(; ) is a short cylindrical

bread roll A bread roll is a small, oblong individual loaf of bread served as a meal accompaniment (eaten plain or with butter). Rolls can be served and eaten whole or are also commonly cut and filled – the result of doing so is considered a '' sandwic ...

with a soft white crumb and a golden crispy shell that is popular in Brazil. This bread has different names throughout the different states in Brazil such as (little bread), (salt bread), (little baton), (little Carioca), (water bread), (Jacob bread), (loaf bread), (watery bread), and (bald bread). It is derived from a French bread called ''Petit pain''. is the most popular bread in Brazil. A 2019 study by found that 95.7% of the residents of the city of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

eat . According to Sampapão (the São Paulo Bakery and Confectionery Industry Union and Association), more rolls of are baked every day in the city of São Paulo than there are residents. March 21 is Day in Brazil.

Origin

While the exact origin of is unknown, there are several theories of how it was created. One theory is that was invented in the 1900s by wealthy Brazilians who asked French bakers to teach them how to bake the

baguette A baguette (; ) is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough (the dough, not the shape, is defined by French law). It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust. A baguette has a diameter ...

s that they encountered in their visits to France. Despite using the same base ingredients, the shape of differed from the baguettes that they were based on as they were smaller and rounder. A similar theory places the origin of in the kitchens of the wealthy elite of São Paulo near the onset of World War I. The bread was supposedly created by their personal chefs at the request to reproduce the breads made by the French that the children encountered abroad in their travels in Europe. The recipe seem to be more similar to what French call ''Petits pains'' and not baguette. One final theory places the origin of the bread much earlier in the royal court of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

during colonial times. Dom

João VI '' Dom'' John VI (; 13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826), known as "the Clement" (), was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves from 1816 to 1825, and after the recognition of Brazil's independence, titular Emperor of Brazil ...

and his court encouraged the import of

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of common wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ...

to bake bread, as breads in Brazil at this time were heartier and baked with flour made of

yuca ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennia ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

, or

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

. The bread baked with this French wheat flour would be called . It wasn't until the early 1900s when imported wheat flour became more accessible and the and Santista Mill opened in the state of

that spread throughout the Brazilian Southeast and eventually the entire country.

Usage

As the most popular bread in Brazil, is eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and can be found in a variety of dishes. is the base of many sandwiches, such as Brazilian hot dogs, , , and .

Notes

References

{{Reflist Brazilian breads Wheat breads Yeast breads