Chocolate com Pimenta is a Brazilian telenovela, set in the roaring 1920s, starring Mariana Ximenes and Murilo Benício. It was produced and broadcast by Rede Globo in 2003 and 2004. It was written by Walcyr Carrasco and directed by Jorge Fernando.

Mariana Ximenes do Prado Nuzzi is a Brazilian actress. Her first role was in the telenovela Fascinação in 1998 where she portrayed the role of Emília Gouveia. In the same year she played the role of Ruth Stern in the film Caminho dos Sonhos. In 2000, she played in Uga-Uga portraying "Bionda". This role rise to prominence as she became widely known in Brazil and internationally. Later in 2001, she offered her services in the Portuguese voice over translation in the Canadian/Chinese animated series Braceface, for the character Sharon Spitz. She later played the protagonist in Cobras & Lagartos in 2006 and Lara in A Favorita, later in 2008. In 2010, she portrayed her first villainous role in the critically acclaimed telenovela Passione. Since 2010 she has appeared in several telenovelas, television series, films and theatre performances. In 2016, she starred the successor of Totalmente Demais, Haja Coração, together with Malvino Salvador.