FREVO - Home of São Paulo's Best Beirute

Named after the frenetic dance whose rhythms drive the Carnavals of Recife and Olinda in Brazil's northeastern state of Pernambuco, Frevo restaurant has been a luncheonette institution in São Paulo since it first opened its doors in 1956. Frevo, situated on the city's toniest shopping street, Oscar Freire, has been the restaurant of choice for hungry shoppers for years, and has spawned branches throughout  the city.

Frevo's decor is something to behold. Call it retro-diner mixed with elements of 1950's Brazilian design, all preserved marvelously. There is the obligatory counter, of course, with stools upholstered in red naugahyde. The same material covers the dining chairs in the restaurant's table-service area. On the white walls float wire-and-wood scupltures of frevo dancers, some lifting high the small umbrella that frevo dancers use to balance, just like tightrope walkers. It's worth a visit to Frevo just to see the interior design.

However, the crowds that fill the restaurant daily don't return time after time to admire the decor. They are back because of the food. No restaurant can flourish for 55 years on design alone - only good food merits that kind of success.

The menu at Frevo features pizzas, sandwiches and burgers, plus sundaes, pies and other diner standards. The most popular of Frevo's sandwiches is their take on a beirute, a Syrio-Lebanese pita-bread sandwich that has become a Brazilian favorite. (Click here to read more about the history of the beirute). The restaurant's beirute is so well-loved that it was named São Paulo's best in this years Best of São Paulo competition. The prizes in this competition are awarded based on public votes, not on the votes of food professionals or journalists, as are some other gastronomic competitions.

At Frevo, they serve a classic beirute, without pretention and with no 21st-century additions. It's simply roast beef, melted cheese, sliced tomato and a dusting of oregano, all served in a toasted pita. There are two sizes - the large (enough for two normal eaters) which sells for R$22 (about USD $11) and the small (individual) which goes for R$12.30 ($6.15).

If someday you happen to be shopping in Oscar Freire street's designer stores - Calvin Klein, Cartier, etc. - and suddenly feel a pang of hunger, stop off at Frevo for a beirute and a look at the decor. You'll be glad that you did.

Iscas com Elas - Brazilian Diner Lingo

Adam and Eve on a raft

According to Wikipedia, diner lingo is a uniquely American verbal slang used by waitresses and cooks in hashouses and truck stops to communicate with each other. Wikipedia says diner lingo "is virtually unknown outside the US." Some wonderful examples of diner lingo can be found on the Wikipedia page devoted to the subject and on a website called dinerlingo.com - phrases like "looseners" for prunes, "English winter" for iced tea, "side of Joan of Arc" for french fried, and our personal favorite, "Adam and Eve on a raft" for two poached eggs on toast.

Though the USA might be the only English-speaking country to speak diner lingo, inventive names for restaurant dishes don't only exist there - Rio de Janeiro's restaurants are famous for their own version of diner lingo. You might call it " gíria da lanchonete." One of the most famous and most wide used examples in Brazil is a dish called "iscas com elas". It's difficult to translate into English, but the idea is something like "the bait and the girls."

Iscas com elas is basically liver and onions, a diner and luncheonette specialty both in Brazil and the USA. In this case, the liver is cut into thin strips before frying (the bait) and served with fried rings of onion (the girls). The dish, and its name, originated in Rio de Janeiro's 80-year-old À Lisboeta restaurant, where it's been on the menu since the day the restaurant opened. Located in Rio's central business district, À Lisboeta is packed every lunch hour with bankers, accountants, bureaucrats, blue-collar and office workers, all wanting a substantial, satisfying lunch - and many of those end up ordering iscas com elas. It's one of the most popular dishes on the menu, even after all these years.

Iscas com elas

À Lisboeta doesn't just serve plain old iscas com elas, though. For those who are really hungry, there's a  more substantial version called iscas com elas and elas or "the bait and the girls and the girls," which means that the plate not only includes the strips of liver (the bait) and the fried onion rings (the girls), but also boiled potatoes (the other girls).

Next post, we'll publish À Lisboeta's recipe for iscas com elas.

