South American Foods By Aidan Sim-Campos

 A long time before the Europeans arrived in South America, the native population had a large selections of foods that the Europeans took and made into their own.  The main groups of Europeans were the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italians. There were also immigrants from Africa and Asia.  They changed and modified the Native American traditional food so it could be mixed in with their own food.

 Brazil is the largest country in South America and also has a large variety of food.  The most traditional dish in Brazil is feijoada. Feijoada is a stew that is usually made up of pork, black beans, and sausage.  Food in Brazil varies from region to region. In Southern Brazil, they eat a lot of beef because there are many cows. In the Southeast area, they use different ingredients such as maize, pork, beans, cheese, rice, and many more.  Popular deserts in Brazil are rice pudding and beijinho (coconut truffles with clove).

 Argentina is known for foods that are high in protein, especially beef.  The country’s food is different from most of the other countries in South America because of its similarity to Spanish, Italian, French, and other Europeans foods.  Argentina is one of the largest cattle producing areas in the world and they include beef in almost all their meals.  They make many different sauces out of seasonings and put them on the meat.  Vegetables and salads are also very important to people in Argentina. They mix many different kinds of vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, lettuce, eggplants, squashes, and zucchini to make side dishes

 Chilean food comes mainly from Spanish food and Chilean ingredients that were later affected by European foods from countries such as Germany, Italy, Croatia, France, and the Middle East.  They eat a huge range of different kinds of seafood, such as squid, sole, albacore, codfish, hake, salmon, batoidea, tuna, abalone, prawns, clams, crabs, shrimp, and oysters.  Chile’s major crops that are grown are olives, cherimoya, maize, lúcuma, ugni molinae, potato, and quinoa.

 Peruvian food comes mainly from the Spanish and has traditional Peruvian ingredients. It was later influenced by foods from China, Italy, West Africa, and Japan.  Peru is known for its crops such as maize, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and fruits.  The three traditional foods are corn (maize), potatoes, and beans. Those foods have been combined with many foods brought by the Spanish such as rice, wheat, and meat (beef, pork, and chicken).

 Venezuelan foods have similarity to the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French foods.  Their foods are also related to foods of indigenous Africans.  On the coast of Venezuela, you will find high quality fish, shellfish, crayfish, fish soups, and fish stews.  The most popular dish from Venezuela is called arepa and is a cornmeal cake that can be grilled, baked, or fried.  The food in the Amazon region is very different from the rest of Venezuela. People there people eat yucca, corn, beans, and bananas. Some people even eat turtles, tapirs, monkey birds, and deep- fried ants.

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