Abará
/abaˈɾa/noun
A Brazilian Afro-Brazilian dish made from seasoned black-eyed-pea paste wrapped in banana leaves and steamed.
Did you know?Abará is associated with Candomblé ritual cuisine, where foods made from black-eyed peas can carry religious and cultural significance rather than being merely everyday dishes.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Yoruba
Àbàrà
“A steamed bean-based food or cake; the precise transmission into Brazilian Portuguese is associated with Yoruba culinary vocabulary.”
16th–19th centuries
West African languages
àkàrà / àbàrà
“Bean-based foods prepared in West African culinary traditions, carried across the Atlantic through forced migration.”
Colonial Brazil
Portuguese
abará
“A dish of seasoned bean paste wrapped in leaves and cooked by steaming.”
19th–20th centuries
Brazilian Portuguese
abará
“A recognized Afro-Brazilian food, especially associated with Bahia and Candomblé communities.”
Modern English
English
abará
“A Brazilian steamed black-eyed-pea dumpling or cake, usually described in writing about Bahian cuisine and Afro-Brazilian culture.”