Brazilian Churrasco

Brazil is a huge country with a wide variety of traditions in food. Brazilian cuisine can mean a lot of things, but Churrasco is the one food that the whole country identifys with. It is really part of our culture and it tells a lot about who we are.


A lot of people around the world have heard of Churrasco or experienced it at the very popular Brazilian steak houses (Churrascarias). We obviously have tons of those kinds of restaurants here in Brazil, but we also have churrasqueiras (special grill used to cook churrasco) at our houses and apartment buildings. Very often, usually on the weekends during the day, people get together for Churrascos, which means that they mingle for several hours and slowly eat slices of meat as it comes out of the churrasqueira, they drink beer and caipirinhas, chat and listen to music.

This method of cooking as we know today in Brazil is a way of "grilling" or spit-roasting meats using a churrasqueira grill and spits. The heat comes from carvao, a charcoal made from eucalyptus wood.

Most of the meats are simply seasoned with a generous layer of a very coarse sea salt specially sold for this type of cooking. The meat is salted about 30 minutes before cooking it. Before slicing the meat remove excess salt by hitting the dull side of a knife against the meat.

One of the most popular cuts of meat used for churrasco is called picanha and it cannot be found very easily in the United States. Aged picanha tends to be the most flavorful and tender.

Chicken wings, pork, pork sausage, lamb, garlic bread, and cheese are also popular at churrascos. Other cuts of beef, such as alcatra, are more reasonably priced than picanha and are also delicious. You can pretty much cook anything using this method!

The pork and the chicken we used came already seasoned, so all we needed to do was to place them on the spit and start cooking.

The meats cooking away:

Most of the meats are sliced thinly after cooked and placed on a serving plate. Usually one of the hosts passes the serving plate around so guests can try the meat. 

While some people like to fill their plate with meats and side dishes and eat it all at once, most of us prefer to slowly try the different meats as they are cooked. A churrasco can last for several hours. And that is what Brazilians most love about it. Churrasco facilitates the social interactions that we value so much. Here there is no set time for a party like this to end!





During the several hours of a churrasco, beer and caipirinhas (photo above) are consumed. Music is played.


Brothers play Samba. Friends chat.

Meat and garlic bread is passed around:

Uncle swims with niece:

A couple of the typical side dishes served during churrascos are the Feijao Tropeiro, a dish full of history that is made with beans, sausage, eggs, fried plantain bananas, sauteed greens, onion, garlic, manioc flour etc:

Vinagrete is another famous side dish. It is a simple mix of finely diced tomatoes, onions, and green bell peppers seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, and lime juice or vinegar - a refreshing option when you are eating lots of red meat!

Time flies when we are having fun. The best part of a churrasco is watch the sunset as we wrap up the day.

It is hard to replicate churrasco outside Brazil. But if you are willing to try something similar I would recommend using a charcoal grill and simply seasoning your meats with a very coarse sea salt. You could try going to a Brazilian market to buy picanha (the meat I mentioned above), Brazilian pork sausage (which is very different from anything sold in the U.S.), and other typical ingredients.