RECIPE - Gratineed Deviled Eggs (Ovos Recheados Gratinados)

Deviled eggs are one of those foods that for many people evoke memories of earlier times in their lives, not always pleasant times - church-basement suppers, pseudo-sophisticated cocktail parties, ant-ridden picnics in the summer heat. Perhaps it's because of memories like those that deviled eggs have gotten a bit of a bum rap, and seem to have disappeared. But a truly well-made deviled egg, served at the right occasion and at the right temperature, is nothing to be scorned. It is marvelously, if unexpectedly, delicious and worthy of being returned to its proud place on the buffet table or hors d'oeuvres tray.

In Brazil, deviled eggs are known as ovos recheados. The term recheado simly means filled. (Which makes us wonder, why does the English language consider deviled eggs to be devilish?) Although they do pop up oat buffets, and are often seen as one of the offering of the pay-by-weight self-service restaurants that are found everywhere in Brazil, they often tend to be underseasoned and bland - just a mixture of mashed egg yolk and mayonnaise for the stuffing with perhaps a bit of chopped green onion to give it at least a breath of life.

This Brazilian recipe, however, is neither underseasoned nor bland, and it puts deviled eggs front and center - as the main dish for a lunch or light supper. Served piping hot straight from the broiler, three or four of these eggs makes a substantial offering without being over-filling. Employing the classic combination of ham and eggs, and sassing it up with best-quality grated Parmesan, this dish is a winner. And - here's a secret - it's embarrassingly easy and quick to make.
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RECIPE - Gratineed Deviled Eggs (Ovos Recheados Gratinados)
Serves 4

8 eggs, free-range if possible
4 oz (100 gr) good-quality, lean, deli-style ham, thinly sliced
4 oz (100 gr) fresh-grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste
ground white pepper to taste
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Stack the ham slices, then cut them into matchstick-size julienne strips. Reserve.

Hard boil the eggs, according to your own favorite method. (if you don't have a favorite method, see below). Let them cool completely, then peel and cut them in half carefully, along the vertical (longer) axis.

Remove the yolks from the halved eggs, place in a medium mixing bowl. Using a fork, mash them, being careful not to overmash them. You want them to still have some texture. Add the julienned ham, then taste for seasoning and add salt only if necessary. Add white pepper to taste.

Fill the halved eggs with the yolk/ham mixture, mounding the mixture. Do not overpack the eggs.

Preheat your broiler. Put the eggs on a wire rack set in the bottom half of a broiler pan. Sprinkle the eggs with the grated cheese. Broil for about 3-4 minutes, or until the eggs are hot and the cheese topping is melted, bubbling and nicely browned. Serve immediately.

The Cook's Illustrated Test Kitchen's Foolproof Hard boiled eggs

(Note: Eggs are easier to peel when they are not fresh. Let farm-fresh eggs age for at least two weeks before hard boiling. Supermarket eggs have normally aged already and can be used as soon as you wish after purchase.)

Put the eggs in a large pot with cold water to cover by 1 to 2 inches. Put the pot on the stove, turn the heat to high and bring quickly to a boil. As soon as the water comes to a full boil, remove the pot from the stove, cover tightly and let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath in a large mixing bowl, combining cold water at a lot of ice cubes, at least one full tray's worth. When the eggs have stood for 10 minutes, remove from the hot water with a slotted spoon and plunge them into the ice water. Let them stand at least 5 minutes in the ice water.

When fully cool, peel and use as needed in the recipe.

RECIPE - Kisir Salad (Salada Kisir)

This salad makes a light and refreshing side dish for a grilled piece of meat, chicken or fish on those days when it's just too hot to cook (which, in many parts of Brazil, is almost any day of the year). Made with couscous, served at room temperature or slightly chilled, it is substantial enough to stand as a meal's carbohydrate, yet light enough not to overstuff diners. It also obviates the need to serve a side dish and a salad as it functions as both.

What most of the rest of the world considers garden-variety couscous is known in Brazil as Moroccan couscous (cuzcuz marroquinho). Brazilians have to add the term Moroccan because cuzcuz plain and simple asmade in Brazil is fabricated not from wheat but from corn. (Click here for more information about Brazilian cuzcuz.)

