Traditional Arabic flatbread: light dough, real beef topping, and baked fresh. Brazil has the largest Lebanese diaspora outside the Arab world — over 7 million people of Lebanese descent. That kind of presence leaves a mark. Syrian and Lebanese immigrants arrived in São Paulo in the early 20th century, bringing their spices and wood-fired baking…
An Chicken Pie (empadão de frango) is the ultimate Brazilian comfort food. It features a rich, flaky pastry crust (known as massa podre or “rotten pastry” because it beautifully crumbles apart) filled with a deeply savory, ultra-creamy shredded chicken filling. Here is the definitive recipe designed to yield a melt-in-your-mouth crust and a perfectly bound…
Gourmet Brazilian finger food. Risoles are fried savory pastries with a thin dough made from cooked flour, filled and breaded before frying. A classic of Brazilian cuisine, they are typically filled with shrimp, chicken, heart of palm, or cheese, and served as appetizers or party snacks. Originally inspired by European rissoles — especially from French…
The recipe features a meat and gravy dish served over polenta, which is actually a traditional Romanian recipe. Many Italian immigrants adopted this filling, hearty combination. Beef shank with polenta. Back in colonial Brazil, corn was abundant—much more common than the wheat used for pizza or other ingredients from their homeland. Because of this, polenta…