city Essentials · 10 foods
São Paulo Essentials
A considered first route through São Paulo: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Brazil foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
10 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
São Paulo, Brazil
Sanduíche de Mortadela
A foot-high stack of thin fried mortadella on crusty pão francês from the Mercadão counters.
São Paulo, Brazil
Cuscuz Paulista
Cold molded corn couscous studded with sardines, boiled eggs and olives, sliced at parties.
São Paulo, Brazil
Virado à Paulista
Beans whipped with cassava flour beside pork chop, kale, sausage, fried egg and orange slices.
São Paulo, Brazil
Pastel
A giant blistered market pastry fried to order and eaten walking with a cup of sugarcane juice.
São Paulo, Brazil
Bauru
Roast beef and molten cheese packed into a hollowed French roll, born in a downtown lanchonete.
São Paulo, Brazil
Beirute
A tall Syrian-bread stack of roast beef, cheese, lettuce and tomato pressed at the bakery counter.
São Paulo, Brazil
Dobradinha
Tripe and white-bean stew, the classic boteco Tuesday special in São Paulo bars.
São Paulo, Brazil
Paçoca
Crumbly ground-peanut candy pressed into cork-shaped bars, piled high at June festival stalls.
São Paulo, Brazil
Coxinha
A teardrop of chicken-stuffed dough fried crisp, eaten standing at the bakery counter.
Porto, Portugal
Sanduíche de pernil
Hot shredded roast pork with melted cheese in a crusty roll, the 24-hour padaria rite.