Pastel de feira
Photo: BuenosAiresPhotographer · CC BY-SA 2.0

History

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.

Book a food experience

Tours, tastings and classes that match this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.

Browse every bookable food experience

Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4 (makes 12)Hands-on 40 minTotal 1 hr 15 minDifficulty Medium

Ingredients

  • 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 tablespoon cachaça
  • About 200ml warm water
  • 250g mozzarella or prato cheese, cut into strips
  • Oil for deep frying

Method

  1. Mix the flour and salt, add the oil, cachaça and enough warm water to make a soft, smooth dough, and knead for 5 minutes.
  2. Rest the dough, covered, for 30 minutes.
  3. Roll it out as thin as you can, cut into rectangles of about 10 by 20cm, and place a strip of cheese on one half of each.
  4. Fold over, press the edges and seal them with a fork dipped in flour.
  5. Fry in oil at 180C for 2 to 3 minutes until blistered and golden, then drain and serve at once.

Tip from the editors. Roll the dough very thin; thick pastéis turn doughy, while a thin sheet blisters and crisps.

Where to eat pastel de feira

Pastel de feira in Rio de Janeiro

Bar Urca ★ 4.3

$$ SeafoodTraditional barUrca

Bar Urca sells chope, fried sardines and empadas from a counter in Urca, Rio de Janeiro, to eat on the sea wall opposite with views over Guanabara Bay.

DrinkChope Brahma and bottled beer

FoodEmpada de camarão or siri, bolinho de bacalhau and fried sardines

TipThe ground-floor bar opens at 09:00 and the upstairs restaurant at 11:30; petiscos are carried across the street to the mureta.

Directions

Siri Tijuca ★ 3.8

$ SeafoodVila Isabel

Siri Tijuca is a seafood house on Rua dos Artistas in Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro, open since 1963, with pratos-feitos under R$30 and a siri pastel at R$8.90.

TryFilé de peixe with rice and pirão

Directions

Beco do Rato ★ 4.3

$$ BrazilianSamba barLapa

Beco do Rato is a samba house on Rua Joaquim Silva in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, with music every day and a Saturday feijoada with a samba roda in the afternoon.

DrinkCold beer with the roda de samba

FoodSaturday feijoada at R$40 and boteco petiscos

TipFrom November 2025 Saturdays open at midday: entry is free until 14:00, then R$25 when the roda de samba starts.

Directions

All Rio de Janeiro signature dishes →

Pastel de feira in São Paulo

Casa do Pastel ★ 3.9

$ Street foodTatuape

Casa do Pastel keeps its Rua Tuiuti pastel counter in Tatuape open around the clock, the brand's first unit since 1981, frying pastel, esfiha and pizza.

TryPastel (fried Brazilian pastry)

Directions

Pastel da Maria ★ 4.3

$ Street foodSantanaCash only

Pastel da Maria runs its Wednesday stall at the Santana street fair in Sao Paulo, the beef pastel that won the city's own pastel contest twice.

TryPastel de carne (beef pastel)

Directions

All São Paulo signature dishes →

More cities are in research. Want pastel de feira covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →