Acaraje of Salvador

Acaraje is a fritter of peeled black-eyed peas ground with onion and salt, shaped with two spoons and deep fried in dende, the red palm oil that came from West Africa with the people who were enslaved and brought here. It is split and filled with vatapa, caruru, dried shrimp, salad and pepper sauce, and eaten standing. Its origin is religious: it is the food of Iansa in Candomble, and the women who sell it, the baianas de acaraje, wear the white dress, headwrap and beads of the terreiro, which is not a costume for tourists. The trade was registered by IPHAN as Brazilian intangible heritage in 2005, protecting both the recipe and the right of the baianas to the streets. Abara, the steamed version, is sold alongside.

Highlights

• Fritters fried in dende - black-eyed pea paste in red palm oil.
• The baianas' white dress - terreiro clothing, not a uniform for visitors.
• A Candomble offering - the food of Iansa, sold on the street.
• Registered heritage since 2005 - the trade protected by IPHAN.

When to go

All year; stalls work afternoons and evenings. An hour.

Before you go

Dende is heavy and does not agree with everyone the first time. Pepper sauce is added by default - say nao quero pimenta if you do not want it. Quality varies widely between stalls; the busy ones are busy for a reason. Cash only.

Nearby

Rio Vermelho has the best-known stalls; the Pelourinho is up in the old city.