In addition to its other virtues, this salad is very quick and easy to make. Since spending a lot of time in the kitchen is something that one tends not to want to do on a hot day, it's just one more reason that makes this salad a perfect summer-time treat. (For readers of this blog who are suffering through a wintry January, save the recipe for next summer!)

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RECIPE - Kisir Salad (Salada Kisir)
Serves 4

1 1/4 cup (200 gr) dry quick-cook couscous
3/4 cup (200 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup (200 ml) water
pinch of salt
3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
8 oz (200 gr) mixed baby salad greens
diced green onion, to taste
salt and fresh-ground black pepper
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Put the dry couscous in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle half of the olive oil over, then mix well with a fork to cover all the grains. Let rest 5 minutes.

Bring the water, with a pinch of salt added, to the boil, then pour over the couscous. Mix briefly then let stand until the couscous is cool. Toss with a fork to loosen the grains.

When the couscous is cool, mix in the tomato and peppers. Mould in ring molds if desired (as in photo), or mound on salad plates. Top with the mixed salad greens, then sprinkle the remaining olive oil over all. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Recipe translated and adapted from Gula magazine.

A Dish Called Kaol

The counter at Café Palhares

In Belo Horizonte's bustling downtown sits a small diner by the name of Café Palhares. It's a small place, just  twenty seats around a U-shaped counter. Nothing much has changed since the diner was opened in 1938 by brothers Antônio e Nilton Palhares Dini. At lunchtime during the week, the diner's busiest time, a wait for a seat is inevitable, but no one lingers over a meal at Café Palhares, so the wait isn't normally too long. Most of those waiting to eat already know what they're going to order - exactly what most of those who are in the middle of their meal are eating - a dish called Kaol. There's a large sign on the diner's wall that states it quite simply: Ser mineiro é comer um Kaol. Translated into English it means "To be a mineiro (a resident of the state of Minas Gerais) is to eat Kaol.

Kaol doesn't look like a typical Portuguese word. In fact, until a few years ago, the official Portuguese alphabet didn't even have a K. But this dish is definitely Kaol with a K. It was baptized by a noted local bohemian and radical, and frequenter of Café Palhares, named Rômulo Paes. He created an acronym for the ingredients which make up the dish, starting with pre-meal aperitif, cachaça. Because he was a radical bohemian, he substituted K for the initial letter of cachaça, C. Next came A for arroz (rice), O for ovos (eggs) and finally L for lingüiça, a traditional Brazilian sausage. Cachaça, rice, eggs and sausage - Kaol.

Since the dish was first created at Café Palhares and baptized by Rômulo Paes it has become more elaborate, though the name hasn't changed at all. In the 1970s manioc farinha and a side of sauteed kale were added, and in the 1980s the kitchen began to throw on a piece or two of fried pork rind (torresmo). Today, the restaurant allows customers to swap lingüiça for other cuts of meat, such as roast pork, or even fried fish. Traditionalists will have none of that though, and swear by the original dish with its lingüiça.

The shot of cachaça is to be downed in one gulp before the arrival of the plate from the kitchen, but to accompany Kaol, a glass of icy-cold draft beer (chope) is traditional. Most diners don't find room for dessert after a full plate of Kaol, but there are a variety on offer.

The clientele at Café Palhares, to this day, is primarily downtown office workers and shoppers, though the fame of Kaol, and the growing number of gastronomic tourists in Brazil, mean that from time to time non-mineiros make their way into the diner. They may be non-mineiros when they arrive, but by the time they've finished their plate of Kaol, they've become mineiros at heart.

RECIPE - Hot Hole Sandwich (Sanduiche Buraco Quente)

This Brazilian snack-bar and luncheonette classic is Brazil's answer to the Sloppy joe. A mixture of seasoned ground beef inside a french roll, the hot hole sandwich is a perfectly packaged quick meal or between meal snack. The somewhat suggestive name (it's just as suggestive in Portuguese as it is in English) in fact is nothing more than a quick description of what the sandwich is and how it works.

