A French fry that has become a true heritage of the Rio de Janeiro suburbs. It was in Marechal Hermes, the first working-class neighborhood in Brazil—designed and inaugurated in the early 19th century by the president of the same name—that Ademar set up his stall more than 30 years ago. Near the train station, he offered hamburgers, hot dogs, and more, but he left everything aside to sell only French fries. The idea of adding portions with chicken wings, bacon, and sausage, and serving up to 3 kilograms in each bag (he never puts less than 2.5 kilograms!) was so successful that today there’s even a small factory. Machines peel, wash, and cut the ingredients. Ademar sells almost 1 ton of potatoes daily to loyal customers—the record was set during the 2016 Olympics when he sold 1.4 thousand kilograms in a single day. If the numbers are impressive, the taste of the snack is even more so, and there are those who come from outside the city and other neighborhoods in Rio just to try it. “The secret is the quality of the potato. Mine is from Dutch seed, very dry,” he reveals. In these times when frozen potatoes increasingly dominate restaurants, Ademar resists and grows every day.