Coxinha

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South American Dishes (48 items)
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Popular food in many countries in South America consisting of chopped or shredded chicken meat fried in batter, molded into a shape resembling a chicken leg.

History:
Coxinhas were originally made with a chicken thigh, which its traditional shape is meant to resemble. In its modern processed form it may have originated in São Paulo in the 19th century.

In the book Stories & Recipes, Nadir Cavazin says that the son of Princess Isabel of Brazil (1846-1921) and the Count D'Eu, a child who lived in seclusion for having mental problems had a favorite dish, chicken, but only ate the thigh. One day, not having enough thigh, the cook decided to turn a whole chicken into thighs, shredding it and making the filling for a flour dough shaped into a drumstick. The child endorsed the results. Empress Teresa Cristina, when she was visiting him, could not resist the tasty delicacy; she liked it so much she requested that the master of the imperial kitchen learn how to prepare the snack. So coxinha won over the nobility and became history.