Beach food
Kebabs
espetinhos - grilled chicken or beef. cooked fresh right in front of you.
Fancy sitting around all day on the beach under a beach umbrella? Well, you can! The chairs and the guy that moves the umbrella are free. All they ask in return is that you buy your food and drink from them.
They all carry a menu and the food arrives quickly and freshly made on the beach. Try the seafood. The fish is usually caught locally and earlier that same day.
Apart from your own vendor, there will be a variety of vendors walking up and down the beach, selling a variety of things. Learning the language for these items is useful but unnecessary as the vendor will take the time to show you what he/she has on offer.
Prawns
camarao - be careful of the prawns-- smell them before purchase. a free sample is available with the word prova. they might have been walked up and down the beach for hours in the hot sun. a quick sniff is enough to tell you if they are fresh or not. if you decide to eat them, here is a quick tip: hold the tail of the prawn, tear off and discard the head and leg sections, hold the very tip of the tail, pop the rest in your mouth and bite off the tip leaving it in your fingers. yes, you can eat the shell; peel it if you wish, but you will not see the locals doing this.
Oysters
ostra - vendors will be carrying a bucket full of ice and live oysters. they are prepared for you one at a time. served with a squeeze of lime, salt and cumin powder.
Crab
They do not come prepared, so unless you know which bits to eat and which bits to discard, steer clear!
Grilled cheese
queijo de coalho - no warnings here--just go ahead and enjoy. it's a real treat.
Ice-cream
The prices are a lot more expensive than just off the beach. but you don't have to get out of your chair. in that heat, you will appreciate that.
Caldinho - you will notice guys walking up and down the beach with flasks. These are full of different flavors of a soup called caldinho. Try prawn one with hot pepper sauce.
Ovos de codorna - Small boiled quail eggs ready to peel salt and eat.
Nuts
A variety of nuts is available, cashew being the most obvious because it is grown right there in northeastern brazil. also, peanuts in 2 varieties: roasted or boiled.
Recife is the gastronomic capital of the Northeast. There are more high-quality restaurants here than in any other city in Brazil north of Rio de Janeiro.