On Wednesday, December 9, in a private meeting room, our outreach group from the Washington English Center, from China, France, Brazil, Costa Rica, Spain, Lithuania, and the USA celebrated our last meeting of 2014 with an American tradition: an exchange of mostly homemade cookies, crêpes and treats from our homelands. Food facilitated conversation about holiday traditions. Among the represented countries, only in China, where red string bracelets ward off evil spirits, are sweets not traditional for the new year. In the USA and in Russia, the new year may begin with a polar bear plunge in icy water, not so special for Russian men who dunk whenever the air is colder than the water, and, when available, take a sauna before and after. Gentle switching of the body with leaf brooms can enhance the sauna experience by promoting good circulation. Saunas are de trop in Brazil where the new year brings warm weather. There, swimming and surfing may be even more universal.
As we talked about how to make our cookies, we also looked at printed recipes. Everyone but the North American teachers uses metric measurements, although sets of measuring cups and spoons for dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda, are cheaply and widely available. With American dry-measuring cups, which are less accurate than their metric equivalents, it is necessary to take a knife to smooth the top to get the correct amount. The Internet provides a cornucopia of variants for these deservedly popular recipes using American measurements: Jewish rugelach, chocolate and vanilla pinwheels, Mexican wedding cookies, raspberry thumbprint cookies made with almond paste, peanut butter blossoms, hot cocoa cookies, and ginger bars.
This post is incomplete, featuring recipes only from the three American facilitators! I welcome students' recipes, comments about their holiday traditions, and ideas for another recipe exchange. The Monday and Wednesday, 10-noon conversation group will resume January 21, after the Martin Luther King holiday. -- Susan Joseph, instructor for Washington English Center with photo by the multi-talented Olga Lynova
Here is the first participant recipe with an explanation and good directions, from Inês Lima, who is from Brasilia. I can almost hear Inês talking.
Brazilian Cheese-rolls - “Pão-de-queijo” - also translated “cheese bread
"It’s is not difficult to find the frozen version of Brazilian “pão-de-queijo” at the foreign food shops in Virginia or Maryland. [I usually get mine from the European Foods Store @ 2700 N Pershing Dr, in Arlington, VA.]
The best brand is "Forno de Minas". Minas, in this case, refers to the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, famous for its cheese and cuisine. [Trying to translate “Forno de Minas”. “Forno” is the same as oven, “de” is the preposition - “Minas Bakery” would do.]
However, back to the recipe... it is possible to prepare a similar dough, using ingredients found at your nearby Whole Foods market. And that’s what I did before I learned about the specialty food stores that carry the so convenient Forno de Minas brand.
Let’s try. Cheese-rolls Brazilian style (makes about 20)
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 cup of shredded mild Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 3 cups of tapioca starch, also known as tapioca flour (Bob’s Red Mill is the best brand)
- 1 cup of melted unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs (or 3 small ones)
- salt to taste
- a little extra tapioca starch (for balancing the dough)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 385F degrees.
Lightly coat a large cookie tin with butter.
In a large bowl combine starch, salt, and shredded cheese.
Slowly add melted butter, mixing by hand.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well. When using 3 eggs, if dough gets nice and firm after the addition of the second egg, use only the yolk of the third egg to get a soft and easy “texture”.
If, after adding the eggs, you find the mixture “too wet” use some of the extra starch to “correct” the dough. A play-dough like texture is fine.
Now, make the rolls using about a tablespoon of the mixture for each roll, rolling it by hand. Leave room between the rolls, because they may spread a little, before they get puffy.
It takes about 25 minutes in the oven. Check the oven when you start to smell the melting cheese. Sometimes they get golden and ready in less time... sometimes it takes a little longer.
Enjoy!" --Inês
