Pão de queijo (, "cheese bread" in Portuguese) or Brazilian cheese balls is a small, baked cheese roll or cheese ball, a popular snack and breakfast food in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is a traditional Brazilian recipe, originating in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. In Brazil, it is inexpensive and often sold from streetside stands by vendors carrying a heat-preserving container. It is also commonly found in groceries, supermarkets and bakeries, industrialized or freshly made. The cassava flour is what gives the snack its distinct texture, which is chewy and elastic, being crunchy on the outside. Most countries in South America have their own versions of this snack; the main difference between them in general is the ingredients used in the recipe, which can change slightly giving different results. In Brazil traditionally both sour and sweet cassava flour are used; the Brazilian recipe also excludes some ingredients used in other countries such as

corn starch Cornflour, cornstarch, maize starch, or corn starch (American English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the seed, kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thick ...

, all-purpose

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

, and baker's yeast.

History

With the discovery of mines near

Ouro Preto Ouro Preto (, ), formerly Vila Rica (, ), is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The city, a former Brazilian Gold Rush, colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains, was designated a ...

in around 1700, some 20% of the Brazilian population at that time, mainly slaves, occupied a vast territory in southeast Brazil. Since wheat was not available, local cooks created a kind of bread from starch derived from the cassava tubes shown to them by Tupiniquins indigenous groups. In the late 19th century, grated hard cheese was added.

Main ingredients

In Brazil the most traditional recipe uses both sweet and sour cassava flour, oil, eggs, milk, salt, cheese (Minas, Canastra, Parmesan), and water. Small amounts of margarine or

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

can also be included. The fat in the recipe acts as a molecular lubricant. The egg gives colour and flavour to the recipe, contributing to the elastic texture of the dough. The type of cheese varies according to preference or availability. The most used are

mozzarella Mozzarella is a Types of cheese#Semi-soft cheese, semi-soft non-aged cheese prepared using the ('stretched-curd') method with origins from southern Italy. It is prepared with cow's milk or buffalo milk, taking the following names: * or mozz ...

parmesan Parmesan (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian Types of cheese#Hard cheese, hard, Types of cheese#Granular, granular cheese produced from Dairy cattle, cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a Grana (cheese), grana-type cheese, along wit ...

, and minas or canastra cheese (either in its "ripened" or "standard" version). The cheese gives the typical flavor of the cheese bread, hence its name. There is also the boiled cheese bread with a preparation technique that requires boiling water while preparing, sometimes mixed with vegetable oil in flour. The boiled cheese bread has the closest taste of natural, as in the boiling process the

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

is pre-cooked. Some recipes use

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

Preparation

Pães de queijo are formed into small balls, around 3–5 centimeters in diameter (though they may be larger) and about 50 calories in each roll. The cassava flour is a powerful starch which is key to the texture of the pão de queijo; unlike other types of bread, pão de queijo is not leavened. Small pockets of air within the dough expand during baking and are contained by the elasticity of the starch paste. Because it is made of cassava flour (as opposed to wheat flour), pão de queijo contains no gluten. Varieties of stuffed pães de queijo with catupiry, hot and melted goiabada, doce de leite and other variations can be found in Brazil.

Availability and variations

Brazil

In Brazil, ''pão de queijo'' is a popular breakfast dish and snack. It continues to be widely sold at snack bars and bakeries, and it can also be bought frozen to bake at home. In Brazil, cheese puff mix packages are easily found in most supermarkets.

Wider South America

Often referred to as c''uñapés'', '' chipá'', '' pandebono, pan de yuca'' or '' pan de queso'' in

Hispanic America Hispanic America ( or ), historically known as Spanish America () or Castile (historical region), Castilian America (), is the Spanish-speaking countries and territories of the Americas. In all of these countries, Spanish language, Spanish is th ...

, cassava flour and cheese balls similar to ''pão de queijo'' can be found in northern Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia.

Japan / East Asia

''Pão de queijo'' arrived in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

with the dekasegi. Often compared to

mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

, it is usually made with rice flour instead of the cassava (tapioca) starch. It also inspired the popular donut chain Mister Donut in its creation of Pon de Ring, which has since popularized the concept of “mochi donut.”

Anglosphere

''Pão de queijo'' is also commercially available in Australia and the United States, in part due to its popularity in the gluten-free movement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pao de queijo Brazilian cuisine Buns Cheese dishes Cassava dishes Culture of Brazil Culture in Minas Gerais Cuisine of Minas Gerais Brazilian breads