A Moorish-Portuguese couscous made of farinha de mandioca (manioc flour), shrimp or chicken, vegetables, and hearts of palm.

fish stew made of various seafood and fish, like shrimp and crab.  The fish is cooked like a ragout in coconut milk, onions, sweet peppers, lime juice, dende oil, parsley, marjoram and tomatoes.

Heart of Palm.  Heart of Palm is grown in Brazil, but you can get very good canned Brazilian heart of palm like the brands Ivai and Roland.

Chayote, Christophine or Merliton.  Xuxu is a squash with a white flesh that can be diced in a salad (similar to cucumber or jicama) or it can be boiled as a Brazilian side dish.

Avocado.  When picking an avocado, pick one that succumbs to light pressure, but does not feel overly soft.  Brazilians also use avocado plant leaves in a tea as a diuretic.

Pineapple.  Pineapple is indigenous to Brazil… Pineapples are to Brazil what apples are to the United States of America.

Pumpkin.  The Abobara pumpkin is not as dense or fibrous as the American pumpkins used around Halloween.

A fritter consisting of fradinho (a bean that is like black-eyed peas) and dried shrimp.  After you fry acaraje, you fill it with a hot spicy sauce.  This dish is sometimes called abara if it is steamed (instead of fried) and wrapped in banana leaves.

Dried and salted cod fish.  This is often used in fried codfish balls or various stews made of tomatoes and peppers.

Brazil has many varieties of bananas (banana de agua, ladyfinger bananas, red bananas, apple bananas, and more).  When a banana is still green, it can be cooked similar to a vegetable.