Restaurant in BH treats Minas Gerais food as an institution; find out more
When we go in search of the flavors of the Southeast , Minas Gerais appears as a territory where food, affection, tradition and memory intertwine in a delicious banquet. To talk about Minas is to talk about cheeses, pork rinds, artisanal products and, above all, people who are passionate about their homeland.
On my journey in search of the flavors of the Southeast for the special season CNN Travel & Gastronomy: Flavors of Brazil , I landed in Belo Horizonte to taste a “melting pot” of the state’s flavors.
To accomplish this mission, I went to the Mercado Central , one of the most emblematic tourist attractions in the capital of Minas Gerais, to try different cheeses, each one tastier than the last. To top off the experience, I had lunch at Xapuri , which included pork rinds, cornmeal and pots cooked on a wood fire, which crowned my visit to “Beagá”.
Typical Minas Gerais food
As a good granddaughter of a Minas Gerais native, summing up the culinary traditions of Minas Gerais in cheeses is almost sacrilege. That's why lunch at the Xapuri restaurant shows you a little more of the state's flavors with the help of a plentiful table.
A must-see in Belo Horizonte, here Minas Gerais food is treated as an institution. There is no shortage of cheese bread, cornmeal pie, pork rinds, okra with cheese, feijão tropeiro, chicken with okra and cachaças.
“Minas Gerais food began to have this format and identity after the arrival of the Portuguese. It is a triad of indigenous, African and European,” says Flávio Trombino , chef at Xapuri.
As we talk, the wood crackles and the clay pots smoke. For lunch, he prepares a boneless thigh and drumstick, grilled in butter and orange juice.
The Minas Gerais angu is also available here and, although it traditionally only contains cornmeal and water, the house's version follows the Italian style, with cheese, milk and butter. The meat is also served with toasted tomatoes without the skin and cream cheese with shavings.
Flávio is the guardian of the wood-burning stove and country food, teachings passed on by his mother, Nelsa Trombino, founder of the restaurant and who left us in 2023.
For the chef, what is the flavor of Brazil? “It’s diversity and richness. Brazil is gigantic. France fits inside Minas Gerais, for example,” he answers. But I’ll go further. And what is the flavor of Minas? The answer is simple, but powerful. “It’s affection,” says the chef.
