History of Brazilian Cheese Bread

I don’t think it’s necessary for me to tell you where Brazilian cheese bread comes from but if I must write it, here goes – it comes from Singapore. Juuuust kidding, please don’t come after me you beautiful Brazilian people.. Or maybe you should ;)

Also known as pão de queijo, Brazilian cheese bread can be traced back to southeast Brazil. When the state known as Minas Gerais was colonized, the people turned to native cassava to make bread because they found that the land wasn’t suitable for growing grains such as wheat. 

But the creation of the Brazilian cheese bread wasn’t as simple as using cassava as an ingredient for breadmaking. The cheese bread was actually a product of making use of the starchy residue left behind from making cassava root edible. Turning cassava root into food that can be safely consumed was no easy task. Why? Because cassava root contains the toxic substance known as cyanide, which requires lots of peeling, grating, soaking and drying to basically not kill you over time. So as slaves were laboring over this process, they used the leftover tapioca starch to turn into balls of dough and baked them in order to add to their diet.

Then in the late 19th century, milk and eggs were integrated into the mix as cattle farms became more prevalent and dairy products became more accessible. Nowadays, Brazilians often enjoy the cheese bread with coffee as part of their breakfast.

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