Flocão for Brazilian cuscuz: a US shopping guide

Shop for the dish, not just the word corn

For our cuscuz nordestino, look for a package labeled flocão de milho or intended for cuscuz nordestino. Yoki’s Kimilho Flocão lists farinha de milho flocada as its ingredient. That is a useful label example, not a required brand or a claim that a particular US shop stocks it.

A bag described only as corn flour is not enough information. Panelinha specifically distinguishes the flocão used for northeastern cuscuz from the yellow flaked corn flour used for cuscuz paulista and farofa. Read the intended preparation as well as the ingredient name.

Sources: [1] [2]

Keep substitutions out of the first batch

Our recipe has not been developed for breakfast cornflakes, fine cornmeal, grits, polenta, masa harina or wheat couscous. Do not use its water quantity and cooking instructions as a conversion chart for those products. If flocão is unavailable, choose a recipe written for the product you can buy.

Polvilho and farinha de mandioca are separate items in this collection, for cheese bread and farofa respectively. Keeping a shopping note with the recipe name beside the Portuguese label is more useful than buying several bags that all look like flour.

Check your equipment before opening the bag

Our recipe uses a cuscuzeira: water heats below a perforated basket that holds the moistened flakes. The food steams above the water. The flakes first need time to hydrate, and the basket should be filled loosely rather than compressed.

Check the steamer’s capacity and fill instructions before shopping. A standard saucepan on its own does not provide the same setup. We do not supply an improvised cloth-lined steaming method or a microwave conversion; use the recipe’s specified equipment for this version.

Sources: [2]

Read the package again when you change brands

Check preparation guidance, storage directions and allergy statements on the bag you actually have. The manufacturer cautions that ingredient and allergen information can change. Do not infer a gluten-free certification from corn being the main ingredient.

Use the measurements in the linked recipe and keep hydration water separate from the water underneath the steamer. Save the bag until cooking is finished: if the texture needs troubleshooting, its product name and preparation directions are useful information.

Sources: [1]