Verified in 2 cities.
Pastel de feira is a thin rectangle of wheat dough filled with cheese, meat or shrimp and fried to order, the fair-day snack that Rio pairs with a glass of caldo de cana; in Brazil we have verified places to eat it in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Pastel de feira is a thin rectangle of wheat dough filled with cheese, meat or shrimp and fried to order, the fair-day snack that Rio pairs with a glass of caldo de cana.
The pastel is an immigrant dish with two accounts: one traces it to Chinese spring rolls sold from about 1890, the other to Japanese families in Santos in the 1940s who swapped sake for cachaça in the dough. The habit reached Rio in the 1950s. A food writer quoted by Problemas Brasileiros calls caldo de cana the pastel's perfect partner at street fairs, and Rio's bars now sell it too, among them Bar Urca with its siri filling.
Where to eat in Rio de Janeiro:
Where to eat Pastel de feira in Rio de Janeiro: the editor picks
Casa do Pastel fries its beef and cheese pastel to order at a Tatuape counter that never closes, the brand's first unit, opened on Rua Tuiuti in 1981.
The pastel arrived in Sao Paulo with Chinese and Japanese immigrant cooks in the early 20th century, who adapted the fried dumpling into a thin-skinned, deep-fried pocket sold from street-market stalls and open-air feiras across the city. It grew into a Saturday-market ritual: a pastel eaten standing at a barraca, often with a glass of sugarcane juice on the side. Sao Paulo runs its own municipal pastel contest, and shops like Pastel da Maria have built a following on winning it. Fillings run from beef and cheese to hearts of palm and pizza style, but the defining feature stays the same: a paper-thin, blistered shell fried until it crackles.
Where to eat in São Paulo:
Where to eat Pastel de feira in São Paulo: the editor picks
Guided tour · 2 hours
Explore the vibrant Feira da Glória street market in Rio de Janeiro on a guided tour. Sample authentic Brazilian foods and traditional drinks, and learn about the mark...
Guided tour · 9 hours
Ride the Corcovado Train to Christ the Redeemer, then take a cable car up Sugarloaf Mountain. Enjoy a buffet lunch and visit iconic Rio landmarks.
Private tour · 9 hours
Discover the symbols of the "Cidade Maravilhosa" on this private day trip. See the iconic Christ the Redeemer, take a cable car up Sugar Loaf Mountain, and see the cit...
