Also called the'Cidade Maravilhosa', Rio de Janeiro has been influenced by various cultural influences from Europe and Africa over the centuries. These influences are perceived in the architecture but also in the gastronomy and make the Carioca city a unique and unrepeatable experience.
One can often come across kiosks and street vendors selling delicacies such as the famous Bolinho de bacalau at any time of day or night. If you want to know more about cuisine and typical dishes, here are the 10 things to eat in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!
1 - Feijoada
This is the most emblematic and typical dish: a soup of black beans and meat (smoked sausage, pork loin, beef or 'less noble' parts of pork), boiled together and flavoured with local spices, then served in a large earthenware pot.
It takes about 12 hours in all to prepare this delicacy (which in Italian could be called fagiolata). In fact, the meat and beans are soaked the night before serving and then cooked for a minimum of 3 hours.
It is very often the custom in the various restaurants to serve this soup together with a bowl of white rice (farofa, prepared with sautéed garlic, onion, smoked bacon, boiled eggs and diced banana) and orange slices.
According to tradition, this delicious dish was invented by slaves, in fact their meal consisted of rice and beans, to which pieces of meat given to them when they were doing a good job were sometimes added; hence the recipe was also taken up by the most famous restaurants in Rio from the 19th century onwards.
Recommended for: lunch and dinner
Average cost: €16.00
Main ingredients: black beans, smoked sausage, pork loin, beef or 'less noble' parts of pork
2 - Churrasco
An extremely popular dish in the city of Rio, it involves the use of various types of meat that are roasted on a large spit (called espeto); the meat is cooked using a very slow method, i.e. by smoking it lightly and gradually.
The most popular types of meat are linguiça (sausage), Maminha de alcatra (beef spinach), Picanha (beef rump cut into triangles), coração de frango (chicken heart) and costela de porco (pork ribs).
In addition, tradition dictates that in restaurants each diner is given a green and a red tag, so that they can let the waiters know to stop the meat courses that would otherwise continue to arrive non-stop.
Recommended for: always
Average cost: €14.00
Main ingredients: meat of various kinds (chicken heart, pork ribs, beef, etc.)
3 - Coxinha de galinha
It has the shape of a Sicilian arancina, except that the outside is made of milk, butter, 00 flour and egg yolks and the inside is stuffed with strips of peppers, chopped onions, tomato puree, parsley and chicken meat.
The procedures for its preparation are very elaborate. It is the custom of Brazilian women to prepare them and then freeze them raw, they are fried when they are eaten.
The history of this simple croquette has its roots in the days of Count D'Eu Gaston D'Orleans, who, in order to satisfy his son who always wanted to eat chicken meat, had this delicacy perfected, which has come down to the present day.
Recommended: lunch, dinner, snack
Average cost: €5.00
Main ingredients: peppers, onions, tomato puree, parsley and chicken meat
4 - Bolinho de bacalhau
The best known and most widely consumed fish is cod, called cod because it is salted. Carioca cuisine includes many recipes with this type of fish. The best known is Bolinho de bacalhau, or codfish croquettes.
Obviously, they are prepared with desalinated and previously boiled cod, then with its cooking water, potatoes are boiled, which are then mixed with onion, garlic, egg and parsley, then the patties are fried in corn oil.
Originally, according to the elders, the onion was even used raw!
Recommended: lunch, dinner, snack
Average cost: €5.00
Main ingredients: cod, eggs, onions, garlic, potatoes
5 - Leão Veloso Soup
Called'Sopa Leão Veloso' by the Carioca population, it is a Brazilian version of the well-known bouillabaisse from Marseille, a tasty soup with seafood such as prawns, lobster, squid, crustaceans and molluscs. What is special about it is that its broth is made from sautéed onion, tomato, ginger, shrimp heads and other fish scraps. This dish is more typical of northern Brazil, but it has also found its fortune in Rio de Janeiro and several variations have even been made by adding fruit such as banana and plantain.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €15.00
Main ingredients: prawns, lobster, squid, crustaceans and molluscs
6 - Brigadeiro
One of the most typical desserts: this is a chocolate ball that has the particularity of being crispy on the outside and extremely soft on the inside.
It is prepared with bitter cocoa, butter and condensed milk, which are melted and then mixed together. The resulting paste is then worked very carefully and then divided into small balls that are rolled on chocolate sprinkles.
This tasty dessert was first prepared back in 1940 and was given this name in honour of the famous politician in Brazil, Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes.
Recommended for: any meal
Average cost: €5.00
Main ingredients: bitter cocoa, butter and condensed milk
7 - Pastel
This is a typical snack from all over Brazil, similar to our fried dumpling, usually crescent-shaped or rectangular.
Crispy on the outside, inside the fillings are many: minced meat, cheese, chicken, there are also fish versions filled with shrimp or cod. A more 'European' version has a pizza filling (tomato, mozzarella and basil). Finally, there is also a sweet version, filled with chocolate, banana, strawberries, nuts, ...
These special'fritters' are sold in bars, at the market and on the beach.
