Rio’s street food

Our stay in Rio was rather short, but we discovered a lovely little secret place: Praia Vermelha, a small beach just at the foot of the Pao de Acucar, the Sugarloaf mountain. Not only the view of it from the beach is beautiful, especially at sunset, there is also a fantastic array of street food on offer. One afternoon we tried pretty much all of what was on offer. We had corn two ways; cooked corn on the cob with butter and fresh pipoca (popcorn), served either sweet or salty. For a ‘main course’, I had grilled cheese on a stick (queijo quente) which can also be enjoyed marinated in herbs. The Carnivore had ‘churrasco’, a skewer of beef chunks and linguica, a garlic sausage vaguely reminiscent of Toulouse sausages. Dessert was fried churros filled with doce de leite (absolutely delicious). They were slightly different from the Spanish version of churros I am used to, the dough is slightly lighter and they are filled, not dipped. They are absolutely delicious. All of the above was washed down with a cerveja for the Carnivore and a coco for me. Cocos are coconuts with the husk on, with a hole cut on top by a machete-wielding vendor. Similar to those found at Notting Hill carnival in theory, but much tastier in reality. The juice can be drunk before returning the coconut to the vendor which chops it open and cuts a bit of shell to scoop off the flesh inside. The image of a coconut with a straw might scream tourist, but Brazilians are the first to enjoy this beverage which contains electrolytes, useful to prevent dehydration after a day at the beach. The only street food we didn’t sample was beijinhos de tapioca, sweet or savoury tapioca pancakes which are a specialty of the Northeast, where we’re headed next.