What to eat in Brazil - Pastel e Caldo de Cana

What about starting your day on a street market?

If that's your plan, nothing better than "pastel with Caldo de Cana".

Caldo de Cana is a fresh juice made from pressed sugar cane. It can be pure, but also mixed with lemon (most common one), but also with ginger (my favorite) or pineapple. "Caldo de Cana" is known for letting you in a lethargic state because of the big amount of sugar, but I've never felt like that.

Sugar cane being pressed

 

Prices vary a lot depending of the region of the country where you are.

The best company for a "Caldo de Cana" is pastel. Pastel is a fried puff dough pie, filled with different kind of ingredients.

The most usual are cheese, ham cheese and tomate, mincemeat, palm hearts, chicken and melted cheese, but any creative idea can exist depending on where you are.

Most of the times, it's a lot of pastry with just a little stuffing.

 In São Paulo, a "pastel shop" always will offer you a "vinagrete sauce", which is made with onions, tomates, persil, and vinegar. In Rio, they call the same thing "Molho a campanha". The taste of the vinagrete recipe can be one of the differentiations from one shop to another.

Vinagrete - SP (Molho a Campanha - RJ)