Many regional variations are very different from North American and European food. One example is Bahian cookery, derived from days when slaves had to cook scraps and anything that could be caught locally, together with coconut milk and palm oil. Some bars have waiters and table service.
National specialities:
• Vatapá (shrimps, fish oil, coconut milk, bread and rice).
• Sarapatel (liver, heart, tomatoes, peppers, onion and gravy).
• Caruru (shrimps, okra, onions and peppers).
From Rio Grande do Sul comes:
• Churrasco (barbecued beef, tomato and onion sauce).
• Galleto al primo canto (pieces of cockerel cooked on the spit with white wine and oil).
From Amazonas comes:
• Pato no tucupi (duck in rich wild green herb sauce).
• Tacacá (thick yellow soup with shrimps and garlic).
• In the northeast, dried salted meat and beans are the staple diet.
• In Rio de Janeiro, a favourite dish is feijoada (thick stew of black beans, chunks of beef, pork, sausage, chops, pigs’ ears and tails on white rice, boiled green vegetables and orange slices).
Types of establishment vary. If resident in a hotel, drinks and meals can often be charged to an account.
National drinks:
All kinds of alcoholic drinks are manufactured and available and there are no licensing hours or restrictions on drinking.
• Beer is particularly good and draught beer is called chopp.
• The local liqueur is cachaça, a type of rum popular with locals, but not so much with visitors.
• This phenomenally strong spirit is often mixed with sugar, crushed ice and limes to make caipirinha, a refreshing if intoxicating cocktail, and the Brazilian national drink.
• Southern Brazilian wine is of a high quality.
• Brazilian coffee is served in espresso-sized cups and is extremely popular.
Tipping: 10 to 15 per cent is usual for most services not included on the bill.

The best entertainment occurs in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In Rio, the major clubs do not present their main acts until after midnight, and the daily paper gives current information; small clubs (boites) provide nightly entertainment throughout the city. São Paulo nightlife is more sophisticated, with greater choice; the shows tend to start earlier.

In Rio and São Paulo, major shops and markets stay open quite late in the evening. Rio and Bahia specialise in antiques and jewellery. Special purchases include gems (particularly emeralds), jewellery (particularly silver), souvenirs and permissible antiques, leather or snakeskin goods. Fashions and antiques, crystal and pottery are a speciality of São Paulo. Belém, the city of the Amazon valley, specialises in jungle items, but be careful that you are not purchasing objects that have been plundered from the jungle, contributing to the general destruction. Check for restrictions on import to your home country of goods made from skins of protected species. Shopping hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1900. Supermarkets are open Mon-Sat 0800-2200. Major shopping centres also open on Sundays 1500-2200. All the above times are subject to local variations and many shops open until late in the evenings, especially in December.