People take part in the “The Burial of the Sardine” funeral procession, which marks the end of carnival festivities, in Madrid, Spain, February 10, 2016. “Mourners” carry a coffin with a mock sardine through the streets to celebrate the countdown to Lent. Spanish painter Francisco de Goya's painting “El entierro de la sardina” (The Burial of the Sardine) was inspired by this tradition, which started in Madrid in the 18th century, around the time of Spanish King Carlos III. (Photo by Juan Medina/Reuters)

Men dressed as women kiss as they take part in a parade during the Popo (Mask) Carnival of Bonoua, east of Abidjan, April 9, 2016. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)

Revellers celebrate the start of the carnival season, a season of controlled raucous fun that reaches a climax during the days before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, at 11.11 am in Cologne, Germany, November 11, 2016. (Photo by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)

A Police officer checks a man wearing a carnival costume in Venice, Italy, Sunday, January 31, 2016. Carnival-goers in Venice are being asked by police to momentarily lift their masks as part of new anti-terrorism measures for the annual festivities. Police are also examining backpacks and bags and using metal-detecting wands before revelers are allowed into St. Mark's Square, the heart of the Venetian carnival. (Photo by Luigi Costantini/AP Photo)

Inhabitants of the community of Coyolillo celebrate their Afro-descendant carnival in Veracruz, Mexico on February 25, 2020. This carnival has more than 100 years of history and is the heritage of the African workers who arrived in that area more than 300 years ago to work in the sugar cane fields. (Photo by Hector Adolfo Quintanar Perez/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A reveler from Vila Isabel samba school performs during the second night of the carnival parade at the Sambadrome, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 21, 2023. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

If the most popular foods of Rio de Janeiro have one thing in common, it is their informality. You can find fine restaurants in the city, but they do not set Rio apart from other places. What does set it apart, and what invariably brings its residents, known as "Cariocas," together is the unpretentious food they eat in bright, loud, crowded bars and restaurants, on busy street corners, or after a day at the beach. Here: A view of traditional bolinhos de bacalhau (fried codfish balls) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 7, 2016. (Photo by Sergio Moraes/Reuters)