4 minute read
Soso's Brazilian Treats
BRAZILIAN NATIVE SHARES DELCIOUS TREATS IN ACADIANA
By Abby Meaux Conques
We caught up with Soraya Seixas, owner of Soso’s Brazilian Treats, or you may know her as “the lady from the Lafayette Farmers and Artisans Market” with the brigadeiros (traditional bite-size Brazilian dessert balls made with condensed milk, cocoa powder, butter) and the pão de queijo (traditional Brazilian cheese bread).
People head to the farmer’s market each Saturday hoping to grab the newest brigadeiro flavor concoction that Soraya experiments with late at night or on the weekends. Others are partial to the addictive cheese bread. Most order both.
Soraya grew up in a traditional Brazilian family where certain food items were expected to be on the menu for gatherings and celebrations. “It wasn't uncommon for people to go to a wedding and put a few cheese breads and brigadeiros in their bags before leaving,” she laughed. “Eventually people started to make little to-go bags with the treats in them for people to enjoy later when they got home.”
She described growing up as an only child with her parents and aunts in the kitchen making traditional breads and sweets. “I started baking as a teenager, especially the sweets...and became responsible for being the person to bring the desserts for special occasions,” she explained.
Soraya eventually made her way to the U.S. to pursue an MBA at the University of Richmond in Virginia. “I also wanted to improve my English and immerse myself in the culture,” she said. She eventually found her way to Lafayette with her eyes on another business degree. Louisiana reminded her of Brazil in an interesting way. “In Virginia, my friends would say, ‘let’s meet up’, but here my friends would say ‘come to my house, and my Mom’s house’ and all of these families were so welcoming and always wanted to feed you! That’s how it is in Brazil. In Brazil people are warm and welcoming and go out of their way to help you…I felt that again here.”
Her idea to make and sell her favorite tastes of home came from some advice from a former co-worker. “I’d crave traditional cheese bread or cakes and I couldn’t eat all of what I’d make, so I’d bring some to work. My coworkers would try it and say, ‘You could sell this!’” At that point Soraya didn’t know where to begin until a friend mentioned the farmer’s market. Since November 2020, Soraya has had her booth at almost every Saturday of the market. People expect to see her there now and she’s had to tell customers beforehand if she won’t be there so they aren’t disappointed if they don’t get their cheese bread or brigadeiro fix.
The traditional cheese bread is a family recipe passed down to each generation. The bread is made with parmesan cheese and tapioca flour (making it naturally gluten free). Tapioca flour is made from the root of the cassava plant, a tropical tree native to Brazil and the tropical areas of South America. Other names for tapioca are yuca, manioc and cassava. They are always handmade with real ingredients “...and the most important ingredient, love,” she said. The breads come fresh baked or frozen in traditional, bacon, and garlic varieties. “In Brazil we eat the traditional bread with jams and jellies, as a sweet snack,” she said. But here, Cajuns have paired her breads with family spaghetti and gumbos, sharing with her a love for her breads paired with savory flavors.
The brigadeiros are bite-sized condensed milk balls, some rolled in sprinkles, and made in a variety of flavors that Soraya gets inspired to try. Her customers are the ones to reap the benefits of her creativity. The regularly available flavors are traditional chocolate, white chocolate, oreo, or churro flavors. She’s also experimented and had limited, high-demand runs of interesting and fun varieties like green grapes rolled in brigadeiro, cheesecake and mixed berry jam, coffee, Reese’s peanut butter, berries, and corn and coconut.
She also flexes her baking muscles by trying new dessert items like brigadeiro cookie bars known both as Palha Italiana (Italian Straw) or Palha Brasileira (Brazilian Straw) in Brazil, full cakes, traditional Brazilian carrot cakes in a cup, bon bons and brigadeiro cones.
Soso's Brigadeiros Varieties
You can place regular orders and specialty orders (such as Easter orders...hint, hint) any day of the week with her through Facebook messenger via the Soso’s Brazilian Treats business page, by calling 337-451-7110, or you can try your luck and see if you get to the Farmer’s Market in time to grab some treats before she sells out!
SORAYA SEIXAS, OWNER, SOSO'S BRAZILIAN TREATS
Strawberry Bon Bon
Oreo Brigadeiros
Soso's Traditional Brazilian Cheese Bread
