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Welcome to one of the best-kept secrets in the world: fabulous Brazilian cuisine...All our recipes have been put to the test here in the U.S. Many were also the subject of stories published in the Food Section of The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and other American papers. The Hearts of Palm Salad and the Onion Salad recipes were published in Steven Raichlen's "High-Flavor, Low-Fat Cooking." A couple of recipes were given to us by the Brazilian Embassy chef in Washington, D.C. and others came from our readers and renowned chef Yara Roberts from Paraty.
Lonely Planet has been recommending Maria's Cookbook for years on their travel guides! Our feijoada recipe has been featured in National Geographic Traveler magazine...is this glory or what?? Both the feijoada and the caipirinha recipe were also on the 2005 Peace Corps online calendar!
We've separated the beverages into alcoholic and non-alcoholic, so it's very clear to everyone that a Brazilian "batida," for example, requires cachaça!
If the dessert section keeps getting bigger and bigger...well, it's because there are more of them in Brazil! Fruits, eggs, and sugar have long been combined into some of the most marvelous confections on Earth. Anyone interested in the ethnography, sociology, etc, of Brazilian desserts, should read a book called "Açúcar" (Sugar) by Gilberto Freyre.
See also Brazilian Eating Habits and To Market, to Market: Food Shopping, Etc. Brazilian Style) for more on Brazilian foods (lots and lots of pictures!). You may also wish to visit the London-based blog Cuca Brazuca for some videos. We have a few cookbook recommendations, too.
Attention - Fish lovers...if you're wondering what fish to use for Brazilian recipes...garoupa is grouper, vermelho is red snapper, linguado is flounder, and cavala is mackerel. Now you can go make your peixe recheado com farofa and moquecas!
As far as the most common cooking herbs: thyme is tomilho, rosemary is alecrim, sage is sálvia, tarragon is estragão, and oregano is, well, orégano...
If you have a recipe from Brazil (in Portuguese) and you're in the U.S. wondering how to measure liquids or sugar and flour, here is some useful information: a Brazilian "xícara de chá" is 110 g of corn starch, 180 g of sugar, 210 g of milk, and 192 g of oil. A Brazilian "copo" means 200 g of any of the above.
Tip - Try flambéing bananas or meat with cachaça instead of rum or cognac!
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