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Cartola — a dessert of fried plantain and grilled queijo coalho, dusted with sugar and cinnamon — begins with slices of plantain fried in butter until golden and tender. They are crowned with slabs of queijo coalho that squeak between the teeth, then finished with a shower of cinnamon sugar. It is a Ceará late-afternoon dessert, made in minutes and sealing any family lunch with a sweet ending.
Behind the flavor
Cartola proves that Brazil's Northeast can turn simplicity into an affectionate memory. It was born from the meeting of two pillars of Ceará's pantry — banana and queijo coalho, the same cheese grilled over coals by the sea — and became the state's quintessential home dessert, served from the coast to the sertão. Its name delivers the joke: the slice of cheese resting on the banana and dusted with cinnamon recalls a hat — a cartola. It is food of affection, inherited from grandmothers' kitchens, where nothing goes to waste and everything becomes a celebration: the banana that ripened too fast and the day's cheese find a sweet second life together.
📜 Ingredients
- 🍌ripe plantains (or firm banana prata)4🔁 very firm banana prata or not-too-ripe Cavendish banana — The result is softer and less substantial than with plantain, but preserves the sweet idea.
- 🧄thick slices of queijo coalho200 g (7 oz)🔁 halloumi cheese — Like queijo coalho, halloumi grills without melting; it is saltier and less milky in flavor, but its effect in cartola is very close.
- 🧈butter (preferably manteiga de garrafa)2 tablespoons🔁 unsalted regular butter — It works well; only the characteristic, lightly toasted aroma of manteiga de garrafa is lost.
- •sugar2 tablespoons
- •ground cinnamon1 teaspoon
👨🍳 Method
- 1
Peel the plantains and cut each one in half lengthwise.
If the plantain is very ripe, the peel comes away easily and the flesh is sweet and firm — the ideal point.
- 2
Melt half the butter in the skillet over medium heat and fry the plantains for 2–3 min per side, until golden and tender.
Do not move them around too much; turn them only once, when the underside is golden, so they do not fall apart.
- 3
Remove the plantains and set them aside on plates. In the same skillet, melt the remaining butter and grill the queijo coalho slices for 1–2 min per side, until a golden crust forms.
Queijo coalho does not melt: it browns outside and stays springy within — wait for the golden crust before turning it.
- 4
Arrange the grilled cheese slices over the plantains.
Cheese on top, like the little hat that gives the dish its name.
- 5
Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle generously over the top while still hot. Serve at once.
The heat makes the sugar begin to melt into the cheese — that is what creates its sheen and perfume.
🥃 Pairing
With cachaça
Aged in amburana wood
Golden and smooth, with vanilla, cinnamon and clove, and a warm sweetness.
It mirrors cartola's cinnamon and sugar and echoes the banana's sweetness, while its wood speaks to queijo coalho's saltiness — almost an additional ingredient in the dish. Serve it neat, at room temperature.
Rested in neutral wood
Pale yellow, soft, with a light woody touch.
A lighter option for those who find amburana too intense: it accompanies the sweetness without covering the cheese.
Also pairs well with
✈️ A flavor worth the trip
Queijo coalho is cartola's heart: the cheese that sings on the grill and does not melt. Halloumi is an embrace from afar and works very well — but if you ever come across true queijo coalho at a northeastern Brazilian market, taste cartola at its source, with manteiga de garrafa underneath. It is worth the journey.
💡 Quick tips
- •Serve immediately: cartola is best hot, while the cheese is still soft.
- •For a more festive version, place it in a hot oven for 3–4 min after assembling, so the sugar caramelizes lightly.
- •Very soft bananas fall apart in the skillet — choose ones that still have some firmness.
🤔 Did you know?
The name cartola is a visual joke: the slice of queijo coalho resting on the banana and covered with cinnamon resembles a tall-crowned hat — the old-fashioned cartola. It is one of the rare Brazilian desserts named for looking like an article of clothing.
Small discoveries
- Queijo de coalho · ingredient
- A firm white cheese from Brazil's Northeast that does not melt with heat — it simply browns outside and stays springy within; classically grilled over coals.
- Manteiga de garrafa · ingredient
- A liquid clarified butter typical of the northeastern sertão, with an intense, lightly toasted aroma; sold in a bottle.
- Banana-da-terra · ingredient
- A large, firm, starchier banana that withstands frying without falling apart.
📚 References
- Câmara Cascudo, 'História da Alimentação no Brasil' — cozinha doce e os laticínios do Nordeste
- IPHAN — registros sobre a cultura alimentar nordestina e o queijo de coalho artesanal
- Governo do Ceará / Secretaria de Turismo — gastronomia cearense
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