A city for all people. This is undoubtedly a good definition of cosmopolitan Berlin. A wide variety of languages can be heard on a short tour of the capital of Germany. Sometimes you even hear German! Our good old Portuguese, on the other hand, is very conspicuous, like in any other part of the world.
Gastronomy accompanies this cultural effervescence, providing residents and visitors with a bit of everything. Brazilians living in Berlin and feeling homesick can find a way to soften nostalgic memories through aromas and flavors. All handmade and with many references.
From Minas to the “world”
Caio Rossiter, 34, was born in Mossoró in the interior of the Rio Grande do Norte and moved to São Paulo with his mother when he was a teenager. There he discovered his taste for gastronomy. In 2015 he went to Ireland for an exchange program and ended up staying there. And as he says, it was in the kitchen of a Dublin restaurant “that the virus spread”.
With the daily hustle and bustle of the restaurant specializing in Spanish cuisine, the profession of cook was added. In Dublin he met the Irishman Damien and married him. The couple has been living in Berlin since 2019, where Caio currently works as a driver.
Minas cheese and export cheese bread
Caio Rossiter and his Minas cheese
Image: Personal archive
About two months ago, he returned to what he loves most: cooking. He decided to sell Minas cheese almost by accident.
Caio received a suggestion and a recipe as a gift to say goodbye to Michele, a friend from Minas Gerais who was returning to Brazil.
She asked me why I don’t make Minas cheese for sale. I did some tests and it worked. A Minas Gerais family recipe passed down to a Northeast man. If things go better one day, her family might even ask me for royalties (laughs),” says Caio.
Caio came up with the idea of creating a brand based on Minas Gerais cuisine. To increase business, he also decided to sell cheese bread. And now with its own recipe. This is how the “Uai que trem bom sô” came about.
According to him, when preparing the products, it is impossible not to remember the origin. Which became the inspiration for a new recipe that is still in the testing phase.
Caio Rossiter and his cheese sandwiches
Image: Personal archive
“He brings the reference of the Northeast, from the farm, this homemade cheese. I take a lot of whey from this Minas cheese that I make and turn it into a kind of carbon cheese. It tastes very good. I remember my house that hinterland,” Caio recalls.
international success
The war between Russia and Ukraine brought some economic problems to Germany. In the first place of the complaints is the price increase in the food sector. The milk that Caio uses to make the cheese went from €1.10 to €1.39 per liter in two months. An increase of 26%.
To give you an idea, he needs 3 liters of milk to make a 400 gram cheese that sells for 11 euros. For the time being, the Brazilian guarantees that the price of cheese will not go up.
Caio Rossiter and the preparation of his Minas cheese
Image: Personal archive 
Caio Rossiter’s “mineirinha” table in Berlin
Image: Personal archive
Major customers include many from Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. But according to Caio, the foreigners who tried it approved. The case of the Berlinbased Spaniard Imobach Martin.
I’ve been looking for a cheese like this for a long time. After trying Caio’s cheese I stopped looking. It’s just spectacular. I can only recommend it,” says the Spaniard.
And since dreaming still costs nothing, Caio dreams. From a café in Minas Gerais, Germany, to a seaside kiosk in Valencia, Spain. But with his feet on the ground, he celebrates his first sales successes. And with that money he helps renovate his mother’s house in Brazil.
Brazilian pleasure for Germans to see
Pão de queijo da Nena, brand of the Brazilian Fernanda Nomoto in Berlin
Image: Disclosure
The passion for gastronomy also changed the career of Fernanda Nomoto. Born in the capital São Paulo, she moved to Berlin in 2018. And on the old continent, the 32yearold economist, who has always worked in the corporate world, decided to give her story a new direction.
Since 2019, she has been making people’s lives a little happier with her delicious cheese sandwiches with the “Nena” brand. Fernanda, who also works in a French bakery and prepares catering, named her brand in honor of her grandmother, Dona Nena, who is now 95 and healthy enough to give away and sell.
“She has always cooked a lot and we have a super strong bond to this day. Those were hours of my childhood when I cooked together. She is my biggest inspiration and responsible for my passion for gastronomy,” says Fernanda.
Pão de queijo da Nena, brand of the Brazilian Fernanda Nomoto in Berlin
Image: Disclosure
The recipe for the cheese bread comes from Dona Nena, but according to Fernanda it has some adjustments. Discovering that Germany is the second country in the world to consume organic products after the United States, Paulistana decided to develop a product without preservatives, gluten and completely vegetarian.
In addition to, of course, the great demand from the Brazilians, Nena’s cheese bread gradually came to the taste of the discerning German public.
This is an indicator of how much the population cares about health and quality of life. And although the Germans like more traditional options, they are very accepting of cheese bread,” Fernanda says happily.
In addition to selling virtually on social media and selling Latin American products physically in a store, Fernanda often attends music events and street festivals. And since the process is artisanal and everything is done in the home kitchen, the monthly production is no more than 600 rolls.
Nena cheese bread with dulce de leche
Image: Disclosure
The Brazilian is considering expanding the brand beyond Germany and has even heard some business proposals, but says she hasn’t found the right project yet. Only those who live in Berlin now have this privilege.
The affective memory of Brazilian cuisine is very strong for those living outside the country. And that comes from the handling of the ingredients, the smell when they’re in the oven, and the time to sit down at the table and taste,” Fernanda recalls.
Berlin is a city that has learned from history. He broke down a wall to unite peoples, he fights intolerance every day at all levels, unites Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Potiguars, Germans, Irish, Spaniards and many other peoples around an affective gastronomy.
The train is “good” and has room for everyone.