Ribeirão Preto (SP)

Tons of it are served in steakhouses all over the country. It's the most requested appetizer in restaurants' waiting areas. Some people like it as a pizza topping, in farofa (toasted cassava flour) or even in their burgers.

No matter how they are served, chicken hearts are a Brazilian delicacy. Domestic consumption is so high in the country that they are the only part of the chicken that the national poultry industry doesn't export.

Brazil produces around six billion broilers a year, according to ABPA (Brazilian Association of Poultry and Pork Producers), 70% of which raised in the southern states, where local demand for chicken hearts is so high that the product needs to be imported.

In the three southern states alone (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná), where chicken hearts are part of the local fare, people eat at least 4.2 billion hearts every year.



Domestic consumption of chicken hearts in Brazil is so high in the country that they are the only part of the chicken that the national poultry industry doesn't export - Folhapress

But other parts of the country have also surrendered to the dish.

In the nine restaurants of steakhouse chain Fogo de Chão, clients eat three to four tons of chicken hearts every month. The giblet is among the five most requested cuts of meat, the first being the always-popular picanha (top sirloin cap).

Aside from the high domestic demand, there is another reason for crossing chicken hearts off the list Brazilian exports: lack of buyers.

Other giblets, however, are in high demand abroad. China is one of the biggest markets for feet, legs and wings, while livers and gizzards go to the Middle East and Europe. Japan buys knee gristle, used in the popular dish yakitori.



Translated by NATASHA MADOV



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