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Flavours of RN

Food

Shrimp, coalho cheese, sun-dried beef and cashew sweets — a state caught between the ocean and the backlands.

RN cooking maps the geography of the state. On the coast, the day’s fish and shellfish. Inland, sun-dried beef and curd cheeses. Everywhere, cashew, tapioca and cachaça.

  • South coastSeafood

    Potiguar shrimp

    Wild and farmed shrimp from RN’s estuaries, served grilled, in moquecas or in the iconic shrimp-stuffed pumpkin.

    Pairs withCold coconut water or a chilled local craft beer.

  • SertãoMeats

    Carne de sol

    Lightly salted beef sun-dried for a day, then grilled. Usually served with macaxeira (cassava), butter and coalho cheese.

    Pairs withCachaça with lime or a chilled umbu juice.

  • North coastCheeses

    Coalho cheese

    Semi-hard rennet cheese grilled on a skewer right on the beach — the most universal RN snack.

  • CapitalStreet food

    Tapioca

    Gluten-free crepe made from manioc starch — sweet (coconut, banana) or savoury (cheese, dried meat).

  • CapitalStreet food

    Ginga com tapioca

    Small fried sardine-like fish wrapped in a fresh tapioca crepe — a signature Natal street breakfast.

  • North coastSeafood

    Fish on the tile

    Whole fish (often dourado or robalo) baked on a clay roof tile with tomato, onion and coriander.

  • AgresteSweets

    Cashew-fruit sweets

    Sweets made from cashew apples — candied, in syrup or as juice. RN holds the world’s largest cashew tree.

  • South coastDrinks

    Pirangi cachaça

    Sugarcane spirits aged in jequitibá and oak barrels south of Natal — backbone of a proper caipirinha.