Day 171

Pipoca De Oz: Interestingly, day 6 of Brazilian Week has provided me with something new and something old at the same time. I found this bagged snack during my previously mentioned visit to Minas Emporium, and if you havent been able to tell by now, I found some great stuff there. I tried my best to find a good variety of new foods, even after an awesomely gut-busting lunch buffet of Brazilian favorites. During my browsing in the market, I found this bag of what looked to be some sort of corn-based snack called Pipoca De Oz. It seemed to be popular, based on the different varieties stocked. I wasn't sure what the story was behind this red bag, but I grabbed it anyway. Popular can be good sometimes, right?

I decided to give this one a try this afternoon for a snack. Through the bag's window, the contents looked a lot like cereal or some sort of grain. After opening and trying a handful, I was immediately reminded of something from my childhood: Sugar Smacks. Yes, the kid's cereal. This stuff tasted exactly like Sugar Smacks, with no real difference that I could detect. The grains were considerably bigger, but other than that, identical. It could be cereal, for all I know (there was no English writing on the bag). Nonetheless, the crunchy, sweet corn taste was pretty addictive, and I ended up eating about half the bag before stopping. Maybe I'll try putting the rest in a bowl with milk tomorrow morning.

I couldn't find much info online about this snack, but I did discover that "pipoca" means "popcorn" in Portuguese. Magic Popcorn, maybe?