Summary of Beach Snacks in Rio de Janeiro
When it’s time to relax in Rio de Janeiro, people flock to one of the beautiful beaches in Rio. Cariocas, as Rio residents are called, treat the beach as their outdoor playground. During a long day of sunbathing and playing beach sports, Cariocas satisfy their thirst and hunger with the following popular beach snacks and drinks.
Água de coco
Perhaps the most popular drink in all of Brazil, água de coco is coconut water enjoyed fresh from a young green coconut. Brazilians believe that the natural properties of coconuts make them the perfect hydrating drink after a long day in the sun.
Coconut vendors, often with just a wheelbarrow, can be found on beaches and sidewalks throughout the city. After paying a few reais (the Real is the Brazilian currency), the vendor will chop off the top of a coconut with a long knife. You can drink the coconut water with a straw, and if you’d like, you can ask the vendor to open the coconut so that you can scoop out the sweet coconut meat.
Kebabs
Kebabs, or espetinhos (“little skewers,” pronounced “eh-speh-CHEE-nyos”), are a popular beach snack on Rio de Janeiro’s beaches. Skewers of shrimp (camarão) or grilled white cheese (queijo de coalho) are the most common varieties.
Caipirinhas
Caipirinha (pronounced kai-pee-REE-nyah) is the classic Brazilian cocktail made with fresh lime, sugar, and cachaça, a very popular distilled spirit made from sugarcane juice. A similar drink is caipiroska, made with vodka instead of cachaça. Caipirinhas can be found at many beach kiosks for about 10 reais.
However, many Brazilians will opt for a cerveja (beer) instead of a caipirinha while relaxing on the beach. Beer in Brazil is typically served ice cold in a bottle or can, with popular choices being light, pilsner-style beers such as Antarctica, Brahma, Skol, and Kaiser.
Cashews
A popular beach snack in Brazil is roasted nuts, especially cashews (castanha de caju) and amendoim (peanuts). These are typically sold by people walking the beach with a large bag of nuts, presented in a paper cup or as a handful on the table if you’re sitting at a café.
Açaí
The small fruit from the Amazon rainforest, açaí, has been a part of Brazilian culture for years, typically served as frozen pulp in cities like Rio de Janeiro and enjoyed with the consistency of a thick smoothie.
On the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, you can order açaí na tigela, or açaí in a bowl, usually topped with sliced banana and granola, making it a refreshing and healthy beach snack!
Esfiha
One of the most popular snacks in Brazil, esfiha is a Middle Eastern dish that has become part of Brazilian cuisine due to the influence of Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. Esfihas are small flatbreads filled with various savory mixtures, such as ground beef with onions and peppers or cheese with escarole.
Sweets
After a day of enjoying cervejas on the beach in Rio, you might feel the urge for something sweet. The most frequent choice is sorvete (ice cream, pronounced “sor-VEH-chee”), often found as ice cream bars and popsicles (paletas or picoles) in various fruity flavors. For example, try a Brazilian popsicle like morango com leite condensado (strawberry with sweet condensed milk) or milho verde (sweet corn).
Some vendors sell doces caseiros (homemade Brazilian sweets), with cocada being the most common, made with grated coconut and sugar. You might also encounter the extra chewy version quebra queixo (meaning “chin breaker”) and various desserts made with sweet condensed milk, like brigadeiro, which consists of condensed milk mixed with chocolate and coated in chocolate sprinkles.