To make a hot hole sandwich you need the filling (recipe below) and a good quality french roll, about the right size to fit comfortably in your hand. Brazilians eat french rolls by the bazillions every day, and most Brazilians wouldn't consider sitting down to breakfast unless there are some fresh french rolls on the table. Although Brazilians agree that they all love these rolls, they can't agree on what to call them. In Ceará, Flavor of Brazil's home state, they're called pão carioquinha (little carioca bread). In Rio de Janeiro, where the real cariocas live, they call them simply pão francês (French bread). Elsewhere, they are variously pão de sal (salt bread), pão massa grossa (thick dough bread), pão careca (bald bread) and cacetinho (little club).

Whatever they are called, these rolls (pictured at right) are the basis of a hot hole sandwich. A Brazilian french roll normally has a hard, crunchy crust and a very light, fluffy interior. To compile a hot hole sandwich, the roll is cut in two down the middle vertically. The halves are hollowed out, leaving only the crust (this is the hole in the hot hole). Then hot crumbled ground beef is packed into the halves (this is the hot in the hot hole) and the sandwich is served, ready to eat in the hand.

Good quality french rolls are almost universally available, so this recipe is easy to make and is very family- and kid-friendly. Almost nobody doesn't like a hot hole sandwich, with the obvious exception of vegetarians and vegans. It's also something that's easy to make for a crowd and the recipe can be doubled, tripled or more. A perfect picnic food, just as long as you can reheat the filling or keep it hot, and you make sure that the rolls are fresh and still crunchy.
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RECIPE - Hot Hole Sandwich (Sanduiche Buraco Quente)
Makes 4 sandwiches

1/2 cup stuffed green olives, chopped
1 Tbsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 hard boiled egg, peeled and finely chopped
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
12 oz (3/4 lb, 300 gr) good-quality lean ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
4 crusty french rolls, heated in the oven to harden the crusts if necessary
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In a small mixing bowl combine the olives, the parsley and the chopped egg. Reserve.

Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan, add the ground beef and cook, breaking up the lumps with a wooden spoon, until all traces of pink have disappeared. Drain excess fat if desired before continuing.

Add the onion, garlic and tomato to the ground beef in the frying pan and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is transparent and the tomato has begun to break up. Remove from heat and stir in the olive, parsley and egg mixture. Mix thoroughly, then add the grated cheese and mix again. Reserve, keeping hot.

Cut the rolls in half, pull out the interior crumb with your fingers, then pack the crusts with the reserved ground meat mixture. Serve immediately, two halves per person.

Brazil's Own Blue Plate Special - O Prato Feito

According to dictionary.com, a blue plate special can be defined as "a specially priced main course, as of meat and vegetables, listed as an item on a menu, especially in an inexpensive restaurant." The word has long been part of the jargon of American lunch-restaurants and diners, along with such gems as "Adam and Eve on a raft" for two poached eggs on toast, and "whistle berries" for baked beans. No one is really sure where the phrase originated but it has been found in the New York Times as far back as 1926, and by 1945 was already in the Oxford English Dictionary .

Brazilians are certainly familiar with the concept of the blue plate special, if not the name. In cities everywhere in Brazil, as soon as the noon-hour approaches thousands of blue- and white-color workers leave their posts and head for a nearby restaurant for a meal, usually the main meal of their day. CEOs and executives might dine in luxury at expense-account restaurants, but the vast majority of Brazilian dine at simple, economic restaurants that serve a decent meal at a decent price and not much more. Most of these restaurants serve something called a prato feito (often abbreviated to PF on menus and signboards) and in restaurants where PF is on the menu, it's likely to be the most popular choice day in and day out. It's Brazil's blue plate special. The literal translation of prato feito would be "composed plate", and for a Brazilian it means a plate including rice, beans, french fries, some sort of protein (beef, chicken, fish), a fried egg and salada. Salada is usually just a leaf of lettuce with a slice or two of tomato on top. a PF is heavy on carbohydrates and protein and noticeably lacking in greens or vegetables. When well made, though, it's tasty, filling and cheap. 

Because many restaurants host the same clientele every workday, or at least several times during the week, most restaurants have a weekly schedule of pratos feitos - the accompaniments don't vary, but the main protein does. Monday may be beefsteak, Tuesday fried chicken, Friday fish, etc. The price doesn't change from day to day, but there's just enough variety to avoid complete monotony in the PF.

