12.06.2012 22:23
I never expected to come to Brazil and find “Sem Gluten” on
such innocuous items as bottled
water and fruit candy. Yet, to my surprise Salvador is, in its own way, very
gluten free friendly. A caveat: It’s not to say all of Brazil is the same way.
Like in the US, the country is very regional and Bahia is a state with very
strong cultural roots with Africa, which manifest in everything from music to
food. There’s a festival coming up called São João, and vendors are overflowing
with street stand favorites that are naturally gluten free:
- bolinhos estuadantes – a ball of tapioca fried and covered in cinnamon sugar
- beiju – imagine a tortilla made of tapioca, then fill it with your choice of sweet or savory (like guava and cheese—yum!)
- pamonha de milho, aimpim, or mandioca – pictured below, these pamonhas are made of corn, aimpim (a root in the cassava family), or mandioca (another root, like yucca, but made into a flour). The corn ones are very much like polenta, mixed with a bit of sugar and wrapped in a corn husk. The other pamonhas are wrapped in banana leaves.
- Bolo de aimpim, tapioca or carimã – These cakes are eaten with breakfast, and are light and chewy – great with coffee!
More gluten-free-in-Salvador reporting to come!
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