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Like the hamburger and the banana split in the United States, Brazil's cuisine is the product of tradition and happenstance. Each region of Brazil - depending on its indigenous culture, which European group colonized it, nearness to rivers and the ocean, or annual rain and soil conditions - developed its own very diverse dishes.
Food
The cuisine from Bahia dates back to the time of slavery when the masters saved scraps from the table or leftovers from the previous day's meal to give to the slaves. Some slaves were allowed to fish and look for shrimp and clams. Remembering their cooking-pot traditions from Africa, the women would put bits of ingredients together and add the milk of coconuts or the oil from the dendé palm. Over the years these concoctions were worked out in recipes and were given names. Today it is called Bahian food. Some of its delicacies are:
Vatapá: Shrimp are either cut up or ground together with pieces of fish, then cooked with dendé palm oil, coconut milk and pieces or bread. The dish is served over white rice.
Sarapatel: The liver and heart of either a pig or a sheep are mixed with fresh blood of either animal; tomatoes, peppers, and onions are added and everything is cooked together.
Carurú: Sauteed shrimp are combined with a very sharp sauce made of red peppers and tiny okra.
In the Amazon region a favorite dish is pato no tucupi, in which pieces of duck are cooked in a rich sauce that is loaded with a wild green herb that tingles the stomach for hours after eating. Another typical dish is tacacó, a thick yellow soup that is laced with dried shrimp and garlic.
 In Rio Grande do Sul churrasco is the most popular dish. It consists of pieces of beefs skewered onto a metal sword, and roasted outdoors over hot coals. A tomato and onion sauce accompany the meal. The gaúchos of the interior barbecue an entire steer this way.
If there is one dish that typifies Brazilian cooking it is feijoada. In Rio de Janeiro, where it is especially popular, feijoada is a complicated bean dish prepared with air-dried beef, smoked sausage, tongue, pig's ears and tails, garlic, and chili peppers. It is customary to fill a soup plate with white rice and spoon feijoada on top. Over this is added pulverized manioc flour (farofa), a starch that thickens the sauce. The whole dish is garnished with collard greens and slices of oranges.
Drink
Many international travelers think Brazilian beer is one of the best in the entire western hemisphere.
For generations there have been expert German and Dutch brewers overseeing the manufacturing and processing of all major Brazilian beer companies.
In addition to beer, Brazil produces a powerful, clear, raw rum (cachaça) made from fermented sugar cane alcohol. Cachaça combined with crushed lime, sugar, and ice becomes a very popular drink called caipirinha. Guaraná, a delicious soft drink unique to Brazil, is made out of a fruit from the Amazon.
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