São Paulo – Café da Toinha is a snack bar in the busy Mercado do Bosque market, in Rio Branco, the capital of the state of Acre, in the North of Brazil. Different from the central region of the country, though, where cheese and ham sandwiches reign at snack bars, at the Café da Toinha the show is ran by cassava kibbehs and rice kibbehs. The kibbeh, originated from Arab cuisine, has acquired a more Brazilian taste in Acre.
"It is the top seller," says the owner of the snack bar, Antonia Maria Rodrigues Pereira, a.k.a. Toinha, speaking of the popularity that the food enjoys in Rio Branco. The Acre-born Karla Martins, an actress currently writing a book on cuisine, explains that the rice and the cassava kibbehs are adaptations of the Arab kibbeh, made from wheat middling, to the most readily available ingredients in the state. She explains that Acre has a strong presence of Arab immigrants.
The kibbeh from Acre is prepared just like the traditional one, but wheat middling is replaced with cassava or second-grade rice. When cooked with those ingredients, the locals call it “quebe”, explains Karla Martins. The actress is not sure about when it was introduced in the cuisine of Acre, but Toinha, 53 years old, has eaten cassava and rice kibbehs since her childhood.
According to Karla, there are over 100 Arab last names among the inhabitants of the state, ranging from Saad to Yuni. The street that houses the Elias Mansur foundation, of whose Cultural Incentive Department Karla is the coordinator, in Rio Branco, for instance, used to be filled with Arab stores. In Xapuris, another city in Acre, a significant share of trade is still in the hands of descendents. And in Juruá, one of the most widespread stories about the beginnings of the city is that of an Arab who married a native Indian woman.
Karla, who is single, usually invites friends and family members to eat at her house on weekends. In the kitchen, she makes her experiments, mixing up local and traditional ingredients. One lunch featured Arab rolls. But Karla added mocotó (cow’s feet) instead of meat, and used tucupi, a spice extracted from the cassava root, and jambu, a herb typical of the North Brazil region. The actress’ book, by the way, will be about how to smooth out the strong flavour of foods and spices from Acre.
In the state, Arab food can be found mainly on families’ tables, as part of home cooking. Restaurants, specialized or otherwise, also serve it though. Café da Toinha serves lots of cassava and rice kibbehs to tourists. They are also sought by those who are leaving the night clubs and want a snack before going home. They are cooked by the bar’s owner and her employees.
How to cook:
In order to cook the cassava kibbeh, the cassava needs to be cooked with salt and water. Do not let it get too soft. After it is well cooked, mash it with a bit of water. Roll into small balls and stuff with pot-roasted meat, spiced as the traditional kibbeh or as you prefer. Fry until it is golden brown.
To cook the rice kibbeh, cook the second-grade rice with red food colouring and salt. Wait until it is soft and mash in down to a pasta of sorts. Roll into small balls and stuff with pot-roasted meat, spiced as the traditional kibbeh or as you prefer. Fry until it is golden brown.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
