Salvador de Bahia Cuisine
Salvador de Bahia has its own authentic cuisine. The baianas de acarajé are seen everywhere, in a white dress and you will see neatly arranged tables with all the specialties of Salvador de Bahia, exotic and spicy assortment.
The local cuisine usually comprises of sea food like shrimps and fishes. The food is prepared using strong African ingredients, which is famous in Brazil. The typical ingredient that is mostly used for cooking is azeite-de-dendę, oil. This oil is extracted from palm trees.
Some of the traditional dishes of Salvador de Bahia cuisine are abará, acarajé, vatapá, bobó-de-camarăo baiana, moqueca and caruru. Some of these dishes are used in the form of an offering along with abará and acarajé. An acarje is bread, which is deep fried and made up of mashed beans, the skin of the beans are removed before processing. (Reputedly feijăo fradinho -- black-eyed peas -- but in reality almost always the less expensive brown beans so ubiquitous in Bahia).
The mash, usually deep fried one is cooked in oil named dendé (extracted from a nut of dende palm tree). This is usually eaten with camarăo ( small shrimps, which are dried in the sun), pimento (pepper sauce, that is spicy and hot), vatapá ( a paste of dried shrimps, cashew nuts, peanuts, dende and coconut milk) and kokaru ( an okra stew), followed by salada or salad, which is usually made of tomatoes. The fillers are either included or excluded from the main menu, as per the choice of the person who is having it.
The Abara is a variation of the usual acarajé. Most of the ingredients of the abara are the same as acaraje, the only difference is that acaraje is deep fried whereas abara is boiled; the whole stuff is wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled to serve.
For lunch the ideal cuisine is rice and baked beans with beef or chicken. A salad is a must. The local language is quite different from our common English and the words are confusing at times, by frango they mean chicken and by carne they mean beef.
A prato feito is a filling dish for two persons. This is a very common dish and it comprises of rice and the usual beans, served with meat and salad. The dish is so called because it is served in a in a single plate, no separate platters are required.
The list is incomplete without the mention of the most famous dish of the state, bobó and moqueca. The dish is typically the same but bobo is an exception. Bobo is thick and gravy like, usually because of an additional ingredient which is aipim, in mashed form. The basic ingredients of all these dishes are the same; every dish is made up of coconut milk and dende.
Moqueca and Bobo are Bahian's traditonal dishes and are served in bubbling clay pots (panela de barro). It is an unique experience to get the flavor of a beautiful country and its gorgeous state.
