Discovering South America: Brazil

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Brazil

Feijoada , a popular meal in Brazil, is a stew made with black beans and beef or pork.

explored the question of what it means to be Brazilian in terms of cul- ture and society. Brazilian music has always been character-

ized by great diversity and shaped by musical influences from three continents. It is still developing new and original forms. The samba, which reached its height of popularity in the 1930s, is a mixture of Spanish bolero with the cadences and rhythms of African music. In the 1960s, a bossa nova craze from Brazil swept the United States, characterized by songs such as “The Girl from Ipanema”—although the sound was influenced by North American jazz. More recently, the lambada, influenced by Caribbean rhythms, became international-

ly popular in the 1980s. Brazilian Cuisine

When the Portuguese arrived in South America, the foodstuffs of the native tribes were simple. As the Portuguese and Indian cultures blended, howev-