There are five main regional cuisines: comida mineira from Minas Gerais, based on pork, vegetables (especially couve, collard greens) and tutu, a kind of refried bean cooked with manioc flour and used as a thick sauce; comida baiana from the Salvador coast, the most exotic to gringo palates, using fresh fish and shellfish, hot peppers, palm oil, coconut milk and fresh coriander; comida do sertão from the interior of the Northeast, which relies on rehydrated, dried or salted meat and the fruit, beans and tubers of the region; comida gaúcha from Rio Grande do Sul, the most carnivorous diet in the world, revolving around every imaginable kind of meat grilled over charcoal; and comida amazônica, based on river fish, manioc sauces and the many fruits and palm products of northern Brazil. Comida do sertão is rarely served outside its homeland, but you’ll find restaurants serving the others throughout Brazil, although – naturally – they’re at their best in their region of origin.