This popular Brazilian street food is a delicious link to its African heritage
LIVELY conversation blends with the rhythmic sizzle of hot oil in Itapuã, a neighbourhood near the coastal city of Salvador in Bahia State, northern Brazil. The golden brown fritters Ivana Muzenza makes at her stall, known locally as Acarajé, represent more than a tasty snack. Muzenza is a “Baiana”, a Portuguese word that describes an exclusive community of Bahian women who sell street food while dressed in traditional attire; typically a white flowing lace dress, beaded necklaces, and jewellery, with colourful headscarves. Muzenza’s great-great-grandmother arrived in the region towards the end of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. She became a "Ganhadeira…