A pastel is a typical fast-food dish in Brazil, which consists of a crispy fried pie with savoury or sweet fillings. It belongs to the “salgados” (savoury snacks) category of Brazilian cuisine and its most common fillings are, starting by the salty until the sweeter ones: ground meat, shredded chicken, catupiry, mozzarella, mozzarella with ham, shrimp, Chocolate brigadeiro (a Brazilian typical chocolate truffle that can be melted inside a pastel) and Brigadeiro de Leite ninho (Powdered milk brigadeiro) with strawberry, cooked plantain (this one is known as “banana real”), chocolate ganache and many others. In addition to it, a salt pastel main feature is a melted cheese frequently added to the costumers chosen filling, whereas a sweeter ones principal characteristic is the granulated sugar sprinkles and the optional gathering of it to powdered cinnamon, as well as sweet fruit inside it, like strawberry, banana, kiwi, and others. Customers also put ketchup, mustard and gourmet or traditional mayonnaise on top the salty ones.
It’s sold mostly at street markets or special restaurants called “Pastelarias”. The price varies around 7,00 and 20,00 reais (1,42 and 4,05 dollars), depending on the location and kind of pastel.
It’s really delicious, indeed.
