Gourmet or gore-met? Brazil’s weirdest foods

By Lucas Berti

São Paulo is known for its rich gastronomic culture. In a city with influences from everywhere—from Africa and Japan to Italy and the Middle East, just to name a few—it is difficult to find a bad meal. But certain parts of the city are also known for their obsession for “gourmetization,” a pretentious and over-reaching effort to make even the most simple foods into something “gourmet.” More often than not, these attempts are utter failures.

For instance, the coxinha—the classic Brazilian fried snack filled with shredded chicken found on every streetcorner—has now branched into horrific variations, filled with avocado, or M&M’s.

Here is our selection of five shameful attempts at “gourmetization” which, I’m sure...