Buchada, sarapatel and goat meat dishes

Offal dishes and goat meat mark the sertão and the Cariri region of Paraíba, with the Festa do Bode Rei standing out.

The goat is the star of the cuisine of Paraíba's semiarid region. In Cabaceiras, in the Cariri region, the Festa do Bode Rei celebrates goat farming and includes a gastronomic fair. The 25th edition took place from June 6 to 9, 2024, with an expected 200,000 visitors, according to the Jornal da Paraíba. The 27th edition, from June 4 to 7, 2026, debuted the gastronomic space Vila Bééé, according to Correio da Manhã.

Among goat dishes, Paraíba Business and CNN Brasil highlight bode no buraco (goat in the hole), described by chef Onildo Rocha: the kid goat cooks with vegetables, cheiro peppers and maxixe, in a pot buried under embers for about 12 hours, like a pressure cooker, resulting in a stew in its own broth.

Buchada and sarapatel belong to the family of offal dishes. Paraíba Criativa describes buchada as the goat's stomach sewn shut, with the entrails cooked inside. The magazine Fartura Brasil defines sarapatel as a stew of pieces of offal and blood, with a thick sauce, served with rice and pirão. On the origin of sarapatel, the Folha Gastronômica column, from Folha de Pernambuco, noted in May 2024 that the dish came with the Portuguese colonizers, that the name emerged in Portugal around the mid-18th century, and that its exact origin is debated, between Alto Alentejo and Goa. Accounts of buchada's origin vary and have not been confirmed, so they are not covered here.

In February 2026, Sebrae/PB and the Government of Paraíba launched the Goat Farming Route in the Cariri region, passing through Prata, Ouro Velho, Amparo, Monteiro and Sumé, and highlighting products such as yogurt, coalhada (curdled milk), liqueur and doce de leite, as well as leather production.