While growing up in Brazil, Delvira Rodrigues didn't give much thought to the traditional puffy, cheesy rolls called pão de queijo. 'I ate them everyday at breakfast and lunch with my family, ' she said. 'My mom and grandma are from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, which is famous for its cheese, and that's the most important ingredient. '
The older generation still makes their cheese bread at home, but the younger generation frequents bakeries or tapiocarias (cafés that specialize in cheese bread, tapioca - flour crêpes, açaà bowls and strong Brazilian coffee). 'In Brazil, ' says Rodrigues, 'these places are as common as churches. '
After she moved to San Francisco in 2009 to join her parents and sister, Rodrigues found that when the family missed Brazilian food, there were just two kinds of places they could frequent: upscale steakhouses or simple spots that served basic plates of rice, beans and beef. No tapiocarias for lighter fare.
Her parents asked her to make them cheese bread since she had always loved to cook. To find the right ingredients, Rodrigues shopped at one of the few nearby Brazilian markets, but, because all the foodstuffs are imported from Brazil, the price was prohibitive. So she experimented. It took five years for Rodrigues to develop her own successful recipes for cheese bread using locally sourced ingredients.
Source: Berkeleyside
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