Tuesday 25 January 2011

Pão de Queijo Haddock Lobo

“Pão de Queijo”  is a cheese flavored roll , usually eaten either at breakfast or as a snack. This is probably one of the most popular snacks suitable for both vegetarians and meat lovers.  Made of polvilho (cassava starch) they are easily available at supermarkets in Brazil. In London you probably need to look for more specialized places. A lot of people buy the mix and bake them at home rather than buying it ready, although pão de queijo is broadly sold at snack bars and bakeries , everyone likes to bake them at home and talk about different variations, textures and processes. They can also be bought frozen at supermarkets. Some mainstream brands are 'Yoki' and 'Hikari' if you want to buy the ready mix.

Based on the original recipe, the main ingredients are polvilho (flour), eggs, salt, oil and cheese but the recipe has been recreated with many special ways, “ingredients and secrets” that makes it taste slightly different from one place to another, i.e. more sour , less sticky , softer , harder , crunchier, etc. Minas Gerais, one of the states of Brazil, claims to have the BEST Pão de queijo ever but others could argue against that. 


My friend Renata took me for a walk around Jardins – São Paulo and told me about the BEST pao de queijo ever so I had to try it …. As we got there I was overwhelmed by the smell coming from that tiny place and with so many reviews on the wall  I doubted she was mistaking. Their Pão de Queijo was indeed gorgeous, they come out of the oven every so often (10 /15 min), are placed in a big basket and covered with a clean white cloth to keep warm. The texture is perfect and there is a slightly sour after taste,  not to mention the other “quitutes”  found there. Everything is delicious and the staff is super friendly, well worth checking out! It's no wonder they have been established for over 35 years selling this amazing snack!




Rua Haddock Lobo, 1408, Jardim Paulista, +55 (11) 3088-3087 &  +55 (11) 3082-4772

2 comments:

  1. I used to live on this street. Memories...

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  2. you can see it's really damn good when the person posing for the picture is actually chewing!
    come back for more migues!

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