Ixta Belfrage’s recipes for charutos with spicy tomato broth, and guava, curry and chilli meatballs

Flavours of Brazil combine with Lebanese and Italian influences in these deliciously untraditional dishes

Lebanese food is my go-to when I’m back in Brazil and I need a break from Brazilian food. My favourite Lebanese restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, Basha, makes the most incredible meat-stuffed cabbage rolls, charutos Libanais (which means Lebanese cigars and is the Portuguese name for the dish malfouf). They are served in a fragrant tomato broth and come with pimenta caseira (homemade hot sauce) and lime wedges to squeeze over, in a beautiful union of Lebanese and Brazilian cuisine that inspired today’s first dish.