Eating Pastel

Introduction:

Pastel is a deep fried pastry that can be filled with meat, cheese or veggies. Sometimes pastel is even filled with fruit and chocolate, as a dessert. Pastel has become one of my favorite foods in Brazil. Someone told me that pastel became popular in Brazil after people from Asia started immigrating here. They say pastel is an adapted way of making wontons, a popular dough snack in China that is often fried. 

What food did I try?:

I tried pastel for the first time at an outdoor market downtown called the "Hippie Fair" the first weekend we arrived in Belo Horizonte. The Hippie Fair takes place every Sunday. At the Hippie Fair, there are farmers and artists selling food, drinks and crafts. There are also people playing music, and there is lots of dancing. I did not know what kind of pastel to get when I visited the fair, so I chose one which had a name I could recognize as being a food I love, already: "pizza"! The pizza-pastel contains ham, mozzarella cheese and oregano. Yum!

How did I feel when I tried it?:

The pastel was so delicious, I wanted to try even more flavors! So as we walked through the market, I tried different types of pastel. I think my favorite one had heart of palm inside.

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