Street food is popular for many reasons; it’s cheap, quick and there’s something for everybody. Brazilian street food consists of savoury snacks such as Bolinhos de Bacalhau, fried cod cakes, Pão de queijo, cheese bread, Pastel de queijo, deep-fried cheese pastry and my personal favourite, Coxinha.
Coxinha is a savoury snack which consists of shredded chicken mixed with requeijão, a type of Brazilian cream cheese, encased in a flourily dough which is covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried. When I visited Brazil as a child, this was the thing I would most look forward to eating. I can never forget the first time trying it, from a small street food stall on the side of the road. It stood alone with only a few people outside. A coxinha was placed in my hand, and from the first bite, I was hooked.
The history of Coxinha dates back to the 19th century, originating in Sao Paolo. The tale goes that the son of Princess Isabel and Price Gaston, absolutely loved chicken. The only issue is that he only ate the thigh. One day, the royal couple’s chef did not have enough chicken thighs, so instead, he shredded chicken, covered it in flour and shaped it into a drumstick. Not only did the prince love it, but his grandmother, the Empress, did too. She welcomed the coxinha into her crown court and showed her people this wonderful snack. With many being inspired by the royals, the snack soon became a trend amongst the people of Brazil and is now the popular street food snack that Brazil is familiar with today.
Nothing like it existed in the UK, and coming back home, I missed it dearly. I knew trying to recreate it would be difficult. My dad would occasionally cook pão de queijo, which I also loved, but it wasn’t the same. Nowhere sold it where I lived, both in the North of England where I grew up, and South West Wales.
When I moved to London in September, I knew my chances of finding coxinha would be much better and I couldn’t wait to try. I did wonder whether they would be the same or whether they would adapt the recipe.
I visited 5 food spots in London to try their version of coxinha. Here is what I found.
Feijous de Luis, Oxford Street, Central London
£3 each
Luiz de Souza, the owner of Feijous de Luis, said the coxinhas are made fresh every day. The coxinha was fairly large in size and looked very close to the ones that I know of, that I had in Brazil. I bought one with the requeijão and one without. Trying these coxinha took me back to the first time trying one in Brazil. The chicken inside was shredded and well-flavoured. The chicken and breadcrumb coating was delicious. I would definitely come back to Feijous de Luis to have coxinha here. Although I took it to takeaway, it would have been really nice to sit in and have it there, something that I don’t usually do.
Café Rio, Grafton Way, Central London
£4.50 each
The coxinha was made fresh to order in this small café. I was used to seeing coxinha sitting on display and being quick to go, but this time I had to wait. This wasn’t the biggest issue for me, as I knew the coxinha would be fresh and hot, which definitely excited me. This coxinha was interesting. They were the biggest that I have ever tried. The chicken, rather than shredded that I’m used to, was chunkier. The chicken was tender and hot, but it was quite oily. This made the inside more watery than I’m used to. It also made the cream cheese a lot more watery, so it was messier to eat. Although I did enjoy it, I’m not sure if I would go out of my way to try again as these were the most expensive. However, it seemed right paying that little bit extra for the size and freshness.
Catinho de Eli (Brazilian Snacks), Cable Street, Whitechapel
£2.95 each
After wondering around the area for a good while, I finally stumbled upon this place. At first, I was confused as it did not look like what it did on its social media page. It was also two stalls together, and for a moment, I struggled to know which one was selling the coxinha. After figuring it out, I ordered two. The lady also asked me if I wanted pão de queijo as well, and I immediately said yes. This coxinha was very different to the ones I had before. The chicken was chunkier and also cubed; it was spiced differently and looked more orange in colour. The requeijão was more mixed into the chicken mixture, which I did like, and was different to the ones before where the cream cheese had sunk to the bottom. All things considered; it did taste great. The outer breadcrumb coating was also more orange in colour and the texture was crispier which I liked. It was interesting having a different experience to what I usually knew, yet I did enjoy them. The biggest benefit is that they were also much cheaper than the ones I previously tried.
O, Portuguese Café Deli, Camberwell Church Street, Camberwell
£2-3 each
When you search coxinha places online, this place won’t come up. Yet I was still interested to try it out after spotting it on a bus journey to work one day. The café had a small selection of Portuguese treats and street food, along with coxinha. The coxinha was much smaller than the ones that I’ve tried, and the coating was darker in colour. A great positive to this place is that they had gigantic bottles of Guarana to buy, which I seized on. The coxinha, although small, tasted great. The chicken was shredded and seasoned well, but I couldn’t taste the requeijão at all which made the coxinha drier. They were also quite small, and I think I would’ve enjoyed them more if they were a bit bigger. I would definitely come back to this place for the big bottles of pop, but maybe skip on the coxinha.
Mineiro Café, Station Road, Willesden Junction
£3 each
This was the furthest West, being from South East, that I have been to try coxinha. Just two minutes from Willesden Junction station, this café sits in what seems to be an array of Brazilian cafes and restaurants; London’s Little Brazil. The Coxinha was quite big in size and had the familiar coating to the one I tried in Catinho de Eli. The inside was flavourful and the requeijão had been mixed in with the shredded chicken giving it a consistent taste and texture that the other coxinhas lacked on. However, because of this, the consistency was sort of goopy which I haven’t experienced before. I missed the shredded chicken texture that was lost in these. The outer coating was crispy which I did enjoy. It took a long time for me to get to this café but if it lived locally, I would definitely visit again.
Overall, it’s interesting to see and taste an array of different coxinhas within one place. The one that stood out to me the most was the coxinha from Feijous de Luis. It tasted the most authentically Brazilian and reminded me of the ones I ate when I was little. However, it was interesting trying coxinhas from all over London and seeing what this city had to offer. I will continue trying different kinds of coxinha and enjoy feeling closer to Brazil then I ever have before.
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