'Pé-de-Moleque' () (literally "brat's foot" in Portuguese) is a traditional candy from Brazil. It is made of

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

s and

rapadura Panela () or rapadura (Portuguese pronunciation: ) is an unrefined whole cane sugar, typical of Central and Latin America. It is a solid form of sucrose derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Panela is known by other na ...

or molasses. The candy is prepared by mixing roasted, peeled peanuts with melted

brown sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

, with or without the addition of macerated peanuts as well. The mixture is gently stirred over low heat until it gets close to crystallizing. Then the mixture is placed on a plain stone or metal surface (preferably thinly oiled with butter to ease removal) in pieces similar in size to cookies. This traditional preparation results in soft, irregularly-shaped sweets of a dark brown color. Softness results from the incorporation of peanut oil. Pé-de-Moleque appeared in the middle of the 16th century, with the arrival of sugar cane in Brazil. The city of Piranguinho, in the south of the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, is known for the artisanal production of sweets, and has stood out on the national scene through the party of the biggest pé-de-moleque in the world, which is part of the municipality's cultural calendar of festivities. In

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, mainly in the states of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and Maharashtra, they call it ''

chikki Chikki is a traditional Indian sweet ( brittle) generally made from nuts and jaggery/sugar. There are several different varieties of chikki in addition to the most common groundnut (peanut) chikki. Each variety of chikki is named after the ingr ...

''. In

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, the pé-de-moleque is known as ''nougat''. In

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, it's called ''palanqueta''. There is a derivation of the candy in the version of a cake, common to festa juninas from places in Brazilian Northeast. Pé-de-moleque cake is also called "bolo preto" (black cake), in which cashew can replace peanuts, rapadura is kept and fermented cassava mass (pubada, puba mass) and other ingredients.

Etymology

The name "pé-de-moleque" has two hypotheses for its origin: * reference to the paving of irregular stones found in historic Brazilian cities such as

Paraty Paraty (or Parati, ) is a preserved Portuguese colonial (1500–1822) and Brazilian Imperial (1822–1889) municipality with a population of about 43,000. Indeed, the name "Paraty" originates from the local Guaianá Indians' Indigenous Tupi ...

and Ouro Preto, which was so named. * motivated by the street vendors of the past who sold them and were robbed by the kids. In order not to be harassed anymore, they told the boys to ask, because they didn't need to steal: : - Pede, moleque! (ask for it, kid!)

In the literature

The sweet can still be found in the literature, such as in ''O dialeto caipira'', AMARAL, Amadeu
''O dialeto caipira'' (in Portuguese)
São Paulo: HUCITEC, 1976. by Amadeu Amaral, there is reference to the '' "pé-de-moleque" ''. In 1983,

Carlos Drummond de Andrade Carlos Drummond de Andrade () (October 31, 1902 – August 17, 1987) was a Brazilian poet and writer, considered by some as the greatest Brazilian poet of all time. He has become something of a national cultural symbol in Brazil, where his wi ...

referred to the pé-de-moleque as being the "pure jewel of Minas Gerais". The text was sent to one of Piranguinho's bakers.

References

Brazilian confectionery Nut confections Peanut dishes {{confectionery-stub