The Best Places to Eat in Brazil's Most Dynamic Food Destination

"On a balmy afternoon in Belém do Pará, a historic port near the mouth of the Amazon River in northern Brazil, I sat down for lunch in the creaky-floored dining room of Iacitata Amazônia Viva. Wooden doors opened onto a Juliet balcony, beyond which a low mantle of cloud mirrored the pewter-gray surface of Guajará Bay. Eager to sample the flavors that have, over the past decade or so, earned Belém a reputation as Brazil's most interesting food city, I ordered the restaurant's tasting menu."

"Dish after dish arrived in glossy black cuia, traditional vessels made from dried tree gourds. There were shredded hearts of açai palm and crisp morsels of fried water buffalo, half a million of which live on the immense Amazon Delta island of Marajó, where chef Tainá Marajoara traces her roots. My favorite was kanhapira: a medallion of filhote, or Amazonian catfish, in a sauce of fermented tucumã, a palm fruit. Even in Belém, kanhapira isn't often served in restaurants-which is why Marajoara keeps it"

Belém do Pará blends centuries-old history with a vibrant contemporary food scene centered on Amazonian ingredients. Restaurants in Belém serve dishes using regional elements such as açaí palm hearts, filhote (Amazonian catfish), tucumã palm fruit, tucupi ferment, jambú leaves, and fried water buffalo from Marajó. The Ver-o-Peso market supplies smoked and salted river fish and bottles of tucupi. Chef Tainá Marajoara highlights rare local dishes like kanhapira to preserve cultural culinary traditions. Belém functions as a major historic port and regional capital, channeling products like cacao, rubber, and Brazil nuts through its trade routes.

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