of the cupcake, which represents very well the culture of the interior of São Paulo.

And, speaking of the interior of São Paulo, we bring you one of the dishes that can make tourists turn up their noses. The farofa de içá is made with the lower part of the abdomen of the tanajura, and the tanajura is the female of the saúva ant. That’s right, it’s an ant farofa. This species of ant was part of the indigenous menu and is still very well used today. Preparation is simple. In addition to the little ants and cassava flour, it takes salt, parsley and oil or lard to fry.

Okay, some people have had their feet stung by ants or seen them in Disney animations and even in the Avengers. How about giving them a chance and putting them on your plate? Monteiro Lobato and Maurício de Sousa have already stated that they ate and liked it, and if they are appreciated until today, it must be because they are delicious, right? If you’re brave enough, you can find the içás to buy.

The city of Campos dos Goytacazes is also not far behind in terms of culinary pride. Over there, the sweet Chuvisco was listed as Cultural and Intangible Heritage in 2011, elevating the delicacy to the category of “fine sweet”. Today it is made both on a large scale by the food industry and in small sweet shops in the city. They are sold in jams, dipped in sugar syrup.

Chuvisco originates in Portugal, like so many Brazilian egg-based sweets. In Campos, it became famous at the hands of Nilze Teixeira de Vasconcellos, who enchanted Brazilian personalities when they visited the city. Trigger alert for those who are “sweet addicts”: the drizzle is made with beaten egg yolks and dripped with a spoon to fry in the sugar syrup. Thus, they are shaped like a drop, which justifies the name.

The capixaba pie is a culinary pride of the cinnamon greens of Vila Velha and all other inhabitants of Espírito Santo. No wonder, since the dish arrived in Brazil more than 400 years ago, with influences from Portugal, Africa and the native indigenous people themselves. Today it is traditional for Holy Week, not only for the people of Espírito Santo, but for any Brazilian who appreciates a good dish of seafood.

The capixaba pie looks like a dish to eat with the family. She takes fish — traditionally cod — heart of palm and seafood, such as shrimp, shredded crab and sururu. If you want to follow the tradition, you should make it in a clay pot – take advantage of it, as it is a one-pot recipe. Sauté everything in the clay pot and top with beaten eggs and a slice of onion, then place in the oven. But, if you don’t have a pan, you can bake it in a roasting pan or refractory, we bet it turns out…