Get a taste of some Brazilian dishes at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival 2014

To complete your cultural experience in Brazil, be sure to sample the local food at Carnival 2014

Your trip to Brazil will not be complete if you don’t travel through the country’s culinaire. Tasting the food is the ultimate cultural experience: Brazil’s typical foods represent the diversity of Brazil. So when you are in Rio de Janeiro for Carnival take a tour around restaurants and stalls that the city has to offer.

Main Course and side dishes

When you think of Brazil’s famous dish, the world already knows that Feijoada, the pork and bean stew, is the one. Feijoada was once a dish prepared by the African slaves, but it is now served in five star hotels and it is recognized as the national dish. Other popular dishes are Moqueca (a coconut fish stew), Vatapá (delicious shrimp dish served with a peanut sauce) while Caruru is a gumbo style dish made with okra, dried shrimp, onions and toasted nuts.

Acarajé is another popular street food, which are fried dumplings of shrimp, onions and black-eyed peas, very fa mous up northeast. On the other, in Rio you can easily find a Coxinha, chicken croquettes that look like drumsticks. Side dishes include Pao de Queijo or cheese bread and Farofa or toasted yuca flour.

Desserts

Brazilians love their sweets; no meals in Brazil are complete unless you have dessert. Quindim is one of the most popular desserts that you are sure to find at Carnival 2014, made of egg yolks, ground coconut and sugar. Another famous ones are Brigadeiros which are chocolate bonbons made from condensed milk and chocolate powder.

The Brazilians use a lot of fruit in their desserts and also make numerous cakes or ‘Bolos’, such as Bolo de Maracujá – made with passion fruit or Bolo de Milho – made from corn and also Bolo de Laranja – made of orange juice.

Drinks

Caipirinha, made from Cachaca which is Brazil’s native liquor, is by far the most popular Brazilian cocktail, and you must sample this at Carnival 2014.

Popular non-alcoholic drinks include smoothies made from unusual local fruit such as Açaí and Cupuaçu. Guarana is the national soft drink that is made from a fruit that grows in the Amazon.

Aren’t you hungry just thinking about the delicious Brazilian food you could sample at Carnival 2014?