[Comida Brasileira] – Cardápio de fim de ano

Boas festas a todos! Happy holidays, everyone! How are the celebrations going so far?

Brazil is known for its great parties, and the end of the year couldn’t be any different. And as you know, every great party means great food. Christmas and New Year’s festivities are normally centered around a big meal with the família (family) all gathered together.Today’s post is about the most common and traditional dishes found in the Brazilian homes for supper for New Year’s and Christmas.

Bom apetite!

Palavras-chave/key-words: natal (christmas), new year (ano novo), fim de ano (end of the year), véspera (eve), party (festa), comida (food), ceia (supper), cardápio (menu), mesa (table), refeição (meal)

Peru/ Turkey

Turkey is probably the most famous prato (dish) on the Brazilian holiday party menu. This ave (bird) was already consumed by the people who inhabited North America territory before colonization. Prepared at banquets by the Aztecs and North American Indians, the turkey foi levado (was taken) to Europe and thus began to integrate suppers in several (países) countries of the world, arriving in Brazil in the século dezenove (nineteenth century). Today, it is often replaced by something called chester, a chicken criado (raised) in Brazil through genetic combination and artificial selection with higher concentration of breast and thighs.

In the new year, turkey can often be replaced by gammon. It is customary not to comer (eat) birds on New Year’s Eve for believing that their backslipping is a sign of azar (bad luck).

Arroz/ Rice

Rice is an essential food in the diet of the Brazilian population, consumed on a daily basis. As such, it could not be left out in the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve supper. The traditional dish is most often added with raisins, which causes a lot of controversy (and also a lot of funny memes) because a large number of pessoas (people) don’t appreciate this combination.
Other typical varieties are arroz à grega (rice with raisins, peas and cheese), arroz de forno (oven baked rice with many other ingredients) and rice with codfish.

Salpicão

Salpicão is a typical Brazilian salad from the city of Dourados, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The dish consists of a mistura (mixture) of various vegetables, potato sticks and shredded frango (poultry). There are variations of the dish that also carry fruits such as passas (raisins), maçã verde (green apple), cereja (cherry) and abacaxi (pineapple), different seasonings and mayonnaise.

Salpicão by Brasil Junto a VOS!

Lentilha/ Lentil

Because there is an Italian superstition that believes lentils bring boa sorte (good luck), lentils are usually present on New Year’s Eve dinner and for lunch on January 1st. This crença (belief) is based on an Italian saying that claims “Lentilha no ano novo, dinheiro o ano todo” (“Lentil in the new year, money all year round”). On these occasions the lentil usually replaces feijão (beans), a faithful companion of arroz (rice) in the Brazilian meals.

Lentilha by Evandro O Souza

Quite a feast, huh? What are the traditional meals in your country?

Feliz ano novo! Happy New Year!