Gastronomic tourism

It’s travel motivated by a place’s food. The Ministry of Tourism treats gastronomy as part of cultural tourism, for preserving local identity, and the World Tourism Organization uses the name gastronomic tourism for trips where eating is the main experience.

What sets this type of trip apart is attention to origin. You want to know where the ingredient comes from, who makes it, how it’s prepared and on what occasion it’s eaten. A simple dish tasted in the right place and with someone who explains it is worth more than an expensive dinner with no connection to the region.

Drinks have their own routes: wineries, cachaça stills, breweries and coffee farms are the subject of wine and beverage tourism, which pair well with a gastronomic trip.

Belém is the gateway to Amazonian cuisine. At the Ver-o-Peso market, on the bay, they sell river fish, herbs, fruits and açaí, which in Pará is eaten at lunch with fried fish and farinha. Tucupi, a yellow broth extracted from cassava, and jambu, a leaf that numbs the mouth, are in tacacá and pato no tucupi.

In Salvador, Bahian cuisine blends dendê oil, coconut milk, chili and seafood. Acarajé, a black-eyed pea fritter fried in dendê and sold by baianas from their trays, has its craft recognized as Brazil’s cultural heritage. Belo Horizonte is known for its botecos and the Mercado Central, where you taste cheeses and sweets from across the state, and Tiradentes serves Minas Gerais home cooking on wood stoves in 18th-century houses.

São Paulo brings together the cuisines of dozens of peoples in one city, in addition to the Municipal Market and street fairs with pastel and sugarcane juice. In Paraty, caiçara cuisine combines fish, banana and cassava farinha. In Paraná, Morretes is the land of barreado, meat cooked for many hours in a clay pot sealed with a dough of flour. In Florianópolis, oysters and shellfish farmed in the bays arrive fresh at the table.

Belém, Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis and Paraty are part of UNESCO’s Creative Cities network in the field of gastronomy, a title that recognizes places where cuisine is a central part of culture and the economy.

The itinerary starts at the public market, early in the morning, preferably on the first day: there you learn what the region produces and discover what to try later. A guided street-food tour, when available, shortens the path and helps those who are unsure about choosing on their own.

It’s worth alternating a slower, sit-down meal with a quicker one at the counter, and leaving room for serendipity. Small, in-demand places take reservations; in inland towns, many open only for lunch or close one or two days a week: confirm before you go. Cooking classes and visits to producers are booked and paid for separately.

Three to four days are enough to get to know a city’s cuisine. To bring ingredients home, such as cheeses, flours and sweets, ask the vendor how to transport them and how long the product keeps outside the fridge.