Recipe: Brazilian "Pão de Queijo" Puffs

Brazilian "Pão de Queijo" Puffs

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• bake :

  to cook food with dry heat, as in an oven.

• blend :

  to stir together two or more ingredients until just combined; blending is a gentler process than mixing.

• crack :

  to break open or apart a food to get what's inside, like an egg or a coconut.

• grease :

  to spread a small amount of cooking oil or fat, like butter, around a pan or dish to prevent food from sticking when it's cooked.

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• mix :

  to thoroughly combine two or more ingredients until uniform in texture.

What is "Pão de Queijo"?

• "Pão de Queijo" (Pown deh kay-zho) means "bread of cheese" or "cheese bread" in Portuguese.
• Manioc, a root plant also known as yuca or cassava and better known in supermarkets in the United States as tapioca, was a common staple during the Portuguese colonization of Brazil. This root was peeled, grated, soaked, and dried to make a wide variety of what are now traditional Brazilian foods. The residue of this process, considered inedible by landowners and other wealthy people, was a fine white powder or starch. 
• Enslaved people in Brazil gathered this residue, shaped dough balls from the starch, and baked them. No cheese or milk was added at that time. At the end of the 19th century, after slavery ended, other foods were made available to the Afro-Brazilian population, and in the state of Minas Gerais, the center of dairy production in Brazil, cheese and milk were added to these balls of starch, creating "pão de queijo"!

Let's Learn About Brazil!

• The Federative Republic of Brazil is the largest country in South America. It is in the central-eastern part of the continent on the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil consists of 26 states and a federal district. 
• Brazil shares borders with every other South American country except Chile and Ecuador. To its north are Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It borders Colombia in the northwest. Uruguay is south of Brazil, and Argentina and Paraguay are southwest. Bolivia and Peru are on its western border.
• Portugal colonized this part of South America in 1500. Brazil declared its independence from Portugal in 1822, becoming official in 1825. Sept 7
• The government is a federal presidential constitutional republic with a president, vice president, legislature, and supreme court. The country's currency is the Brazilian "real" (pronounced HAY-al). 
• Brazil's total area is 3,287,956 square miles and spans four time zones. Worldwide, it is the fifth largest country. Brazil's population is seventh in the world, with over 200 million people. The capital of Brazil is Brasília, and the largest city is São Paulo.
• The official and national language is Portuguese. More people speak Portuguese in Brazil than in any other country. Numerous other languages exist in Brazil, including over 200 indigenous languages.
• Because of its size, Brazil's geography is very diverse. It has plains, highlands, hills, mountains, plateaus, lakes, rivers, and rainforests. About 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil, along with almost two-thirds of the Amazon River. The country has 4,655 miles of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. 
• The Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland covering between 54,000 and 81,000 square miles. Iguaçu Falls, on the border of Argentina, is taller than Niagara Falls in the United States and wider than Victoria Falls in Southern Africa.
• The country is rich in natural resources, and its economy is fueled by agriculture, mining (metal ore and gems), and automotive, food, and other industries. It is the world's largest producer of coffee, oranges, soy, and sugarcane. 
• Brazil is the most biodiverse country in the world, with over 70 percent of all listed plants and animal species. The jaguar is the national animal. The piranha is a well-known fish found in the Amazon River.
• Brazilian culture has been influenced by the cultures and traditions of its indigenous people, its Portuguese colonists, other European immigrants, Africans, and more recent Japanese, Arab, and Jewish immigrants.  
• Brazilian music styles from Rio de Janeiro, like the samba and the bossa nova, are recognized in many other parts of the world. Different forms of the samba are heard during Brazilian Carnival, the most popular holiday in Brazil, celebrated on the Friday before Ash Wednesday and Lent. 
• "Feijoada" (black bean and pork stew) is considered the national dish. Coffee is the national beverage.

What's It Like to Be a Kid in Brazil?

• Because Brazil is below the equator, kids get out of school for summer vacation in early December and return in early February. 
• The sports kids may participate in are soccer, volleyball, Brazilian martial arts, and swimming. Other games include "queimada," (a dodgeball game) and "bola de gude" (marbles).
• There are several parks and beaches in Brazil for families to enjoy together. Other fun activities include riding the little red train up Corcovado Mountain to the 125-foot Christ the Redeemer statue or taking a cable car up to iconic Sugarloaf Mountain, a cone-shaped mountain, rounded at the top, like a refined loaf of sugar. Kids can visit sea turtles at a beach or over 500 bird species at the Parque das Aves near Iguaçu Falls. 
• Kids may have a sandwich or French bread and butter for breakfast with chocolate milk or "pingado," a drink of steamed milk with a splash of coffee. They may eat rice with beans and meat and a salad for lunch. 
• Favorite snacks in Brazil include "pão-de-queijo" (cheese bread or bun) and "coxinha" (deep-fried dough with shredded chicken filling).
• Popular sweets and desserts are "brigadeiros" (chocolate fudge balls), "paçoca" (peanut candy), and "bolo de rolo" (roll cake with guava jam).