VOCABULARY: SALGADINHOS

FONTE: ULISSES WEHBY DE CARVALHO

SMALL SAVORY SNACKS - Salgadinhos

Salgadinhos are very popular in Brazil and can be found at snack bars (lanchonetes), bakeries (padarias), bars and at parties. A few all-time favourites are:

Coxinha

a pear-shaped, deep-fried chicken filled croquette

Pastel

a thin pastry envelope with different fillings, deep fried in vegetable oil. 

The most common fillings are ground beef (carne), cheese (queijo), hearts of palm (palmito), cream cheese (catupiry) and chicken (frango)

Kibe / Quibe

a torpedo-shaped, deep-fried croquette made with bulgur wheat and ground beef

Esfiha

a small pizza-like bread with a topping – usually meat, chicken or cream cheese, served either open or folded into a triangular pastry

Empadinha

a small, round, mini pie with a filling – often hearts of palm, shrimp (camarão), and chicken

Pão de queijo

cheese bread – a small, baked, cheese-flavored roll made with cassava or corn flour

Bolinho de bacalhau

deep-fried codfish croquette

DIMINUTIVES

-INHO & -INHA

A diminutive is a word formed by adding letters to the end of a word to show that something or somebody is smaller. Diminutives are very popular in Brazil. The most common diminutives are formed with the masculine suffix -inho, and the feminine suffix -inha. For example:

CAKE [bolo]

SMALL CAKE [bolinho]

PIE [empada]

SMALL PIE [empadinha]

The suffixes -zinho and -zinha are normally added to words that end in stressed vowels.

café [COFFEE]

cafezinho [SMALL COFFEE]

irmã [SISTER]

irmãzinha [LITTLE SISTER]

Noun and adjective diminutives are the most common, but they can also be formed with other parts of speech. They are often used to convey intimacy, endearment and affection.

Hi, honey!

Oi, amorzinho!

Your baby is so cute.

Seu bebê é tão bonitinho.

Names also often have diminutive forms, like Ronaldinho (from Ronaldo) and Carminha (from Maria do Carmo)