Talking About Eggs In Brazil

How and When Do People in Brazil Eat Eggs?

When they talk about eggs, or at least chicken eggs, the English speakers of the world generally divide them into two colors – white and brown. Some have a distinct preference for white eggs, while others somehow feel that brown eggs are healthier, perhaps by analogy with brown rice. In any case, there is absolutely no nutritional difference between white and brown eggs. Since the shell, whose color determines if the egg is white or brown, isn’t eaten, the difference really can only be one of esthetics – which color of eggs looks prettier or more appetizing. In Brazil, however, eggs don’t come in white or brown. They come in branco and vermelho, meaning white and red. Brazilians considered the colored egg to be red not brown. Language influences perception, and so if the same egg were called red maybe we’d see it differently. Whatever color one wants to call them, in Brazilian markets and supermarkets you can find both colors equally available. Eggs are not generally found in refrigerated sections of supermarkets in Brazil – they are displayed and sold at room temperature, to no noticeable detrimental effect.

prato feito : this is your typical brazilian lunch: arroz, feijão, bife, batatas e ovo frito!!

When speaking of eggs in Brazil, the correct word to use is ovo (ovos -plural), which means egg. Also, The parts of the egg in Brazilian Portugues are the gema (yolk) and the clara (whites).There is a considerable vocabulary of cooking terms for eggs in Portuguese, just as there is in English. Most eggs in Brazil are eaten either fried sunny-side-up or hard boiled, but other cooking techniques are known and used. Here’s a list of English cooking terms for eggs, and their Brazilian Portuguese equivalents:

fried (frito)

hard boiled (cozido)

soft boiled (cozido mole)

scrambled (mexido)

omelette (omelete)

poached (escalfado)

deviled (recheado)

One last thing about eggs in Brazil is that Brazilians don’t really eat them for breakfast, but more commonly with lunch, on top of a bed of rice and beans (arroz e feijão)  and some kind of meat, perhaps with a side of angu (Brazilian polenta) and farofa and salad/collard greens (called couve in Portuguese):

Fried eggs in brazil are often found in other unexpected locations such as hamburgers or pizza.