Camels are not an unusual sight in north African deserts, but when the distinctive humps are spotted on the sands of Rio’s Praia do Pepe beach, it’s an altogether different phenomenon.

Yet Marco Antonio Maciel and his 6ft 6” camel on wheels are all part of the beach landscape.

Every day, Marco walks up and down the beach selling 1,000 esfihas (Middle Eastern parcels filled with ground meat, chicken, or vegetables) from a hot plate in his camel’s rear.

He’s one of the many local characters that bring Brazil’s colourful street food scene to life in a new TV series with British chef Andy Bates (Andy Bates’s Brazilian Street Feasts, Food Network UK on weekdays).

And here’s how you can recreate one of the recipes which will be featured in the series.

BEAN FRITTERS WITH PRAWN AND MANGO CEVICHE (Makes 10-12)

Ingredients: For the ceviche: 250g raw tiger prawns, deveined 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped Juice of 2 limes 1 large mango, peeled, stoned and finely diced 1-2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped 1 ripe tomato, deseeded and finely chopped Small bunch coriander, finely chopped Sea salt and black pepper For the fritters: 2tbsp dried shrimp 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed 2 x 400g cans black-eyed beans, drained 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 3-4tbsp plain flour Vegetable oil for deep frying Sea salt To serve: Hot pepper sauce Lime wedges

Method: Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the prawns and blanch for one minute. Drain the prawns, roughly chop and combine with the remaining ceviche ingredients. Season to taste and refrigerate until needed. Cover the dried shrimp in boiling water and leave to soak for 15 minutes until softened. Drain, then blitz in a food processor with the onion, garlic and chilli until finely chopped. Add the beans, blitz until smooth and season to taste. Tip into a bowl and gradually add flour until the mixture forms a stiff dough. Dip two spoons in a little oil and shape the mixture into 10-12 rough oval shapes. Heat the oil for deep frying to 160C and fry in batches for eight to 10 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and season with sea salt while still warm. Split the fritters open, stuff with the ceviche and serve with hot pepper sauce, lime wedges and a cold beer.