Pao de Queijo
Iam yet to share my story of how I got a call from the Brazilian Embassy after one of my restaurant reviews. I was very anxious and nervous when the PA called me on instruction of the ambassador to ask me about Chellzkitchen and what it is we did. We reviewed a restaurant, which offers Brazilian cuisine and so my concern was that he felt I’d done some kind of injustice. I shared that I am a home cook who enjoys trying out different recipes from around the world and also hosts intimate cooking classes, which are a networking opportunity as well as a platform to unlock some potential in the kitchen through cooking in a group setting and engaging in the kitchen in a manner one usually doesn’t. With strangers or colleagues in the work place for team building. She took that back to the Ambassador and she called me back, this time with an invitation from the Ambassador to come and receive a Brazilian historical/recipe book for me to explore and be encouraged by.
It was an excellent time I spend with Ambassador Flavio Lima Rocha, talking everything food and culture. I went home with the book and I have been slowly going through it, and as he had mentioned, I am struggling with finding some of the commonly used ingredients. I will keep searching for them, and if and when all fails like I always encourage, a substitute must be found. I look forward to trying different dishes from the book and presenting them to the Ambassador, I also look forward to an invitation into his kitchen to taste some authentic Brazilian dishes.
Over the holidays I decided to have a go at one of the recipes. I was drawn to the cheese Bread (Pao de queijo) because I love cheese.
Brazilian cheese bread is very easy to make although I had to use substitutes I was confident it would go well. This bread features a chewy, cheesy, bready centre, encased in a beautiful, thin, pastry crust. I used corn flour, which was responsible for the very unique texture.
This Brazilian Cheese Bread is the stuff dreams made of! I seriously had to try to limit myself to only a few of these little cheese rolls or I will completely go to town on them. The recipe calls for tapioca flour, however, we settled on corn flour. I switched up the cheese to sharp cheddar and mozzarella to enhance the flavour, and they are so good! If you haven’t had these rolls before, now it’s the time!
Literally translated it is “cheese bread” in Portuguese, these small, round, baked cheese rolls are a popular snack and breakfast food in Brazil. And even though it’s called “bread”, the dough doesn’t use yeast and the consistency is sort of in between a cake batter and cookie dough and is extremely stretchy. These cheese rolls are actually really cool to make, and even more fun to eat! If you want to create a delicious Brazilian feast, serve these yummy rolls alongside a helping of rice, beans and chorizo. You won’t believe how quickly this meal comes together, yet it looks like you spent hours creating this masterpiece! We had these for breakfast with fried eggs and sausages.
This bread features a chewy,
cheesy, bready centre, encased in a beautiful, thin,
pastry crust.
Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups corn flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese traditionally
3/4 cup sharp or medium cheddar cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 190 degrees C
Pour olive oil, water, milk, and salt into a large saucepan, and place over high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat immediately, and stir in tapioca flour and garlic until smooth. Set aside to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir the cheese and egg into the tapioca mixture until well combined, the mixture will be chunky like cottage cheese. Drop rounded, 1/4 cup-sized balls of the mixture onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until the tops are lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.