Recipe: Pão de Queijo

If anything rivals a mineiro's love for coffee, it might be cheese and their beloved pão de quiejo, or cheese bread. The base for pão de queijo is cassava (manioc) starch, making this a gluten-free delicacy. In Brazil, there are two main types of cassava starch: sweet and sour. Both are the dehydrated product of the purified starch slurry that results from crushing cassava roots; the sour starch is fermented to impart the sourness. Which should you use for cheese bread? That is the stuff of mineiro—a resident of Minas Gerais—family secrets, along with the type and sharpness of the cheese you will use.

Preparation time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Yield: 20 to 25 medium-sized balls (as in photo)

Ingredients
* 2 cups milk
* 100 ml neutral oil (in Brazil, often soy or sunflower, but can be canola or other)
* 100 ml water
* 500 g sour cassava starch
* 1 tbsp salt
* 500 gr cheese (a good starting point is a 50/50 mozzarella/parmesan blend)
* 2 eggs

1. Heat the milk, oil, and water in a pan until it begins to boil.
2. Mix the cassava starch and salt in a heat-proof bowl.
3. Add the boiling liquid to the cassava starch/salt mixture.
4. Carefully mix until homogeneous.
5. After the mixture cools slightly, incorporate one egg at a time.
6. Add the cheese.
7. Knead the mixture until all the ingredients have been incorporated evenly throughout.
8. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 390 °F.
10. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it into medium-sized balls, placing them on a greased cookie sheet as you work.
11. Bake for around 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown on the outside.
12. Remove and let cool on a baking rack. Serve while still warm!

A "good" cheese bread is one that is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, with a springy, but not rubbery, internal texture. You'll know if you got it right if you serve them to a mineiro and hear them say "esse trem tá bom demais so!" (This is just too good!)