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Brazil and USA: Food Similarities
Brazil and the United States are two countries that can be compared in a multitude of ways. Both nations are massive in size and resources, have large diverse populations, and host some of the world’s most scenic landscapes. Brazil and the U.S. differ in just as many ways, but their colonial histories and location in the Americas have provided for some oft overlooked similarities between the two. And few similarities between these nations are as understated as their food.
I’m from California in the U.S., and I’ve traveled to and eaten in Brazil, mainly in the Southeast and Northeast regions. During my time there, I noticed that even though Brazil has a ton of tasty foods unique to the country, I constantly found myself comparing them to things I’ve eaten back home — or seen others eat, when I wasn’t brave enough.
At first glance, it is easy to appreciate Brazil’s wealth of national and local cuisines, as these are widely more celebrated and known within Brazil. The U.S.A, on the other hand, is famous for having a deep-fried, low-nutrient cuisine. And that’s not just an international stereotype; many Americans can be witnessed saying that their notion of American cuisine is equivalent to fast food or deep-fried everything with gravy on top. But these giants of North and South America have more culinary similarities than you might expect.
