When Cooking, Remember to Convert

I love, love, love pãozinho de queijo. Pão de queijo, or cheese bread, is a favorite Brazilian snack: It is a small, soft roll made of manioc flour and cheese. If you have not tried it yet, please do!

The other day I got pão de queijo mix and came home super excited to bake my pãozinho.

It is very simple to prepare the mix: You add water and two eggs, mix everything, and roll them into small balls. The instructions told me to pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees and then bake the pãezinhos for 25 minutes.

Easy, right? Well, I followed the instructions and after 25 minutes I ran to get my treats. They were not ready. I left them in there for another 10 minutes; still not ready. Ten more minutes. Nothing. I ended up eating pãozinho de queijo that did not look or taste quite right.

A few days later I got frozen pãozinho de queijo. When I looked at the directions, I saw that I was supposed to pre-heat the oven and then cook at 180 C or 350 F. Duh, no wonder my first batch would not bake right.

Moral of the story: When using Brazilian recipes, remember to convert.

If you are wondering where I get my pãozinho de queijo, it is at Mercado Brasil. They have many Brazilian goodies. If you stop by, please tell Soraia that I say hello :) Mercado Brasil is located at 1252 Valencia St. (@24th Street) here in San Francisco. Phone: (415) 641-3066.

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For Portuguese lessons, please visit StreetSmartBrazil.com