Brazilian culture has been shaped not only by the Portuguese, who gave the country its religion and language , but also by the country's native Indians, the considerable African population , and other settlers from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Brazil is officially a Catholic country, but in practice the country's religious life incorporates Indian animism, African cults , Afro-Catholic syncretism and Kardecism , a spiritualist religion embracing Eastern mysticism , which is gaining popularity with Brazilian whites.
Portuguese, infused with many words from Indian and African languages, is spoken by all Brazilians. Accents, dialects and slang vary regionally.
The staples of the Brazilian diet are white rice, black beans and manioc flour, usually combined with steak, chicken or fish. Brazilian specialties include moqueca, a seafood stew flavored with dendê oil and coconut milk; caruru, okra and other vegetables mixed with shrimp, onions and peppers; and feijoada, a bean and meat stew. On many street corners in Bahia, women wearing flowing white dresses sell acarajé, beans, mashed in salt and onions and then fried in dendê oil. The fried balls are filled with seafood, manioc paste, dried shrimp, pepper and tomato sauce.
Brazilian music has always been characterized by great diversity and shaped by musical influences from three continents and it is still developing new and original forms. The samba, which reached the height of popularity during the 1930s, is a mixture of Spanish bolero with the cadences and rhythms of African music. Its most famous exponent was probably Carmen Miranda , known for her fiery temperament and fruity headdresses. The more subdued bossa nova , popular in the 1950s and characterized by performers such as João Gilberto and songs such as The Girl from Ipanema , was influenced by North American jazz. Tropicalismo is a mix of musical influences that arrived in Brazil in the 1960s, including Italian ballads. More recently, the lambada, influenced by Caribbean rhythms, has become internationally popular.
