Going over to the sweet side
There may be hope for me yet people! There is a fairly decent Kilo restaurant near work which has become my regular lunchtime haunt (largely because of the excellent chilli oil they serve alongside the arroz e feijão). Recently I have noticed that after a particularly spicy lunch, I find myself craving chocolate. And as I was queueing to pay yesterday, I saw this:
Mmmm, sparkly wrapping = good. Pão de Mel (honey bread) = yum. Artesanal = I doubt it, but still, a good aspiration. Com recheio de Brigadeiro (with Brigadeiro filling) = Nooooo!
I don’t think I have mentioned Pão de Mel before. The literal translation is Honey Bread, but it is so much more than that. It reminds me of chocolate covered gingerbread, though instead of ginger, this open-textured, slightly gooey cake is flavoured with ground cloves and cinnamon, then smothered in chocolate!
What Pão de Mel has over other Brazilian sweets is that it isn’t just sweet – it has an almost spicy, interesting flavour that offsets the sweetness and makes this a really good after-dinner (or lunch) treat.
Despite the dreaded B word (Brigadeiro) I decided to give it a try. When I got back to my desk (eating at my desk – another Brazilian fail), I opened the crinkly, sparkly packaging.
So far, so unspectacular. At this point it looked like I'd purchased one of those chocolate covered marshmallow things. Not great, but it did at least look like my chilli-induced chocolate craving was about to be satiated.
I looked around to make sure that no one was watching and took a bite…
Real, THICK chocolate covering a gooey, spicy cake with a sweet brigadeiro filling. Oh yes. That'll do cake, that'll do...
I have to say, these things are pretty spectacular. Sweet, yes, but also chocolatey, spiced and moist. And the Brigadeiro filling definitely brings something to the party.
Now I’m not about to start eating home-made Brigadeiro out of the bowl (like some people I could mention…), but when combined with delicious Pão de Mel, I am a big fan. Now my challenge is to resist having one of these every day…
Bah ha ha! Looks amazing! I would totally eat 5 of those at my desk right now :)
Heh heh, I’m still a beginner – one was yummy, but I did feel a bit sick afterwards. Five would be impressive :)
Tom, OMG!!!
I developed a new tooth cavity just looking at your pictures… ;)
If it’s moist like you described, it most likely is “artesanal”, we usually bough industrial “pao de mel” and they are usually dry …
Moist means fresh, these things have a very short shelf life.
It sounds like you found a good source of fresh, home made “pao de mel”!!!
I love Pao de Mel, but have nver tried them with Brigadeiro filling,…
Heh heh, now I know why Brazilians never fail to brush their teeth after lunch! ;) Seriously, there is an industrial-sized Mouth-wash dispenser on the wall next to the hand-drier!
Artesanal is probably figurative language just like all those places that sells “home-cooked food”. It always makes we wonder in who’s home was it cooked? ‘Cause depending on the owner of said kitchen, I think I’d prefer the food hygiene standards of an industrial kitchen… :)
Ha ha ha! :D It’s a bit like the term “hand made” isn’t it? Did someone actually pick the sandwich/sweet/etc up in their hands to ‘make’ it? Or did someone use their hand to press to GO button on the machine? ;)
By the way, my sister in law buys these paes de mel from a gourmet shop in Curitiba, PR that are the exact opposite of yours but still very tasty. They are baked for longer (I think) and come out very dry with a texture resembling Italian biscotti.
Mmmm, interesting! I definitely thought these ones felt like a long-lost cousin of the beloved (by many) Alfajores. Also pretty decent with a decent cup of coffee/tea…
I love me a good alfajor but I have to say that your pao de mel looks more interesting (mainly because I’ve never tried one quite like that).
haha, such an entertaining post.
Also, don’t knock the habit of eating brigadeiro straight from the pot. It is so much more efficient! :D
Hee hee – I must admit, taking care of the left over icing/cake mix, direct from the bowl, was probably what first got me interested in cooking! How could something that good be wrong?
I second Danielle. I’ve turned to the dark side too =(
Seems like it happens to us all Alex :)
Hi Tom. I’m really enjoying your blog and your “gringo” point of view from our country.
Just to add some info:
In fact, “artesanal” means “not industrialized” or “not made by a machinery production line”.
We often use this word to mean that the food was made by “natural” ways, and has not chemistry components added to the recipe to conserve and has not artificial flavour (althought, someone can put “artesanal” on anything…its not a formal term). Besides that, we can assume that the food was made with a little more “human attention” than it would get if it was automatically made by machines.
You can see under the Artesanal: “Produtos Naturais” (literal translation: Natural Products)
Long story short: We use it to add the GRANDMA MADE sensation for a food. :)
hope you enjoy!
Hi Marcelo! Glad you’re enjoying the blog. And thanks for the information – I have become a big fan of these Grandma Made goodies!