Rio bar snacks for beginners

This excerpt from Lonely Planet’s Rio de Janeiro guide provides a introduction to the local bar snacks.

If you’re heading home from the beach and can’t be bothered with a sit-down meal, go Carioca and grab a meal at a neighborhood bar. While not particularly healthy, these satisfying snacks – known as petiscos, tira-gostos or salgados – go quite nicely with a chope. 

Here are some items you are likely to find at most botecos: 

1. Aipim Frito: Deep fried slices of cassava. 

2. Bolinhos de bacalhau: Deep-fried codfish balls. 

3. Coxinha: Pear-shaped cornmeal balls filled with fried chicken or beef. 

4.Pão de queijo: A slightly gooey cheese bread, baked into bite-sized biscuits; the biscuits are so popular in Brazil that a whole franchise was launched on their success (naturally named Pão de Queijo).

5. Pastel de camarão: Crispy deep-fried pastry filled with shrimp. Other fillings include pastel de carne (beef ) and pastel de queijo (cheese – often the mild, stringy catupiry).

6. Torresmo: Deep-fried pork rinds.

Fill up on feijoada

Feijoada is a main staple of the Brazilian diet. It's a feast of stewed beans in a pork or beef gravy, accompanied by crisp yellow potatoes, crunchy pork cracklings, fresh shredded kale, fluffy farofa and orange slices, which are meant to ‘cut through the calories’ and aid in digestion. Adapted from the food of slaves, it is now regularly eaten for lunch on Saturdays in Rio.

There are endless choices of feijoada restaurants in Rio. But for a truly classic experience, head to the beating heart of Rio’s tourist hub, Ipanema, to Casa da Feijoada on any day of the week. In the quaint surroundings, waistcoated waiters serve up the traditional fare in mini cauldron-like pots. Pair the meal with the smoothest filtered caipirinhas in town, known as ‘batidas’, and end with a selection of traditional Brazilian sweets - goiaba jam, doce de leite (a sweet milk puree) or caramelized banana paté.

Eat like a Carioca: Rio's best local food

Food is a treasured part of Carioca life. With roots in African, Amerindian and European epicurean traditions, the tastes of Rio de Janeiro range from meat-centric churrascarias, hearty feijoadas, vibrant street food and upscale, gourmet selections - all best accompanied by Brazil's national cocktail, the tangy caipirinha.

All-you-can-eat meat: experience churrascaria 

No visit to Rio de Janeiro is complete without a true churrascaria (traditional barbecue restaurant) experience, which is generally offered as a set menu that includes a selection of side dishes and salads - and, of course, the perfectly char-grilled, all-you-can-eat meat.

Rio has some of the finest churrascarias in Brazil. The most popular in the city include Porcão in Flamengo, Fogo do Chāo in Botafogo, and local favorite, the 63-year-old family restaurant Churrascaria Palace in Copacobana. 

In its sleek, modern interior, the black and white photographs that hang on the walls are the only hint to Churrascaria Palace's historic past. Every night, elegant bossa nova piano notes fill the space as the sushi chef slices sashimi and expert waiters skim from table to table, serving up succulent pieces of meat to eager patrons. The peixe pintado (a meaty Amazonian fish) and sizzling butterflied picanha (beef top sirloin with a thin layer of fat) are some of the most remarkable options to try here. There is an impressive wine list with over 200 bottles, including a rare selection of the best Brazilian varietals. And for those who manage to save room for dessert, the Juliet and Romeo is an ambrosial pairing of creamy white cheese sorbet and a tangy goiaba (guava) sauce.

Brazil's Top Drinks

Let’s start with the most popular beers. Hot Sun! Hot beaches! We are talking Largers beer, Brahma, Antartica, Skol.

In Chicago You can find Palma Loca and Xingu Beer.

The Brazilian Caipirinha is a dash or two tarter paired with fresh limes and a teaspoon or two of sugar.

Add a ice cubes or crushed ice for a refreshing taste. A shot or two of Cachaça depending on how strong you like. 

Coconut Batida

• 2 ounces cachaça
• 3 ounces coconut milk
• teaspoons simple sugar
• ounces sweetened condensed milk
• cup of ice

Pinga, better knowns as Cachaça

Cachaça’s alcohol content of 38-54% by volume and is also made from the distillation of fermented sugarcane juice. For a smoother taste and quality go for a country farm produced variety. You can use to prepared an ifinite amount of different drinks with fruit. Preparation done much like the caipirinha.

Cashew friend-Caju Amigo

• 1 small shot of cachaça
• 1 ripe cashew fruit

ready?

Take a bite of the cashew fruit and CHEW. Extract the juice and take a good gulp of cachaça down one swallow. good? But If you prefer to make a juice out of the cashew and add cachaça on an iced cup that would also make a great drink. Add a teaspoon of sugar for smoother taste.

Chimarrão (herba mate) Southern Brazil Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay),

A caffeine rich infused drink. It’s made by adding hot water to the dried leaves of the yerba mate herb. Typically, chimarrão is served in bulb-shaped cup, and drunk through a straw made of stainless steel.

Coconut water

The Life saving water. What is good for?

• Lower cholesterol
• Improve digestion
• Ward off wrinkles
• Stabilize glucose levels
• Fight off viruses
• Build cells
• Regulate hormones
• Increase thyroid production
• Lose weight
• Increase metabolism
• Fight infections
• Stave off memory loss

Guarana Antarctica

Brazil’s favorite soda pop. Guaraná is a fruit and energy enhancer. The Distintictive carbonated flavor is similar to apples and berries. Contains more caffeine than coca-cola and less the amount of sugar.

Caldo de Cana

Run the cane through a pressing machine it yields a greenish-yellow juice called caldo de cana. Add some ice to your cup and its ready to drink. Just like the name “caldo de cana” means “sugar juice” and its pure sweetness. This is also how we start making Cachaça and rum.

Coffee

The Brazilian will have a taste for a “cafezinho” after lunch and dinner. Brazilian coffee considered one of the best in the world is considered to have a great flavor. The climate and environment provides ideal growing conditions.

Fruit juice

We love fruits and we make it a point to have the all natural fruit juice anywhere. We pair it with other fruits and we mix it or just the fruit in itself. Very common you find us having orange juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice and just about any exotic fruit out there on the corner street. Goes through the blender into a nice cold glass add a snack.