If you're ever in the commercial center of a Brazilian city during lunch time, you should try a PF at least once. Look for a restaurant that looks respectably clean and orderly, but nothing fancy. Check for prato feito or PF on the signboard in front of the restaurant, and most importantly, look for a restaurant that is busy and with a steady turn-over. Your PF might not be the gourmet meal of your dreams, but it will be satisfying and tasty.  And it's an essential part of a Brazilian culinary adventure.

(The Brazilian pronunciation of prato feito is something like PRAH-too FAY-too. Or you can simply order one by saying the letters PF, pronounced in Portugues PAY EFFEE.) 

The Francesinha - Portugal's Latest Gift to Brazil

In numerous posts over the past couple of years, we've reminded the readers of Flavors of Brazil that the roots of Brazilian cuisine rest on the combination of three culinary traditions - the original tradition being the Native American or Indian one. It existed in the lands that would become Brazil long before the arrival of Europeans, and it still strongly influences Brazilian food culture today, particularly in the north of the country. The second tradition, the European tradition, was carried to Brazil by explorers, colonists and immigrants, particularly from Portugal. Its influence is felt most strongly in Brazil's south and south-east. The final tradition is the African, particularly important in north-eastern Brazil, and which came from Africa in the memories of slaves captured on that continent and transported to Brazil.

These three traditions date back to the very beginnings of Brazil and combine in all sorts of felicitous fashions to shape traditional and contemporary Brazilian cuisines alike. But these influences are not just something of the past. They continue to this day bringing new ingredients, new cooking styles and new recipes to the constantly-evolving world of Brazilian gastronomy.

One good example of this constant re-invention of Brazilian culinary influences is the recent arrival in Brazil of a Portuguese sandwich called the francesinha. Unlike many other Portuguese-influenced Brazilian dishes, like those made with salt-cod (bacalhau) or those which date back to the convent-confectionaries of 16th and 17th century Portugal, the francesinha only recently arrived in Brazil. It couldn't have come over with colonists and explorers, since it was only created in the 1960s, in Porto, Portugal. And it's only been in the first decade of this century that it has shown up on menus in this country, where it seems to be rising meteorically in culinary consciousness.

The francesinha (meaning little French girl in Portuguese) was invented by a Portuguese chef who had lived in Paris in the 60s and who was returned to Portugal enchanted by the beauty and style of French women. He was equally enchanted by a hot ham-and-cheese French sandwich called croque-monsieur. When he returned to Porto he used the croque-monsieur as a base for his inventive tribute to French womanhood - the francesinha. His sandwich was an immediate sensation and other bars and restaurants, first in Porto and then throughout Portugal, began to serve them, often modifying the original recipe with new ingredients and side-dishes. Today, almost every bar and lunch spot in the country has some sort of francesinha on offer.

With its diminuitive name (little French girl) one would think that the sandwich would be light and delicate. Nothing of the sort. A francesinha is a meal-and-a-half in a sandwich and finishing one leaves room for very little else for a long time. A nutritional study has found that the average francesinha packs a walloping 1200 calories once you add in the almost obligatory side of french fries.

So what makes a francesinha a francesinha? Basically the sandwich begins with two extra-thick slices of heavy, rustic peasant bread. Between the slices lie slices of sausage, ham, roast beef and cheese. Once the sandwich is plated another slice of cheese is placed over the top piece of bread and then francesinha sauce (a rich beef gravy made with beer, a touch of Port wine, and a good dose of piri-piri peppers) is poured over the sandwich, soaking the bread and the contents. The comes the final touch - a sunny-side-up fried egg on top of it all and plenty of french fries on the side. There you have it - 1200 calories of bread, meat, melted cheese, beer, wine and french fries - a francesinha. Brazil's latest gift from the mother country; the delight of Brazilian gluttons and gourmands and the despair of nutritionists and doctors throughout the country.

If you're brave enough to face down a francesinha, we'll tell you how to make one, including the special sauce, in our next post.

RECIPE - Vinegared Shrimp Cocktail (Camarão ao Vinagrete)

If you look at the Portuguese translation for this dish shown in the title above you'll see the word vinagrete. Yet we here at Flavors of Brazil have chosen to render the name of this dish into English as Vinegared Shrimp Cocktail. Since most English-speaking readers of this blog already know the word vinaigrette, with its French spelling, why didn't we simply call this Shrimp Vinaigrette?

