Dinner in brasil

DINNER Jantar
	Pictures: restaurant Porto in Paraty

Food It's hard to generalize about Brazilian food, largely because there is no single national cuisine but numerous very distinct regional ones. Nature dealt Brazil a full hand for these varying cuisines: there's an abundant variety of fruit, vegetables and spices, as you can see for yourself walking through any food market.	Four main regional cuisines:
Comida mineira from Minas Gerais, based on pork, vegetables (especially couve, looks like curly kail) and tutu, a kind of refried bean cooked with manioc flour and used as a thick sauce;	Comida baiana from the Salvador coast, the most exotic to gringo palates, using fish and shellfish, hot peppers, palm oil, coconut milk and fresh coriander;
Comida do sertão from the interior of the Northeast, which relies on rehydrated dried or salted meat and the fruit, beans and tubers of the interior of the Northeast;	Comida gaúcha from Rio Grande do Sul, the most carnivorous diet in the world, revolving around every imaginable kind of meat grilled over charcoal. Comida do sertão is rarely served outside its homeland, but you'll find restaurants serving the others throughout Brazil, although - naturally - they're at their best in their region of origin.

Nearly every region of Brazil has its own delicacies.
Rio's cuisine is as international as it gets, but local Rio specialties focus on excellent grilled fish, lobster, fine fish stews called caldeiradas, and some of the best pizza in Brazil.
Cuisine in Minas Gerais tends toward short ribs, heavy bean dishes, and torresmos (fried pork rinds). Seafood-based Bahian cuisine is spicy and most often orange in color (from the dendê palm oil).
The most exotic fish dishes can be found in the Amazon, where anything from piranha to pirarucu is fried, stewed, broiled, or poached.

Alongside the regional restaurants, there is a standard fare available everywhere that can soon get dull unless you cast around: steak (bife) or chicken (frango), served with arroz e feijão, rice and beans, and often with salad, fries and farinha, dried manioc (cassava) flour that you sprinkle over everything.

Meals in Brazil are heavily salted. Don't be afraid to ask for your food ´sem sal´ (without salt). Inquire about the prato feito, or sortido, the prepared meal of the day.

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Farofa is toasted farinha, and usually comes with onions and bits of bacon mixed in. In cheaper restaurants all this would come on a single large plate: look for the words prato feito, prato comercial or refeição completa if you want to fill up without spending too much.

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Vinaigrette in Brazil is a mix of onions, tomatoes, lime juice, oil, coriander, small green onions.

	Brazilians are big meat eaters, and for good reason. Southern beef from Rio Grande do Sul and cuts imported from Argentina are among the tastiest in the world. If a small town has only two restaurants, at least one of them is sure to be a churrascaria (steakhouse) where you can order a rodízio—an all-you-can-eat buffet served by formally dressed servers who present as many as 18 cuts of meat until you call it quits. For a single moderate price, you start with chicken hearts, ham, sausage, and gizzards, then continue with chicken, filet mignon, and prime rib. If that's too intimidating, you can order simple grilled beef à la carte.
Brazil's national dish is feijoada, a black bean stew with an intriguing variety of dried, salted, and smoked meats, including pork, tongue, pork loin, ribs, sausage, and bacon. The original version was invented by slaves during the colonial period, who creatively employed leftovers from the tables of their masters. Today, making a good feijoada is a fine art (preparation takes all day), and you're expected to eat it at a leisurely pace. Most restaurants throughout the country serve it on Saturday, though it can often be found on Wednesday (especially in Rio's finer hotels).

About food and/or eating habits in Brazil www.mormonchic.com/ http://bbq.about.com/ http://wikitravel.org/en/Brazil www.globalgourmet.com/ www.v-brazil.com/culture/cuisine/ www.destination360.com/ www.sallys-place.com/ www.maria-brazil.org/fdind.htm www.brazzil.com/content/view/9438/76/ (bbq) Books about Brazil food and restaurants www.sallys-place.com/food/ www.lisaekus.com/releases/2005/brazil.htm www.pilotguides.com www.amazon.com/ Schools / culinary clubs http://www.abaga.com.br/ http://cuisineinternational.com/ www.brazzil.com/ http://www.ateliergourmand.com.br http://www.boalembranca.com.br/home/index.php http://www.abencoadagula.com.br/principal.htm http://www.taste.com.br/news/home/default.asp	Restaurants in Brazil www.virtualtourist.com/ Restaurants in touristic places (Rio, Sao Paulo, Parati, ..) www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/ www.bootsnall.com/south-america/brazil/ www.maria-brazil.org/fdind.htm www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ www.concierge.com/destination/brazil www.frommers.com www.gringoes.com/ www.eco-paraty.com/english/index.shtml www.ipanema.com www.pilotguides.com/tv_shows/ www.mytravelguide.com/ http://travel.yahoo.com/ http://www.guiadasemana.com.br/