In the spirit of 2016 Rio Olympics, here are 5 popular Brazilian snacks you can make at home. Whether you are craving for bonbons, croquettes or custards, you can try making these all time favorite Brazilian foods.
The Most Popular Brazilian Snacks
1. Beijinho de Coco (Brazilian Coconut Kisses)
By Yardena at English Wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21417899
Beijinho de Coco is a snack made with sweetened condensed milk, butter and grated desiccated coconut. These main ingredients are cooked over medium heat then set aside to cool at room temperature. The cooled candy is formed into balls then rolled over grated coconut. Traditionally, a clove is stuck on top of the candy as decoration.
Here are recipes from Blogging Foods and From Brazil To You that show you how to prepare this sweet treat.
2. Brigadeiro
Brigadeiro, which means brigadier in Portuguese, is a fudge ball made with condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter. This bonbon is covered with chocolate sprinkles. This dessert has an interesting story. The lean years of World War II in Brazil made it difficult to get fresh milk and sugar to make desserts. Because of this situation, an alternative was discovered – condensed milk and chocolate could make a delicious dessert! But the story didn’t end there. In 1945, Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, who was best remembered for his looks than his political career, ran for president. His campaign slogan was “Vote for the Brigadier who is good-looking and single!” The new dessert was sold to raise funds for his campaign. It was a hit. That’s how brigadeiro, the Brazilian chocolate fudge ball, got its name. Unfortunately for Gomes, he failed to win the election.
Check out this recipe from From Brazil To You.
3. Coxinha
![[2014-11-22] La Donosti - Agudos - Coxin by Romerito Pontes, on Flickr](https://farm8.static.flickr.com/7470/15870107515_fc48f66a2d.jpg "[2014-11-22] La Donosti - Agudos - Coxin by Romerito Pontes, on Flickr")
Coxinha, which means “little chicken thigh” in Portuguese, is a popular snack made with chopped or shredded chicken and other ingredients (such as chopped garlic, onions and carrots) as filling. The filling is covered by dough then shaped into drumstick. After that, it is coated with batter and bread crumbs then deep fried.
Want to try these delicious croquettes? For the recipe, check out Brazilian Chef and BBC Good Food.
4. Pão de queijo
Craving for cheese? A popular eats at any time of the day, Pão de queijo (which means cheese bread in Portuguese) is an unleavened, small roll of bread made with tapioca (a starch extracted from cassava root) flour and cheese as main ingredients. Want to try baking this snack? See this recipe from The Kitchn or a vegan take from Sprinkle of Green.
5. Quindim
By Leonardo “Leguas” Carvalho – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=924767
Quindim is a baked dessert made with ground coconut, sugar and egg yolks as main ingredients. The coconut custard is noted for its glistening and intense yellow top due to heavy use of egg yolks. Want to try making this sweet dessert? Check out Hot & Chili for recipe.
Stay tuned for our next World Cuisine feature! See our previous posts here.
COVER IMAGE CREDITS:
By nwerneck – originally uploaded to :en at en:File:Pao de queijo com cafe.jpg, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10511835
