Amazon cuisine

One of the most wonderful experiences when travelling is sampling and learning about local cuisine. The Amazon is a rich environment providing native fruits, nuts, vegetables and fish. Traditional cooking methods such as grilling, roasting and smoking are employed, using implements such as clay pots or wrapping food in leaves before cooking over an open fire. Almost no seasoning is used, allowing the natural flavours to stand out. The cuisine is a fusion of indigenous, African and European influences.

The main protein in Amazonian cuisine is fish, with several large species such as tambaqui, arapaima, and peixe nobre being popular choices due to their nearly boneless meat and delicious flavour. One traditional dish is the Moqueca, a fish stew flavoured with coconut milk, chilli peppers, and local herbs.

A key cooking ingredient is cassava, a starchy root vegetable that is a staple food in the region. Tucupi is a sauce made from fermented cassava juice and then used to flavour fish or meat dishes. Cassava is also turned into flour used for baking bread and cakes.

Another important ingredient native to the Amazon is the açai berry. After harvesting the berries, the tribal communities eat them fresh or mashed, mixing them with water as a nutritious juice. The berries are rich in antioxidants and are used to make açai bowls, smoothies, and ice cream.

Brazil nuts are also native to the Amazon rainforest and are an important food source for communities and wildlife. They are incredibly versatile. When blended with water, it makes a creamy and nutritious nut milk used in cooking or as a dairy substitute. Sometimes they are ground and mixed with other ingredients to make a flavourful stuffing for tambaqui. They can be crushed and added to desserts like Brigadeiro, a Brazilian chocolate truffle. Brigadeiro is made with condensed milk, cocoa powder and butter. The nuts are added for their unique flavour and texture to the dessert.

Farmed in a few places in the Amazon basin is the cupuaçu. This melon-sized fruit with a shell similar to a coconut husk is a sister plant to cacao. Its flavour has been compared to chocolate with a hint of pineapple. The hot drink called cupulate, similar to hot chocolate, is made by processing the seeds of the fruit. Several sweets and desserts are made from the fruit's sweetened pulp and sold as a health supplement. Locals use it to improve their digestive system and pain relief.

Lastly, meat dishes in the Amazon may include peccary (a type of pig), capybara (a large rodent), deer, beef, or chicken. Sometimes the dishes are seasoned with jambu leaf, an aromatic plant found in northern Brazil that leaves a tingling sensation on the tongue. It's often called the 'toothache plant' because of its anaesthetic properties.

Amazon cuisine has gained international recognition, with many restaurants including it on their menus. Filled with beautiful flavours and exotic-sounding dishes like Tacacho, Patarashca, Farofa and Sarapatel, I'm now off to find something delightfully yummy and finger-licking good.