J. Randal Matheny

The tradition of cooking cuzcuz became associated with the settlement of what is now the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil, and in particular with the historic towns and village of the Vale do Paraíba, the Paraíba river valley. The original cuzcuz from this region, according to Brazilian food historians, consisted simply of corn or manioc semolina, salt and pepper, steamed over water. Unlike North African or European couscous, the mixture was steamed until it became quite moist and moldable, almost like a cake (think of polenta). Later additions included onion and garlic and paste (annattourucum) to give it some color.

Paraiba river valley is us!

Way back in 2009, in the early days of Flavors of Brazil, we wrote a post about an iconic Brazilian snack food called coxinha. As we said in that post, a coxinha is "a small, teardrop-shaped chicken croquette." and there's no doubt it's the most popular quick snack in Brazil. One can buy a coxinha at almost every one of Brazil's thousands of stand-up lunch counters, at juice bars, at buffets, and even in the country's finest and most upmarket restaurants.

Brazilians are crazy for the coxinha. It has a place in Brazilian culture analogous to the Great American Hot Dog, and shares some of the virtues of that sausage-in-a-bun. It's small but filling - it makes that pesky hole in the stomach disappear in short order.

Ignore the beer reference. Coxinhas are a favorite food, always served at parties in their smaller version.