Breads
Pao de queijo, literally
means Bread made of cheese.
This savoury delicacy
is gluten & wheat free, GM free, low in salt, suitable for vegetarians,
and completely free from preservatives, artificial colours and flavours.
Pao de queijo had been
introduced to the Brazilian culture back in the XVII century.
However, by this time, cheese wasn’t part of the recipe.
Everything started when the
slaves of Minas Gerais were making Manioc Flour to rich farmland owners.
That was pretty much the time when feijoada was invented as well.
Going back to pao de queijo
history , the slaves used to crop manioc ( yucca root) peel them off
finely grate them , and soak them with in a big wood bowl (gamela) with
plenty of water . So they washed and drained this grated manioc, spreading
it on a tiled floor outdoors and let it dry under the sun.
When dried they scraped this
manioc into big bags and stored them for food consumption trough out the
year. This was a noble food prepared to the rich farmland owners.
Therefore slaves were not supposed to eat them. From the leftovers ( dried
manioc starch ), they made smalls balls and baked them. This became a very
popular food among the slave population and discarded by the rich ones.
More then 200 years later,
cattle farms became widespread in Brazil. Slaves ( that were being freed
by that time) gained access to all sorts of dairy products, incrementing
the baked balls with milk and ultimately with CHEESE.
When Brazil had no more slaves,
their culture started to spread among the rest of the population. Pao de
queijo became a very popular food in Minas Gerais and throughout the country.
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