one of the most popular street or bar snacks in rio de janeiro is, the pastel. neat little parcels, filled with almost any ingredients that rio chefs desire, the pastels of rio de janeiro come in a great number of varieties.

two especially popular variations of the pastel are: pastel de carne (meat), and patel de queijo(cheese). pastel de carne is a pastel filled with minced meat, usually beef, but in some intriguing variations, other meat is used, such as duck. pastel de queijo is made using cheese as the filling. in both examples the pastels are fried, rather than baked, and often pepper can be added, to give them a welcome little kick.