[1] In the book Stories & Recipes, Nadir Cavazin says that the son of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (1846–1921) and Prince Gaston, Count of Eu, a child who lived in seclusion for having mental problems, had a favorite dish, chicken, but only ate the drumstick.

Empress Teresa Cristina, when she was visiting him, could not resist the tasty delicacy; she liked it so much that she requested that the master of the imperial kitchen learn how to prepare the snack.

The filling consists of chicken, catupiry cheese or requeijão and onions, parsley and scallions, and occasionally tomato sauce, turmeric.

Other unconventional ingredients, generally used for home-made coxinhas made by aficionados, include peas, chopped button mushrooms, palmheart, carrot, cooked and seasoned cashew apples, unripe jackfruit or unripe breadfruit, as well as whole-wheat flour batter or even a vegetarian version of either textured vegetable protein (soy meat) or falafel with appropriate seasonings so its taste resembles a traditional coxinha more closely.

Starting in São Paulo, the word "coxinha  [pt]" has been used as an insult, now referring loosely to people who display a lavish but dull lifestyle and hold conservative political opinions, and also police officers.