Pão de queijo are puffy light orbs of baked goodness with a golden shell and an interior that's cheesy-chewy in the best possible way.

It'd be easy to overlook pão de queijo amid the gluttony of a churrascaria. These Brazilian restaurants feature the gallantry that is rodízio service, in which waiters rove the dining room wielding saber-skewers loaded with various kinds of grilled meat, carved to order onto waiting plates.

It's a civilized step away from the trough of an all-you-can-eat-buffet, with each table equipped with a metal wheel or another semaphore that diners turn to “stop” or “keep it coming,” depending on how close to physically bursting they are.

Who'd bother wasting stomach space on a mundane-looking basket of rolls when sirloin, filet, linguiça and much more is visible on the dining horizon?

Luckily, one night at a churrascaria, a suave meat-swordsman stage-whispered in a compelling accent that the pão de queijo should not be missed. Google it and “pronunciation” if you want to fill your ears with the purr of the words (roughly “POW dee kay-jho”). You also can just call it Brazilian cheese bread. Mainly, you need to get it into your mouth to understand its outstanding appeal.

Pão de queijo are puffy light orbs of baked goodness with a golden shell and an interior that's cheesy-chewy in the best possible way.

They're akin to French gougères, but with more substantial centers that have a textural pull you can't quite put your finger on. That's because pão de queijo is made with tapioca flour, which is made from the cassava root and, apparently, magic. Despite its airy-then-not, glutinous texture, pão de queijo is entirely gluten-free.

A friend who grew up in Rio de Janeiro led me to Kitanda, cafes in Washington where they bake pão de queijo numerous times a day. This recipe is from the owner, Joao Boff.

2/3 cup whole milk3 cups tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)3 large eggs6 ounces canola oil or olive oil1 teaspoon salt½ cup crumbled Cotija cheese1 cup grated Parmesan cheese1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheesePreheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a mini-muffin tin.Put all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth, using a spatula to scrape down the sides so everything is blended well.Fill wells of the mini-muffin tin to the top with batter.Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool slightly, but enjoy while still warm.