Pensador's Blog

Here are my favourite cuisines along with dishes that I have tasted and that I recommend. Some of them are pretty popular, others are a bit more exotic. I’ve added very brief descriptions so that you have an idea of what they are. Click on the name of the dish to see its corresponding Wikipedia page.

Last updated on the 6th of February, 2009.

Levantine

• Kibbeh: fried meat ball; very popular in Brazil as fast food
• Fattoush: garden salad with fried pita bread pieces
• Tabbouleh: salad mostly made of parsley
• Shawarma: sandwich made of pita bread, sliced meat (beef, chicken or lamb) and some vegetables
• Hummus: puréed chick pea
• Sfiha: “beef pizza”

Brazilian

• Feijoada: beans, beef and pork stew accompanied of several side dishes such as rice, stir-fried collard greens, peeled and sliced oranges. Considered a national dish in Brazil, it is a rather heavy meal, so Brazilians only have it once in a while.
• Churrasco: charcoal-grilled meats (beef, pork, lamb, chicken). The most popular cut being the Picanha. No hot-dogs, no hamburgers.
• Brazilian Pizza: I call it “Brazilian” because I have never been to Italy, but I do know that the ones from Brazil are very different from the ones I’ve had in Canada and in the US.  In Brazil (at least in the state of São Paulo where I am from) the pizza is always made in a wood-fired brick oven. There is a great variety of toppings and most of them have oregano as an ingredient. But the differences lie not only on how they are prepared, but also how the dish is perceived by people—pizza in Brazil is a lot of times consumed in celebrations, as a sign of a successful negotiation (as in business agreements). It is considered as a sophisticated dish, rather than fast-food.

Japanese

• Sukiyaki: simmered meat, tofu, vegetables and mushrooms
• Sushi: no need for descriptions here
• Sashimi: idem

Portuguese

• Bacalhau: Portuguese for “dried and salted cod fish”. I usually have it in a casserole with onions, potatoes, garlic, green and red peppers.

Spanish

• Paella: more specifically the paella de mariscos, which is made of rice and sea food.

Thai

• Pad Thai: stir-fried rice noodles, with eggs, tamarind juice, tofu and chicken, shrimp or beef.