As soon as you arrive at Ilha Grande, allocate some time and money to taste the local cuisine. Here you can find a quirky mix of original Indian dishes (which were brought to the island from their homeland by the European colonists) and the Dark Continent’s cooking traditions (the continent’s natives had been living on the island for a long time as slaves). The most popular local dish has a very peculiar name which sounds pretty unusual for Europeans – «feijoada». This dish has been cooked by natives already for more than three centuries. The basic ingredients for feijoada are pork and black beans with garlic, pepper and bay leaves. The dish is served with rice, cabbage, flour, cassava, and people even add some pieces of orange. Feijoada is traditionally served in a soup plate. Even though the ingredients may seem incompatible all together, actually it turns out to be a really vivid and unexpectedly delicious dish. Despite the fact that Ilha Grande is an island, not only fish but also meat dishes are very common here. For instance, churrasco is one of the most popular delicacies. It’s a local version of a barbecue with a tomato sauce. Churrasco is usually cooked from beef, but sometimes people also take chicken or vegetables instead. People often order the dish as a quick snack and it’s also eaten with a great amount of beer during meetings with friends. Those who prefer pork would like such dishes as lombo de porco and akonao. Meat for lombo de
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