The reason is that the English word vinaigrette and the it's Portuguese look-alike vinaigrete are what linguists like to call "false friends". That is, two words in different languages that look like they mean the same thing, but in fact don't. Their similarity can cause someone to use one to translate the other, but the translation isn't a good one. This can cause confusion, misunderstanding, or even dangerous consequences.

English-language vinaigrette comes from the French, as does its recipe. It's basically an emulsion of vinegar and oil, bound together by beating or whipping, and most commonly served as a salad dressing. Brazilian vinegrete (pronounced vih-neh-GRE-che) on the other hand is a condiment served at the table to accompany traditional rice, beans and meat Brazilian meals. It is made of chopped tomato, onion and sometimes green pepper in diluted vinegar. More of a relish than a salad dressing, and it has no oil.

This recipe from the north-eastern Brazilian state of Paraíba works beautifully as a first course for a dinner or a main course for a light lunch and consists of cold boiled shrimp tossed at the last minute with vinaigrete. Refreshing and light, it's a perfect food for a hot day at the beach, or for that matter in the city or at the lake.
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RECIPE - Vinegared Shrimp Cocktail (Camarão ao Vinagrete)
Serves 2

For the shrimp:
1 1/2 lb (600 gr) large peeled shrimp, raw
juice of one large lime
salt to taste
lime slices to garnish

For the vinaigrete:
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped (do not peel)
1 small green or red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp finely chopped green onions, green part only
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
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Make the shrimp:
In a mixing bowl sprinkle the lime juice over the shrimp, then season with salt to taste. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile bring 6 cups (1.5 liters) water to the boil in a large saucepan. Add the shrimps to the boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes, or just until the shrimp are pink, opaque and tender. Drain immediately in a sieve or colander and refresh with plenty of cold water. Drain thoroughly, place in a covered bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Make the vinaigrete:
Combine all the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least thirty-minutes for the flavors to blend.

Serve:
Divide the shrimp between two deep plates. Pour half of the solid vinaigrete ingredients over each, then stir with a wooden spoon to spread evenly. Add about 2 Tbsp of the liquid from the vinaigrete to each plate, and top with lime slice or lime wedge to garnish. Serve immediately, while still cold.
Combine

RECIPE - Chayote Frittata (Torta de Chuchu)

In Portuguese, this dish is called torta de chuchu which literally means chayote pie. It really isn't a pie though except in shape. It's not even a quiche as it lacks the pastry crust a quiche requires.

It really is closest to what the Italians call a frittata - basically an open-faced omelet enriched with added ingredients. In this case, these ingredients are chayote (chuchu), red onion, parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.

This dish is perfect as a main course for a lunch, or for a light supper. It needs only a green salad, or a sliced-tomato salad, plus a fruit-based dessert to complement it.
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RECIPE - Chayote Frittata (Torta de Chuchu)
Serves 6

2 chayotes, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley
3 whole free-range eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp butter, softened
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, fresh-grated if possible
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Preheat oven to 350F (180C).  Using the softened butter, generously grease a glass or non-stick metal pie pan.

In a medium saucepan, bring 4 cups (1 liter) salted water to a boil. Add the chayote cubes and boil for about one minute. Drain the chayote in a colander, refresh in cold water and drain again. Reserve.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and flour with a mixer or wire whisk. Add the reserved chayote, the onion and parsley. Finally add the grated cheese, reserving about 1 Tbsp.

Pour the egg mixture into the pie pan, sprinkle the Tbsp of grated cheese on top, then place in the preheated oven. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is lightly browned. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

Cut into 6 wedges and serve immediately.

São Paulo's Municipal Market - A Mountainous Mortadela Sandwich

The mezzanine floor of São Paulo's Municipal Market houses a number of restaurants, open only for lunch, whose clientele ranges from shoppers in the market to market employees to discerning diners who come to the market solely because of the quality of the food. They all share a large open space and their tables extend in front of their bar/counter and are easily identified by color, table linen or by ropes dividing the space. All of the restaurants have menus posted and available to peruse, so it's easy to pick the restaurant that suits your mood, your appetite and your budget.

