What’s the best way to discover Brazilian foods at the supermarket?
Let’s talk about the Mecca for any real foodie, the Brazilian supermarket.
Look for a gourmet supermarket and explore it. We, at Cook in Rio, offer a supermarket tour before our cooking classes as an option for our students. On our supermarket tour, we show our students roughly 40 different Brazilian food products that are worth either trying or bringing back as gifts.
There are food items that are worth trying and there are the ones that you can’t bring back as gifts, which are basically fruits, vegetables, or seeds. Anything that might go bad during your flight, like meat or dairy, or anything that’s too bulky, like lots of Brazilian cookies or juices, might just be too large for you to bring back in your backpack or your suitcase. But there are so many other types of food to be discovered.
Why you should take a fruit tasting tour in Rio
Fruits and Vegetables
Obviously, the fruits and vegetables are worth buying and trying while you are in Rio. We offer a fruit-tasting tour of a street market, with a guide who will explain everything as you taste over 17 tropical Brazilian fruits. Book a fruit tour in Rio with us in preparation for your visit!
What would be a great gift to bring back from Brazil?
Brazilian cheeses
Brazil has a couple of cheeses. One of them is called Requeijão (cream cheese), which is the creamiest cheese in the world, and I say this without any exaggeration. It’s the real cream cheese and makes Philadelphia look like white cement. Requeijão can slowly, and usually slower than molasses, ooze out of its jar. Great on pretty much anything, especially toast. Also, it is an amazing gift for you to bring back. Purchase a dozen of them and distribute them to all of your friends; they will adore you. And it will cost you under $2.
What Brazilian bottles of alcohol should you buy?
Cachaça
Another thing to bring back is cachaça (liquor) from Brazil. You can find them here for, say, six to ten bucks. Whereas in Europe or the US, they’ll sell for three to four times that. So you might as well bring some back.
Brazilian champagne
Brazilian champagne is up-and-coming on the radar of most international sommeliers, as Brazil is quickly becoming the largest producer of high-quality sparkling wine, winning several awards.
South American wines
Another choice is Chilean or Argentinian white and red wine. And basically, you can just buy according to price. You don’t even have to consult Vivino, since Chilean and Argentinian wines are excellent. Their harvest varies very little, in contrast to French wine, which can change drastically from year to year. So you can just blindly buy a Chilean or an Argentinian white or red wine. And you can buy any Brazilian sparkling wine. Also, if you spend around ten to twenty dollars, you’re certain to get a very good sparkling wine.
Grapes to look out for
Is it worth buying coffee from Brazil?
Brazilian coffee
Another fun thing for you to bring back is Brazilian coffee. Brazil has a number of brands of gourmet coffee, some of them award-winning, and basically, you can just choose according to price. There isn’t anything cheap and amazing. Coffee is a commodity, and you can pretty much buy and expect what you pay for.
Brazil nuts and cashew nuts are the same price
Cashew and Brazil Nuts
Cashew nuts and Brazil nuts are just about the same price as the ones you find in the U.S. and Europe, and of course, they make great snacks, so yes, do look for those.
What are some delicious Brazilian sweets to try in a Brazilian supermarket?
Traditional Brazilian sweets
These are traditional Brazilian sweets—not candy, but old-style sweets—that are usually sold in the U.S. They’re normally served as desserts, and worth combining with white cheese; try goiabada and white cheese or doce-de-leite and white cheese, both of which make excellent pairings. Incidentally, goiabada with white cheese is called ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for the simple reason that they make a great couple.
More articles that will be useful for your trip to Brazil
