Learn Brazil before you go

10 phrases to learn

In Portuguese (Brazilian). Capital letters show the stressed part. Tap the heart to practise a phrase later.

At the table

• Lunch, almoço, is the main meal of the day, usually eaten between 11 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Rice and beans are on the table almost every day.
• In many towns you will find 'comida por quilo' restaurants: you fill your plate at a buffet and pay by the weight of the food.
• In a churrascaria, waiters bring meat on skewers to your table and slice it onto your plate. Take small pieces, because the meat keeps coming.
• Most restaurants add a 10 percent service charge (serviço) to the bill. It counts as the tip, so you do not need to add more.
• Feijoada is a heavy dish, traditionally eaten for a long lunch on Saturday.
• Coffee is the national drink. A cafezinho, a tiny cup of strong, sweet coffee, is offered after meals and to visitors.

Local tips

Dishes to try

• Feijoada: A slow-cooked stew of black beans with smoked sausage, pork and dried or salted meats. It is served with white rice, farofa, collard greens and slices of orange.
• Farofa: Cassava flour toasted in butter or oil until golden, often with onion, garlic or bacon. Brazilians sprinkle it over rice, beans and grilled meat to add crunch.
• Cheese bread (Pão de queijo): Small, warm balls of bread, crisp outside and soft and chewy inside, made with cassava starch, eggs, milk and cheese. It is eaten at breakfast and with coffee in the afternoon.
• Feijão tropeiro: Beans mixed with cassava flour, fried sausage, bacon, egg, garlic and onion, often with collard greens. A hearty dish that keeps well.
• Moqueca: A fish or prawn stew cooked with tomatoes, onions, peppers, lime and coriander. The Bahian moqueca adds coconut milk and dendê, red palm oil. The version from Espírito Santo is lighter, made with olive oil and annatto instead of palm oil, and is always cooked in a black clay pot.
• Acarajé: A fritter of mashed black-eyed peas fried in dendê, red palm oil, split open and filled with vatapá, a creamy paste of bread, prawns, coconut milk, peanuts or cashews and palm oil, and with more dried prawns.
• Duck in tucupi (Pato no tucupi): Duck simmered in tucupi, a yellow broth made from the juice of bitter cassava root, with jambu leaves that make your lips tingle. It is served with rice and cassava flour.
• Tacacá: A hot, tangy soup of tucupi with tapioca gum, dried prawns and jambu leaves, served in a bowl made from a gourd, called a cuia.

Cities to see

• Brasília (capital): Modern architecture by Oscar Niemeyer, The Cathedral and the National Congress, A city plan shaped like an airplane.
• São Paulo: Liberdade, the heart of the largest Japanese community outside Japan, Paulista Avenue and the MASP art museum, Ibirapuera Park.
• Rio de Janeiro: Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Carnival and samba.
• Salvador: The Pelourinho historic centre, Afro-Brazilian music, food and religion, Acarajé and moqueca.
• Manaus: The Amazon Theatre opera house, The Meeting of Waters, Boat trips into the rainforest.
• Belém: The Ver-o-Peso market, The Círio de Nazaré procession, Açaí and duck in tucupi.

Landmarks and the city map are on the Brazil trip