Pão de queijo

When I browse a recipe for a dish, I hate that there is a long story and a lot of scrolling until I get to the actual recipe. So, I will give you the recipe first, but if you are interested in the story, it is in the end.

Ingredients:

4 cups tapioca flour

 1 1/4 cups milk

 1/2 cup water

 6 tablespoons oil

1 1/2 cups crumbled queso fresco (in Canada, I used Santa Lucia Ranchero Soft White Fresh Cheese. In Bulgaria, I use soft feta cheese and don’t add additional salt in the mix)

 1 cup shredded Mozzarella or Cheddar cheese

 2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preparation:

Mix the milk, water, oil and salt in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.

Add the tapioca flour to the bowl of a stand mixer and pour the boiling milk mixture over the flour. I have also done it by hand, but it is much more work and challenging to mix it evenly. The mixture will be sticky.

Add the eggs one by one and mix them until they are integrated into the dough.

When the eggs are integrated, add the cheese, a little at a time, until the dough smooths into a ball.

The drought still has to be a little sticky.

Scoop dough by the tablespoon or wet hands and roll it into small balls. For the best results, refrigerate dough balls for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 420°F. Line a baking pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Place chilled dough balls onto the baking sheet, 1-2 inches apart, and bake for 10-15 minutes or until rolls are just lightly golden and puffy.

Remove from oven and enjoy warm. If you are like me – don’t share with friends. They will eat too much of them. 😊

My first encounter with Pão de Queijo was in Brazil. We were travelling for a few months in South America, but I somehow missed this delicious treat in the local bakeries in Ecuador and Bolivia.  We entered Brazil by mistake. We hadn’t planned to visit Brazil until later in our travels, but we got lost following Google instructions. We drove from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia and decided to see the hidden hot spring river in Santa Ana de Chiquitos. It is a hot spring river unpopular as a tourist destination and hidden in the pampas of Bolivia.

The small village of Santa Ana is away from the main route to Paraguay, and according to Google, there is a shortcut south to Paraguay. Unfortunately, the shortcut looked like that.

When we discovered that we could not cross to Paraguay from there, we decided to reach Asuncion from Brazil. It was the first day of the Christmas holidays, and the borders were very busy. We waited in long, long lines (but as one of the border officers was the most handsome man alive I’ve ever seen, it was not hard for me to wait. I am not sure about Ivan, though). When we finally entered Brazil and drove to Bonito, it was dark.

I must admit, I had very wrong expectations about Brazil. Most people we met in Bolivia and Ecuador told us Brazil is a dangerous country and it is better to stay away. It is not the way I saw Brazil. From the first day, I fell in love with the people, the culture, and the food. And on the first morning, when we got our very first breakfast in the Brazilian hotel – there, on the warm plate, was Pão de Queijo, my favourite treat in South America.

After returning to Canada, this was the first South American recipe I tried to make at home.

Pão de Queijo is traditional Brazilian cheese bread, and the recipe dates back to early colonial times when the slaves made bread from tapioca. Later, the milk, eggs and cheese were added to these delicious balls. Pão de Queijo is gluten and wheat-free, and it is a good food for people who are gluten intolerant. It is made with tapioca flour or tapioca starch. You can find it in the organic section in most Canadian supermarkets or buy it at Bulk Barn or Amazon.

I have tried to make these balls with many different types of cheese.  I have made them with feta cheese, parmesan or cheder, but I discovered that a “queso fresco” or/and mozzarella works the best.

I usually prepare two or even three doses of the dough. I bake some immediately and freeze the rest in small batches. In this way, I can have fast and easy snacks when needed.