Are you planning a trip to Brazil? Then get ready to sample some exotic cuisine. With colorful names such as coxinha — a chicken croquette shaped like a chicken thigh — it’s hard not to get excited about these unusual dishes.

Brazilian cuisine made a name for itself, slowly increasing in popularity as well as becoming more diverse and complex over time. With heavy European, African and Amerindian influences, this fusion of food from around the globe melds together to create a flavor that is truly unforgettable.

Here are a few tasty treats you may come across on your Brazilian journey:

Empanadas

Munchies that resemble your mother’s chicken pot pies, but on a smaller scale. Bursting with an assortment of different stuffings, usually including chicken or shrimp.

Pão de queijo

This is a classic Brazilian snack which translates to cheese bread, made simply from flour, eggs, milk and minas cheese. Walking around the streets of Brazil, one is sure to find this iconic snack on almost every corner. 

Cuscuz branco

This dish is a dessert consisting of milled tapioca with coconut milk and sugar — the couscous equivalent of rice pudding.

From the vatapá to the comida pesada, there is something every culinary connoisseur will enjoy.

— Andrew Risch, intern