Eat List: Macapá, Brazil

A culinary guide to the capital of Brazil’s far northeastern Amazon state.

Camarão, açaí & farofa / Fried shrimp, açaí & toasted corn flour. Staple foods in Macapá. Photo: Nicholas Gill.

The dining options in Macapá, the largest city of Amapa state, in the far northeast corner of the Brazilian Amazon, just below French Guiana, is generally overshadowed by its gastronomically hyped neighbor state of Pará to the south, and its capital of Belém. While there is some overlap in the traditional cooking between the two cities, Macapá has a style all its own.

The city of about half a million people sits right on the equator and on the banks of the Amazon, just a few hours upriver from where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. There are no nationally known chefs from Macapá that are opening branches of their restaurant in São Paulo, or fine dining spots on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. What you do find are typical restaurants, food stalls and a few creative bistros working with some of the most unique collections of fish and rainforest flora in South America, plus an açaí “winery.”