Brazil is known to many for its lively festive music, friendly people and gorgeous beaches. When it comes to detail, people seem to ignore the great food that these beaches provide for its sun loving attendants. Rio de Janeiro and especially its neighbouring city, Niteroi, display this deliciousness quite impressively.
Niteroi, being totally visible across from Rio de Janeiro, is accessible by a long bridge connecting the two Brazilian cities. The beaches of Niteroi do not possess the same level of popularity as in Rio, however the beauty of each beach is breathtaking and deserves some level of consideration (not to mention the food provided by walking vendors).
The common foods being distributed in these areas vary from products like acai and all naturally flavoured popsicles to shrimp skewers and sandwiches. For drinks, you can always indulge in a light and very cold Brazilian beer to quench your thirst from the incredible heat, or choose your mix of “mate” (a type of strongly caffeinated black iced tea) and lemonade. These are all the popular foods and beverages available on Rio’s beaches. Niteroi on the other hand, offers different and less commercial products.
If you are a fruit lover, you can indulge in invigorating tube snacks called sacolé (a stickless natural fruit popsicle). You can choose from mango, coconut, passion fruit, strawberry and pineapple. The flavour is so powerful that one tube can be gobbled up within minutes and another can be purchased for a measly $0.85 US.
If you are feeling a little hungrier and prefer something heavier, you can always call over a vendor and get yourself a nice “churrasquinho” (barbequed meat). The vendor carries with him a small portable barbeque (that looks more like a pet cage than anything else) and a cooler containing the raw meat he will soon barbeque at your request. Your choices are usually beef, chicken and pork sausage. The most unique of the choices is a large slice of cheese on a stick, which is seasoned with honey and oregano to give a unique and delicious flavour for any hungry beach dweller. These filling snacks are available for only one dollar, so one can really have a hefty beach meal for a more than reasonable sum.
Lastly there is the “Biscoito Globo” (available at both Rio and Niteroi beaches). This corn-based snack is served by vendors in small white lunch bags with cartoon stickers on the front and comes in either a salty or non-salty flavour – a perfect light snack when accompanied by an ice-cold beer on a hot day. These snacks are also sold for approximately one dollar and are always worth the purchase.
Written by temporary Rio resident Matt Soroka
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