What kind of food do people in Brazil eat?

This is a recurring question I am asked by the people I meet and students.  They often ask me to talk about Brazilian food and what it is like but this is not an easy task due to its huge diversity but we can start our "culinary trip" from the most delicious - in my opinion - variety: The Afro-Brazilian Cuisine. 

The food in Brazil is a 'hot pot" of all cultural influences we have received along the centuries of mass immigration in the territory, as for example, back in the sad slavery times, the Portuguese Cuisine in Brazil was mixed up with the African cooking traditions and suffered adjustments as certain ingredients were different and sometimes non-existent.  

"The Africans arrived as slaves and were treated as sub-humans. The women were responsible for the feeding of the white masters and began to adapt their cooking ingredients according to the supplies available in the new land". says Leomar Borges, the coordinator of Special Diversity Projects at the Municipal Secretary of Restoration, in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil). 
"In that time, since the supply and diversity of food was poor, the African women had to adapt their knowledge of African cooking to the local products, having to improvise, create, reinvent their cooking. 
Seeds, roots, leaves, fruits and everything that could be used in response to the  the shortage of food in the slaves quarters and in the big farms were used and this mix brought new flavours in the local  art of cooking and thus, the very Brazilian cuisine. "The African cuisine enhanced both the Indian and Portuguese cuisine, thus creating the  Afro-Brazilian cuisine"

The oldest African dish in Brazil, carurú , dates back to the 1600s. It is a spicy stew made with smoked fish or shrimp, quiabo (okra), onions, dendê (palm oil), and peppers. In the twenty-first century, the African influence on ingredients and cooking techniques still thrives, especially in the northeastern state of Bahia. (Food By Country)

Feel hungry now? 

You don't need to be in Brazil to have a go on some delicious Afro-Brazilian dishes and see for yourself how tasty they are!  If you are in London, visit this page to see hundreds of Brazilian restaurants around the city and If you are travelling to Portugal, you will surely come across many Brazilian restaurants or Brazilian dishes in Portuguese restaurants and eateries.  

Check the video below to learn more about the variety of taste and colours that make up our national dishes: