Cuisine of Northeastern Brazil (Northeastern food)

After the arrival of Portuguese ships in Brazil in 1500, the diet of Brazilian Indigenous peoples began to be influenced by the Portuguese and later by African customs. Over time, the cuisine of Northeastern Brazil became more and more varied due to the miscegenation of cultures and traditions in the region.

Northeastern Brazil includes the states of Sergipe (SE), Ceará (CE), Paraíba (PB), Alagoas (AL), Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Pernambuco (PE), Maranhão (MA), Bahia (BA), and Piauí (PI).

The planting of sugarcane in the interior, which encouraged the production of rapadura, sweets, and other delicacies, was another factor that influenced and diversified the cuisine of this region. Gilberto Freyre, a sociologist from Pernambuco, praised the richness of Northeastern Brazil in his book Açúcar (Sugar), in which he presented several traditional Northeastern family cake and sweet recipes.

This cuisine inherited some sweets from the Portuguese, such as the quindim and the pancake-shaped tapiocas, which appeared when Portuguese ladies tried to make bread out of the mbeju used by Indigenous peoples.

The June cycle is marked by the celebration of Catholic saints and its cuisine, which is very traditional. Every year, boiled and roasted corn, canjica, pamonha, corn cake, cassava cake, pé-de-moleque, and other typical foods add flavor to the festivities.

Besides being one of the richest regions of Brazil in terms of culture and natural beauty, Northeastern Brazil has also a quite diverse gastronomy. Each state has its typical dishes, with different preparation methods.
In the Caatinga region, the dishes have a strong, spicy, and high-calorie flavor while on the coast, seafood stands out.

According to the Comidas Típicas website (2018), tapioca, acarajé, vatapá, Brazilian fish stew, oysters and shrimp, buchada de bode, baião de dois, cassava, shellfish and mollusks, lobster, crab frittata, meat paçoca, caruru, sun-dried meat, curd cheese, and corn couscous are typical dishes of Northeastern Brazil. 

Depending on the state, different typical dishes can be found. The following dishes are part of the table of Northeastern families.

Tapioca: created by Brazilian indigenous peoples (Tupi-Guarani), tapioca (or beiju) is made with manioc starch. The colonizers gradually mastered the techniques that led to the traditional tapioca eaten today. Tapioca can be served with butter, coconut, and other fillings, both salty, such as sun-dried meat, chicken, catupiry, and curd cheese, and sweet, such as chocolate.

Acarajé: it is a small scone of African origin, fried in palm oil, made with refried beans, salt, garlic, onion, ginger, and stuffed with spicy dried shrimp. This gastronomic specialty of the Afro-Brazilian cuisine can be served hot or cold and, according to the baianas do acarajé, these options refer to the amount of pepper. The “hotter” the acarajé is, the more pepper it has.

Baião de dois: this dish emerged in Ceará due to the drought that caused food shortage. It is a mixture of rice, beans, dried meat, and curd cheese. According to Mourão (2018), its name comes from a typical dance of Northeastern Brazil, the baião, and it gained popularity with the song Baião de Dois, composed by Humberto Teixeira, a composer from Ceará, and performed by the “king of baião” Luiz Gonzaga, from Pernambuco.

Brazilian fish stew: this dish includes fish cooked in palm oil, coconut milk, pepper, and cilantro.

Sun-dried meat with curd cheese: sun-dried meat has this name because in the old days, it was slightly salted and dried in the sun. This old technique was improved and currently the meat is salted and dried in a covered and ventilated place. According to the tradition, roast sun-dried meat is served with curd cheese, a type of cheese produced by fermentation and coagulation and traditionally consumed in Northeastern Brazil.

Dried meat paçoca: this dish is prepared with cassava flour, onions, and ground dried beef. It can be eaten with baião de dois. The ingredients can be pounded in a mortar to achieve the original flavor, however, there are other preparation methods. The roast meat, for example, can be beaten with cassava flour in a blender. Variations in the preparation provide different flavors.

Sorpotel: this typical Portuguese dish was adapted over time, with the addition of typical spices of Northeastern Brazil. It is made with pig, goat, or sheep entrails and cooked with the animal’s blood. It can be served with cassava flour and pepper.

Vatapá: this dish is made with shrimp, bread, breadcrumbs or cornmeal, cashew nuts, pepper, coconut milk, peanuts, and palm oil. It can be served with rice or as a filling for acarajé.

Caruru: this dish is made by mixing okra, shrimp, palm oil, and spices with cassava flour and broth.

Maria Isabel: it is the most representative dish of the cuisine of Piauí. It is prepared with some typical regional ingredients, such as rice, dried meat, onions, pepper, parsley, garlic, and black pepper.

According to a popular tale, in the old days, only men ate dried meat, until a mother of a needy family cut into cubes a small piece of the father’s meat, as it was the only food she could give her children, and made a dish for the whole family. She named it after her two daughters: Maria and Isabel.

Fish stew: it is a typical dish of many states in Northeastern Brazil with different preparation methods in Pernambuco, Alagoas, and Ceará. Usually, it is made by cooking saltwater fish with potatoes, coconut milk, and other ingredients.

Brazilian fish stew with pirão: this dish is prepared in a clay pot and made by cooking fish with other seafood and many spices, traditionally including coconut milk and palm oil. Pirão is made by mixing the shellfish and fish cooking broth with cassava flour. When served with the fish stew, it is a delicious combination.

Arrumadinho: this genuinely Brazilian dish is made with green beans or cowpeas (typical of Northeastern Brazil), toasted cassava flour, vinaigrette, and meat, which can be shredded beef or sun-dried meat.

Couscous: although it is not originally Brazilian, in Northeastern Brazil, this dish is widely consumed. It is made with steamed cornmeal, salt, and water. In this region, people also prepare the couscous farofa to replace cassava flour at lunch, by mixing the couscous with some vegetables and other ingredients, such as boiled eggs, bacon, Calabrian sausage, or any type of shredded meat, to further enhance its flavor. 

Culinary curiosity:

Recipe for light baião de dois with brown rice

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked brown rice

2 cups of cooked cowpeas without broth;

½ cup of bean broth;

½ cup of chopped red onion;

¼ cup of chopped green bell pepper;

½ cup of chopped red bell pepper;

½ cup of chopped fresh cilantro;

¼ cup of chopped chive;

½ cup of chopped smoked ricotta;

2 garlic cloves;

2 tablespoons of olive oil;

2 cabbage leaves;

salt to taste;

chili pepper to taste. 

Preparation method: Pre-cook the rice and cowpeas, set aside a half cup of broth, and drain the remaining amount. Set it aside. Brown the red onion with olive oil in a pan. Add the green bell pepper and the red bell pepper. Add half of the cilantro and the smoked ricotta and saute. Chop the cabbage into pieces and add the bean broth to moisten the mixture. Add the cabbage to the pan, the other half of the cilantro, and the chive, and mix everything. Add the chopped chili pepper to taste, the rice, and beans. Mix everything and serve immediately.

Recife, October 26, 2018.

sources consulted

BAIÂO-DE-DOIS [Foto neste texto]. Diponível em: <https://www.mundoboaforma.com.br/8-receitas-de-baiao-de-dois-light/>. Acesso em: 26 out. 2018.

COMIDAS típicas: comidas do Nordeste. Disponível em: <http://comidas-tipicas.info/comidas-do-nordeste.html> . Acesso em: 25 out. 2018.

CULINÁRIA da Região Nordeste do Brasil. Disponível em: <http://culinarianomundo.blogspot.com/2012/07/culinaria-do-nordeste-do-brasil.html>. Acesso em: 26 out. 2018.

10 pratos típicos que você precisa saborear no Nordeste. Disponível em: <https://www.hotelurbano.com/viajantehu/10-pratos-tipicos-que-voce-precisa-saborear-no-nordeste/> . Acesso em: 25 out. 2018.

MOURÃO, Fernando. 2018. Etimologia e receita do baião de dois autêntico. Disponível em: <http://www.queijocoalhobrasil.com/etimologia-e-receita-do-baiao-de-dois-autentico/> . Acesso em: 26 out. 2018.

how to quote this text

VERARDI, Cláudia Albuquerque. Culinária do Nordeste do Brasil. In: Pesquisa Escolar. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, 2018. Available at:https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/en/artigo/cuisine-northeastern-brazil-northeastern-food/. Access on: month day year. (Ex.: Aug. 6, 2020.)