Rio Hosts First ‘Podrão’ Junk Food Market this Weekend

By Beatriz Miranda, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This weekend, March 17th and 18th, voracious eaters can indulge in some of the best Carioca street food with Rio’s first junk food market. Taking place in Tijuca, the “Feira Nacional de Podrão” will gather ten different food stalls from diverse neighborhoods, art exhibitors and a DJ.

According to the organizers, the market aims to promote the authentic food from Rio’s streets (the so called “podrão” food), proving that the Carioca junk food culture resists with simplicity, generosity, quality and fair price.

“We recently realized that no one has never produced a “podrão” food market in Rio. We felt there should be an alternative to the gourmet, expensive food trucks’ festivals,” says Natalia Alves, who produced “Feira Nacional de Podrão”.

Ten different food carts will be participating in the market, from neighborhoods like Copacabana, Rocha Miranda and Rio Comprido, in Zona Norte, and Duque de Caxias, in Rio’s Baixada Fluminense.

With accessible prices varying from R$3 to R$30, the food options include savory “salgadinhos”, a must on Rio’s streets, like “kibe”, “coxinha” and vegan “risoles”; and a truly Carioca “cachorro-quente”, hot dog filled with corn, egg and potato.

Those into “real” burgers should try Bebezõe’s, food cart from Rio das Pedras, in Rio’s Zona Oeste. Bebezões’ greatest trademark certainly is “Tenebroso”, giant burger with a two-kilo patty, eight cheese slices, bacon, pepperoni, mayonnaise, ketchup, lettuce and tomato, all inside a 25-centimeter bread. Tenebroso costs R$30, and Bebezõe’s guarantee it can be shared between four people.

Another option junk food lovers cannot resist is “Colosso”, a 30-centimeter hot dog, filled with eight sausages, vinaigrette sauce, mayo, ketchup, mustard, corn, peas, cheese and potato. The hot dog costs from R$18 to R$20.

For desert, one will certainly not regret trying M.M. Sabores’ “açaí”, sweet made of Brazil’s Northern fruit “açaí”, omnipresent in every Carioca corner. Original from Rocha Miranda, in Zona Norte, M.M. Sabores will be serving at “Feira Nacional do Podrão” the “barca de açaí”, a megalomaniac “açaí barge” for four people, mixed with banana, kiwi, strawberry, grape, Nutella, brigadeiro and cream. The barge costs R$30.

“In the current crisis scenario, people don’t really have much money to eat out, and the “podrão” is a cheap alternative,” affirms Suzzane Malta, the other producer of “Feira Nacional de Podrão”.

Apart from the above mentioned food carts, also taking part in the event will be the famous fries by “Batata Frita Carioca”, from Marechal Hermes (Zona Norte); Churrasquinho do Rodrigo’s barbecue, from Glória; Pastel do Alê, from Madureira; Márcio’s soups and stews, from Rio Comprido.

What’s more, the market will also include a photography exhibition, handicraft stalls and DJ Leo Cersileo, from the VHS party, who will be spinning during the event.

What: “Feira Nacional do Podrão”
When: this weekend, March 17th to March 18th – 2PM to 10PM (Saturday); 12PM to 8PM (Sunday).
Where: SINTTEL – Rua Morais e Silva, 94 – Maracanã (Tijuca)
Entrance: FREE