
Comida Mineira: Belo Horizonte's Extraordinary Food Culture
Minas Gerais food is considered Brazil's finest regional cuisine — the comida mineira tradition of feijão tropeiro, pão de queijo, and dozens of pork preparations makes BH one of South America's great food cities
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Pão de Queijo: Brazil's beloved cheese bread
The tapioca starch cheese rolls from Minas Gerais - sold hot from bakeries every hour of the day - are addictive; Belo Horizonte's pão de queijo uses the traditional queijo minas for an authentic tang
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Feijão Tropeiro
The tropeiro bean dish – beans fried with bacon, sausage, egg, toasted cassava flour and couve – is the iconic Minas Gerais meal; named after the tropeiromulators who transported goods through the state
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Tutu de Feijão
Tutu - bean paste thickened with cassava flour and served with pork, couve and egg - is the everyday dish of Minas Gerais families; the comfort food foundation of the comida mineira tradition
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Mercado Central food stall
Mercado Central's food stand serves comida mineira from breakfast — pão de queijo, caldo de feijão, and the full mineiro spread available in the indoor market's food area
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Cachaça from Minas
Minas Gerais produces Brazil's finest artisanal cachaça — the sugarcane spirit in hundreds of varieties, from unaged white to complex barrel-aged expressions; the market sells bottles from small distilleries
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Doce de Leite and Queijo Minas
Minas Gerais sweets — the caramel doce de leite, the fresh queijo minas cheese, and the combination of both like the classic romeu e julieta dessert — can be found throughout the city's restaurants and markets