Eating in SP- Snacks

SALGADOS

A variety of salgados

Salgados, meaning “savory thing”, is a general term to refer to a wide range of items Brazilians eat when in a hurry, or when not willing to spend money on a proper meal. Most are stuffed pastries filled with things like ham and cheese, cream cheese, chicken, sausages, or other creative things. They are usually grab-and-go items, but in some places you may sit down to taste them, together with some juice, soda, or even beer.

I’ll introduce you to some of these:

COXINHA

A mouth-watering coxinha

The translation for coxinha would be ‘chicken drumstick’. They consist of chicken bits, seasoned with onion and herbs, coated by a layer of mashed potatoes; but as they are deep fried, be careful where you eat them, otherwise you might get something too oily. But in general they are quite tasty. A famous spot for coxinhas is Frangó, a bar which is completely off the beaten track for tourists, but well worth the visit, for their food is quite typical, they have a vast range of beer brands (Brazilian and international), and the location is quite picturesque. If you will not have the chance to see small Brazilian towns, this is the closest you can get from their feel inside São Paulo.

EMPADA

Crunchy and tasty empadas



Empadas are tasty small pielike salgados, consisting of a buttery pastry filled with either shredded chicken or palm tree core, usually well-seasoned with added tomato sauce to give it some color. Though you may find large ones, the typical empada can be eaten in three or four bites. It must look somewhat glossy and golden. Prices will range from R$ 2,00 to 5,00. Other choices of filling include cod or even shrimps.

Recently some specialized shops have come up, so if you come across one of them (named Rancho da Empada, Casa da Empada, Empadaria da Vovó, Empada Caipira, etc) you might go crazy and venture yourself in dozens of fillings like meat and cheddar cheese, pumpkin and dry meat, sweetcorn, or even sample sweet ones, filled with chocolate, banana, etc etc.

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Most salgados can be found at your local padaria; the food chain Viena will usually have them in miniature sizes, in case you want to experiment a little. They have a kiosk right at the entrance of Conjunto Nacional (Av. Paulista, 2073), and a restaurant at the back, on the corner of R. Augusta and Alameda Santos.