the most common portuguese dish, considered by many as their national dish, is bacalhau, which is dried, salted cod, which has been popular since the sixteenth century - in fact, there are reportedly 365 different ways to prepare it, charmingly for every day of the year - bacalhau is also very popular in brazilian cooking, but usually prepared in slightly different ways.

as the portuguese were amongst the first people to settle in modern brazil, and certainly modern rio de janeiro, their cuisine has always been part of life in the city - migration from portugal to brazil began in the mid-1500s, and continued all the way to modern day.

as for much of that time the portuguese were hardly considered foreigners - thus, their food has spread right throughout the city, and is one of the most common cuisines in rio de janeiro.