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Cooking TipsBrazilian Cuisine
by:
Kirsten Hawkins
It began as most ‘ethnic food movements’ do – with small restaurants in the neighborhoods wherever
immigrants settled, diners and lunchrooms and tea rooms opened by those who wanted to offer a taste of house to their fellow émigrés. Chinese, Italian, Middle Eastern, Thai – from family run bistros, the culinary art spread as those outside the cultures of the ‘neighborhood’ knowing of the nice food and the word spread. The latest ‘new cuisine’ that is spreading like conflagration is Brazilian – a delicious blending of three separate cultures that comes together in dishes and delicacies that aren’t found anyplace
else in the world.
To understand the culinary art of Brazil, one must understand a little of its history. The base of Brazilian culinary art is in its native roots – the foods that sustained the native Brazilians – cassava, yams, fish and meat – but it bears the stamp of two another folks as well: the Portuguese who came to conquer and stayed, and the African slaves that they brought with them to activity the sugar plantations. Brazilian culinary art now is a seamless amalgam of the three influences that weave in a unique and wholly Brazilian style.
The staples of the Brazilian diet are root vegetables, food
and meat. Manioc, derived from cassava root, is the ‘flour’ of the region, and is consumed in one form or another at nearly every meal. The bitter cassava root is poisonous in its raw state, but once
prepared properly, the cassava root yields farinha and tapioca, bases for galore dishes of the region. The Portuguese influence shows in the rich, sweet egg breads that are served at nearly every meal, and in the food
dishes that blend ‘fruits de mer’ with coconut and another native fruits and vegetables. The national dish, bobo de camarao is one of these, a delicious mingling of fresh shrimp in a puree of dried shrimp, manioc (cassava) meal, coconut milk and nuts, flavored with a palm oil called dende.
It is the African influence that is most felt, although – as is to be expected of the folk who worked in the kitchens. Pineapple and coconut milk, chopped coconut and palm hearts worked their way into everyday dishes, flavoring meat, shrimp, fish, vegetables and bread. Brazilian food, unlike the cuisines of galore of the encompassing countries, favors the sweet rather than the hot, and much than any another South American cuisine, it carries the savor of tropical island breezes rather than the hot wind of the desert.
The most common ingredients in Brazilian culinary art are cassava, coconut, dende, black beans and rice. Bacalao – salt cod – features in galore dishes derived from the Portuguese, but flavored with typical Brazilian carefreeness with coconut cream and pistachio balmy it becomes an entirely some food. It is typical of the Brazilian attitude toward food – an expression of a warm and open folk to whom feeding and sharing food is the basis of hospitality. Brazilian culinary art is like its folk – all are welcome, all are welcome
and all do their mark – without ever overwhelming the contributions of the other.
Just about the author:
Kirsten Hawkins is a food and nutrition expert specializing the Mexican, Chinese, and Italian food. Visit http://www.food-and-nutrition.com/for much information on cookery delicious and healthy meals.
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