african roots have helped shape the city of rio de janeiro and is synonymous with the carioca way of life - in fact, african culture is found in every corner of rio de janeiro, from its music, dancing and rhythms, to its incredibly delicious cuisine.

rio de janeiro's cuisine is so diverse and caters to almost any taste, seeing as large part to the african continent, whose massive and varied terrain regions, and numerous subcultures of people brought their own customs and skills to help shape the gastronomy of brazil.

due to these various influences and the diversity of the continent, it is difficult to pin down a 'traditional' cuisine for the whole of africa - instead, there are regional trends to african cooking, which are broadly set out below.

the cuisine from the northern part of africa was brought by migrants and traders, many of which were arabians, who introduced couscous and a range of spices to brazil - the cuisine is simpler, with a heavy reliance on grains, beans and vegetables, as well as fish supplying much of the protein, whilst fruits supply much of the flavor.