every country's cuisine is determined by the amalgamation of its history, culture, religion, and relations with other cultures - brazil's cuisine has largely been influenced by african, indigenous, and portuguese inhabitants, and the national dish is an excellent example of this fusion.

beans, or 'feijao', were first cultivated in south america, specifically in peru, but the idea to create a stew, infusing them with spices, vegetables, and sometimes meat, was a specific invention of the african slaves - this dish is almost always eaten with rice, and roberto da matta, a renowned brazilian anthropologist has argued that this fusion of ingredients reflects a wider social intermingling of 'black' and 'white' in brazilian history.

the alimentation of the public can be seen as egalitarian and democratic, something which unites the socially and economically fragmented populace of the city.