One of the most well-known dining establishments in the market isn't on the mezzanine, however. It's on the main floor and is called Bar do Mané.  Its fame rests largely (and I do mean largely) on one particular menu item - a mortadela sandwich. Mortadela is the Brazilian version of the Italian cold cut mortadella which dates back to the romans, and which Italian emigrants have carried around the world. A specialty of Bologna, mortadella evolved in the USA into the famous American bologna (or baloney) sausage. In Brazil, where it's hugely popular, it has remained basically unchanged from its original Italian recipe.

What makes the mortadela sandwich at Bar do Mané such a culinary celebrity is its bulk. The sandwich, served in a French roll, packs 250 gr - over half a pound - of thinly-sliced mortadela between its two halves, guarnished with tomato and lettuce. The mortadela is folded and stacked in the roll, making a mountainous mouthful.

Legend has it that the sandwich was created one day when a regular customer complained that his mortadela sandwich was somewhat lacking in mortadela. Someone in the kitchen staff decided to call the diner's bluff and loaded the sandwich to the ceiling with mortadela. When the diner was served his sandwich his eyes popped out of his head, but within a short time he'd finished the sandwich. The next day he returned and ordered a sandwich "just like yesterday's." Other diners saw this beast of a sandwich passing by and asked for the same thing. Eventually the bar had to put the sandwich on the menu, and it remains their most popular menu item to this day.

Other Municipal Market restaurants now offer the same sandwich, but when something is as closely identified as the mortadela sandwich is with the Bar do Mané, go for the original. See if you can polish one off. Depending on the options chosen (like cheese) the price for the mortadela sandwich ranges from R$11 to R$15. That's about USD $7.00 to $9.50. It won't break the bank, but it just might ruin your diet!

Pastel - Brazil's Favorite Snack?

If you asked almost any Brazilian what food they would associate with the drinking of caldo de cana (freshly pressed sugar cane juice) the likely response would be "pastel." A pastel is a stuffed pastry that is deep-fried, and almost always served with a glass of caldo de cana.

For millions of Brazilians, a pastel serves as a quick lunch, a mid-morning or afternoon tide-me-over, or as an anytime treat at the market, a fair or at the beach.  Pastels have been part of the food culture of Brazil for almost a century, and most food historians are of the opinion that their origins can be traced back to the early-20th Century wave of Japanese immigration to Brazil. As newly-arrived immigrants from Japan began to leave the coffee plantations and move into the cities of southern Brazil one of the ways to succeed there was to open a restaurant. Anti-Japanese sentiments were strong at that time, and Japanese cuisine was unknown, so most of these restaurateurs opened Chinese restaurants. One always-popular item in such restaurants was the deep-fried spring roll, and it's from these small rolls that the pastel developed. What the pastel has retained from its spring roll ancestor is the thin, rolled-out pastry, the use of a filling, and the technique of deep-frying. What has changed is the size and shape of the pastry and the choice and variety of fillings.

Today, a pastel is most likely to be in the shape of a rectangle of the dimensions of a normal post-card or slightly larger, although other shapes and sizes do exist. It is filled with either a sweet or savory filling and is normally served hot right from the fryer - accompanied, of course, by the ever-present caldo de cana. A pastel is stand-up food, and meant to be eaten directly from the hand - they really can't be successfully eaten with a knife and fork. They are usually served in a paper napkin or in a small paper envelope, and the caldo de cana may be presented in a plastic cup.

I often wonder if McDonald's pies, which are similarly deep-fried, were inspired by Brazil's pasteis (pasteis is the plural form of pastel in Portuguese). They really aren't a pie in the North American sense of the word, and closely resemble a Brazilian pastel with a sweet filling, although Brazilian pasteis are not often filled with apples, cherries and other North American fruits.

Like many snack foods, the Brazilian pastel can vary tremendously in quality depending on the vendor. Poorly cooked in over-used oil with minimal amounts of filling a pastel can be a very depressing experience. But properly cooked in good-quality oil, with a tasty filling and crunchy pastry, it can be a delicious, if not exactly healthy, treat.