Summary of local eating habits#

Eating here usually revolves around three main meals, but lunch is often the most important one.

• Café da Manhã (Breakfast): This is usually a lighter meal. People often have coffee with milk, bread (the most common is pão francês, a small crispy roll) with butter, jam, or a slice of ham and cheese. Sometimes scrambled eggs, or fresh fruit like papaya or banana.
• Almoço (Lunch): This is the main meal of the day for most Paulistanos (people from São Paulo). It’s usually eaten between noon and 2 pm. Whether at home or at a workplace cafeteria/restaurant, the base is almost always the same: rice and beans. This is the heart of the Brazilian meal. Added to that is a protein (meat, chicken, fish, or sometimes eggs), a salad (lettuce, tomato, onion), and often some side dishes like farofa (toasted cassava flour), or cooked vegetables. It’s a substantial, full plate.
• Jantar (Dinner): Dinner is typically lighter than lunch and eaten later, usually after 7 pm. It can be leftovers from lunch, a soup, a sandwich, pizza, or something quick and simple. People don’t usually cook a whole new, heavy meal like they do for lunch.

Common home-cooked meals vs. street food#

At home, the daily routine is usually that rice and beans base (arroz e feijão). It’s the comfort food, the fuel. You cook a big pot of beans (usually feijão carioca or feijão preto) and have it for a few days. Meat can be simple grilled chicken, a beef steak, ground beef, or pork.

Street food is more about quick, tasty snacks or a different kind of lunch. You’ll see people grabbing:

• Pastel: A thin pastry envelope with various fillings (cheese, meat, palm heart, even sweet ones) deep-fried.
• Pão de Queijo: Small, warm cheese breads made from cassava starch. Addictive!
• Coxinha: Shredded chicken filling covered in dough, shaped like a drumstick, and fried. A classic snack.
• Esfihas: Open or closed savory pastries, very popular due to the strong Middle Eastern influence in São Paulo.
• Misto Quente/Bauru: Simple ham and cheese grilled sandwiches.
• Prato Feito (PF) or Comercial: While often eaten outside the home (at small restaurants or botecos), the PF is basically a “home-style” meal on a single plate – rice, beans, protein, salad, and a side, served quickly and affordably. It’s what many people eat for lunch during the work week if they don’t bring food from home.

Local ingredients or spices people use#

The base flavors in Brazilian home cooking are usually simple but effective. Onion and garlic are essential, sautéed in a little oil as the base for beans, rice, and meats. Salt and black pepper are standard.

Other common flavorings include:

• Parsley (salsinha) and Chives (cebolinha)
• Bay leaves (louro), especially for cooking beans.
• Green onions (cebola verde).
• Sometimes a touch of cumin or paprika, depending on the dish.
• Lime is squeezed over many savory dishes, like feijoada or grilled meats, and used in drinks.
• Cassava (mandioca or aipim) is used in many ways – boiled, fried, or made into flour (farofa) or tapioca starch.

Staple ingredients beyond rice and beans include various cuts of beef, chicken, pork, eggs, and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables widely available in markets.

Traditional dishes eaten during festivals or weekends#

Weekends, especially Saturdays, often call for more special meals.

• Feijoada: The most famous Brazilian dish. It’s a heavy stew of black beans with various cuts of pork and sometimes beef. Served with rice, farofa, sautéed collard greens (couve refogada), orange slices, and pork crackling (torresmo). It’s a Saturday tradition for many families and restaurants.
• Churrasco: Brazilian BBQ. Grilling various cuts of meat (beef is key) over charcoal. This is a big social event, usually on weekends with family and friends.
• Lasagna and Pasta: Due to the huge Italian immigration, pasta dishes, especially lasagna, are very common Sunday family meals.
• Festival Foods: During Festa Junina (June parties), you’ll find dishes made from corn like Pamonha (sweet or savory corn paste boiled in husks), Canjica (sweet hominy pudding), and Milho Cozido (boiled corn on the cob).

Popular snacks or drinks#

Snacks (called lanches or salgados) are a big part of daily life.

• Salgados: The fried or baked snacks like Coxinha, Pastel, Esfiha, and Empada (a small savory pie).
• Pão de Queijo: Already mentioned, but worth repeating for snacks.
• Fresh Fruit Juices: Brazil has amazing fruits. Orange, passion fruit (maracujá), acerola, cashew fruit (caju), and many others are juiced fresh.
• Caldo de Cana (Sugarcane Juice): Sweet, refreshing, often sold by street vendors.
• Coffee: Brazilians drink a lot of coffee, usually small cups (cafezinho), often sweet. It’s offered everywhere, all the time.
• Guaraná: A uniquely Brazilian soda made from the guaraná berry.
• Caipirinha: The famous cocktail made with cachaça (sugarcane spirit), lime, sugar, and ice. More for social occasions and weekends.

Cultural food taboos or unique rituals#

Brazil doesn’t have many strict food taboos in the traditional sense like some cultures. However, there are habits and beliefs:

• Lunch is King: The emphasis on a substantial midday meal is a strong cultural point. Eating only a small salad or sandwich for lunch is not typical for many.
• The Cafezinho Ritual: Offering or having a small coffee is a gesture of hospitality and a common social ritual throughout the day.
• Eating Rice and Beans: While São Paulo is diverse, rice and beans remain a fundamental part of the diet for the vast majority of the population across all social classes. It’s the baseline.
• Not Drinking Water With Meals: An older belief, less strictly followed now, but some people prefer not to drink large amounts of water during their main meal, opting for juice or soda instead, or drinking water before or after.

São Paulo’s food scene is a mix of this traditional Brazilian core, heavily influenced by immigrants (especially Italian and Japanese food is everywhere and considered almost local), and modern trends. But the daily plate of rice and beans, the morning coffee and bread, and the afternoon snack are the real taste of what Paulistanos eat every day.