Gourmet products local specialties and wines Brésil Nordeste

Georges Laporte moved to Bahia from Normandy in 2002. Since then, he has adapted his family know-how, brought back from France, to create ice creams with local flavors in harmony with the seasons, all made with fresh fruit, without colorants or preservatives. The blends are as original as they are delicious: Pé de moleque (with peanuts), Cocana (coconut with cachaça), Martinica (orange and dark chocolate), Baianada (lime, rapadura and coconut) - a must-try! Try acerola or maracuja!

As its name suggests, this shop offers bowls of iced acai, with or without fruit and cereals. It's fresh, cheap and healthy!

Gelato & Grano is a glacier born in 2012 in Jericoacoara and has been making small ones ever since (two other shops in Teresina and two others were to open in 2018 in Fortaleza and João Pessoa). There are about a hundred flavours with a lactose-free option.

Situated on the edge of the bay, the Feira de Sao Joaquim is an authentic folk market. You'll find meat, fruit, vegetables... as well as everyday objects, handicrafts and candomblé-related artifacts. In a joyful hubbub, with a wealth of smells and flavors, it offers an immersion into the daily life of the Bahian people. It was restored in 2016, but the magic of the place still works. There's a special charm to this market, where Salvador's Afro-Brazilian roots are fully expressed, far from the artifice of modernity.

Well, it's not the most glamorous address in Salvador, since the shops and cafés are in the Barra and Graça shopping areas, but it's a good place to go if you're feeling peckish or if you want to buy food. The Perini is also a delicatessen that has been open for almost 50 years. In the Barra shop, in addition to gourmet products (cold cuts, cheeses, wines...), there is a wide range of snacks and cakes to be enjoyed on the spot with a cafezinho . We come here for the quality of the products.

La Casa de Noca is both a shop and a pleasant café. You can find greedy and regional products: small cakes, typical biscuits, fruit jellies and many others. The decoration of the "café" part is very pleasant, with its wooden tables and its busy decoration, nicely kitsch. The "café da manha" is very pleasant. The buffet features cakes, pasteis de Belém, but also small savoury dishes, pizza, scrambled eggs. During the big crowds in the shop part, it is a pity that it is a bit too crowded.

In Salvador, some ice cream parlors are very popular for cooling off in the hot Bahian summer. "A Cubana" is one of these "happy few". It is Salvador's oldest ice cream parlour, established in the 1930s, and has successfully survived the decades. A Cubana claims to be part of the Bahian heritage. This ice-cream brand offers many of its own flavours, including tapioca and caramel banana. Milkshakes are also available. Good pastries and salgados are available in all four stores.

Walking around Praia do Forte always makes you hungry and the visitor is then delighted to find the "panaderia do tango". This bakery is a very good choice to buy your rolls during your stay, but also for a snack during the day or to taste a delicacy with dulce de leche. For almost twenty years in Brazil, the owner (Argentinian, as you may have guessed) still couldn't do without this ingredient, almost sacred in his home country, in his kitchen!

The Passarela do Descobrimento, known locally as Passarela do Alcool, is a must-see meeting point. During the day, it is a real open-air shopping area. You can find just about anything here: restaurants serving regional cuisine, cafes and bars, but also clothing and souvenir stores, handicraft stores and, at nightfall, "batidas" stands. It is a place to gather "before night".

Since 1931, this has been one of Salvador's traditional ice cream parlors. The shop is located in the lower town, in a traditional district where time seems to have stood still. Ribeaira is the beach where fishing boats and saveiros rest at low tide. A typical Bahia spot, ideal for rest and relaxation. It's hard to choose from over sixty fragrances! Caipiroska (vodka and lime), suingue bom (wine and pineapple), agua de côco (coconut water) are just some of the options. Today, the ice cream shop has 6 outlets.

Surely the best market of the city for some Potiguares. We will like to lose ourselves in the numerous shops of the place. In all, about thirty shops of craft industry: wood, clothing, glassmaking, precious or semi-precious stones, cachaçaria. The traditional art of Natal and the Nordeste is well represented. One appreciates the figurines out of ground, of style santons, typically Nordestines. Certainly very good ideas to put in the suitcases before returning. Workshops of craftsmen propose their objects made with the hand.

An Italian ice cream shop run by a real Italian couple! They mix the know-how of their country of origin with Brazilian tropical fruits. A beautiful combination. An offer of 16 flavours that change every day, offering a different choice every time. The Gelato Preciosa is made in the ice cream parlour, prepared and made continuously during the day. The gelati are made from a combination of natural fruit, water and sugar. They do not contain dairy products, colourings or artificial flavours.

Italian tradition always brings the certainty of quality food, ice cream or wine. Here, Cuore di panna is an ice cream parlour with Italian know-how! Artificial colours, preservatives and flavours are forbidden here. Only fresh cream, milk, fruit and selected raw materials are used to make the ice creams sold in this space opened in 2012 in small quantities. The fruits offer superb sorbets with tropical flavours (mango, passion fruit...). Ideal for the climate of Natal!

The Dragao do Mar cultural centre is definitely full of resources to discover. The Santa Clara Café is one of those places full of serenity that deserves to be known. Located in the heart of the cultural centre, this small café has a pleasant decoration and a beautiful view on the whole place. Ideal to have a coffee while studying the Petit Futé. Let yourself be tempted by the iced coffee with vodka, cream, sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream... or the small coffee cake with chocolate.

Casa Nordeste is a mix of a large souvenir shop, local delicacies and a coffee shop. You can find many regional products in the Casa do Nordeste. The prices are affordable. The cashew nuts come directly from the production of the local "cajueiros". Customers can taste the products on the spot, the nuts are sold in bulk. All the options are salted, roasted, caramelized... A must stop for those who are on the road to Northern Alagoas. Since 2015, a new address exists in Ponta Verde.

The beaches of seaside towns often have their own market/fair. In Rio, the Copacabana and Ipanema markets are well known. The residential district of Boa Viagem, with its 20 km of beach, also has its own daily market, from 5pm to 10pm. Near the pretty little church of Praça Boa Viagem, stalls appear every evening as if by magic, offering regional dishes served by ladies in traditional costume, handicrafts and jewelry. Locals and tourists mingle in a relaxed atmosphere.