Brazilians very often eat them while sipping a nice cup of iced sugar cane juice either on the beach or having an aperitif with friends in the city centre.
Recommended for: aperitif
Average cost: €6.00
Main ingredients: cheese, meat and pizza
8 - Filé à Osvaldo Aranha
Photo by Vinicius Siqueira. This is a dish named after the Brazilian politician and former minister of the 1930s, Osvaldo Aranha.
It is a tall filet mignon (or counter filet), seasoned with fried garlic and then served with Portuguese potatoes, egg crumbs and white rice.
The story goes that it was the politician Aranha, who was in a restaurant in Lapa, who asked for fried garlic to be put on top of the filet; from that moment on, this recipe was developed in this way and became so famous throughout Rio that it has even become one of the world's best known symbols.
Recommended for: lunch and dinner
Average cost: €15.00
Main ingredients: fillet, garlic, potatoes, white rice and eggs
9 - Croquetes de camarão
One of the most popular dishes on the west coast of Brazil, these are nothing more than shrimp croquettes. There are several variations, but the best known and most original one has each croquette stuffed with shrimp, onion, butter, boiled potatoes, garlic, tomato, parsley and chilli pepper; another type also has olives and cheese inside.
Furtherflavouring these delicacies is provided by the fish stew, i.e. the reduced and tasty broth in which fish and vegetables are boiled, in which the potatoes will be boiled and which will go into the filling, after which the croquettes will be mashed in egg and breadcrumbs, then fried in corn oil.
Recommended for: always
Average cost: €6.00
Main ingredients: prawns, potatoes, butter, onion, garlic, tomato, egg, breadcrumbs, parsley
10 - Pão de queijo
Pão de queijo is nothing more than a cheese ball, which many people in Rio also eat for breakfast, made of manioc flour, oil, salt, eggs, milk and cow's milk cheese.
It is a delicacy that certainly has Portuguese origins (it is evident from the name given to it), in particular it dates back to the distant 18th century and has become very popular in Brazil since the 1950s.
Recommended for: breakfast
Average cost: €5.00
Main ingredients: cow's milk cheese, oil, salt, milk, manioc flour
Where to eat: best restaurants, typical places and street food
One of the aspects that make this city truly unique in the world is its gastronomy: the city's inhabitants are really proud of it and everyone, even businessmen and entrepreneurs, love to stop by one of the special street food trucks selling delicacies of all kinds!
There are also high-class restaurants, but if you want to experience the true essence of Rio's cuisine, you have to go to the heart of Rio, to its most lively and historical part, where tradition has remained alive over the decades.
It is a cuisine that does not require overpriced or fancy ingredients, in fact Rio is the cradle where ethnic groups with different eating habits have merged and created unique dishes.
In particular, this cuisine is affected by three influences, the cuisine of the Portuguese tradition, that of the slaves of African origin and that of the Indians: the former introduced eggs, bread, chickens, wine, honey, sugar and salt, from Africa the South American population learnt the art of broths, the use of palm oil and coconut oil, in particular African women were considered to be much better cooks, especially for their ability to combine sweet and savoury. Finally, from the Indian cuisine comes the skilful use of forest vegetables and local fish.
Theabsolute secret of this cuisine is, above all, the spices: mixtures of onion, rosemary, coriander, dried carrots and garlic, pepper, cumin and mustard seeds are the ingredients that enrich each traditional dish and give that Brazilian touch to every dish.
1 - Angu do Gomes
Description: authentically Brazilian restaurant serving lunch, dinner and snacks at inexpensive prices, vegetarian dishes are also prepared
Speciality: feijoada and the traditional angu
Average price: from €5,00 per person
Address: R. Sacadura Cabral, 75 - Get directions / tel: +55 21 2233-4561
2 - Majórica
Description: churrascaria, or restaurant specialised in grilled meat cooked exclusively on a charcoal grill, it still has the decor from the early 1930s
Speciality: churrasco
Average price: from €10.00 per person
Address: Rua Senador Vergueiro, 11/15 - Get directions / tel: +55 21 2205 6820
3 - Nova Capela
Description: Rio's legendary restaurant open until late at night, it boasts 40 years of activity and serves typical Carioca dishes such as bolinhos de bacalhau, roast lamb with broccoli rice and roast potatoes.
Speciality: roast lamb
Average price: from €17.00 per person
Address: Avenida Mem de Sá, 96 - Get directions / tel: +55 21 2252-6228
4 - Bar Varnhagen
Description: small bar very popular with locals that serves cachaça (traditional liquor made from sugar cane) and rabada com agrião, roasted oxtail, or bolinhos de bacalhau, codfish croquettes.
Speciality: rabada com agrião
Average price: from €8,00 per person
Address: Praça Varnhagen, 14 A - Get directions / tel: +55 21 2254 3062
5 - Antigamente
Description: located in a pedestrian and very eccentric street, known among locals and businessmen alike, it is a restaurant that offers outdoor seating and traditional and authentic cuisine.
Speciality: Feijoada
Average price: from €10.00 per person
Address: Rua do Ouvidor, 43 - Get directions / tel: +55 21 2507 5040
