Have You Tried A Taste Of Brazil?

The Brazilian community in Dublin is one of the biggest foreign communities in the city, and by far the biggest collection of non-EU residents are from Brazil.

There is a Facebook group for Dublin residents hailing from the South American country, which currently contains over 20,000 members, and e-Dublin, a Brazilian website dedicated to this fair city, has over 400,000 likes.

The influx is largely due to a deal between the Irish and Brazilian governments, arranged back in 2013, to allow up to 4,000 undergraduates to study in Ireland between then and now, and links between colleges in the two countries have only strengthened since.

Now, Brazil is a long way away from the Emerald Isle, and while we all got an insight with this summer’s Olympic games, held in stunning Rio De Janeiro, there’s still a great many aspects of Brazilian culture which haven’t quite made their way to Irish shore just yet.

Well, maybe it’s time we got a taste of what Brazil is all about, and what better way than to taste a Coxinha.

These delicious snacks are a favourite street vendor food, and always a big hit at family parties.

Pronounced “koh-SHEEN-yah”, these deep-fried delicacies are made from shredded chicken, onion and parsley, wrapped in dough and rolled in breadcrumbs before cooking, and are best served hot. They also go really well with Guaraná, a sort of energy drink with an apple and berry flavour.

Sometimes, they’re also filled with Catipury, a kind of cheese native to Brazil, which melts into the other ingredients, making the filling ooze out when the doughy exterior is bitten into.

If you’re feeling brave, or have wicked culinary credentials, then by all means have a go at knocking up a batch of these finger-lickin’ fritters; there’s an awesome recipe to be found right here.

On the other hand, if you’re more of a take-out menu kind of chef, then don’t panic; Pulido’s bakery on Bolton St does a wicked coxinha, at a very reasonable price.

And if you’re after the full shebang, there are numerous Brazilian restaurants in Temple Bar which also serve coxinhas as part of an evening meal

As they say in Portuguese; “Bom Apetite!”