A Taste of Brazil: Churrasco

In Brazil, a traditional way of cooking is barbecuing (churrasco) different kinds of marinated meats. In the past, Brazilians barbecued their meats by digging a pit to put coals into and then skewering the meat on wooden sticks. Many cowboys of Southern Brazil always cooked their meats using this technique only using salt to flavor it. Today, Brazilians have decorative coal pits or grills to barbecue meats, but the process of flavoring the meats is still the same. Most used type of meat is the picanha because of its tender texture that gives the beef a richer taste. Brazilians usually use beef or chicken and sometimes wrap the meats in bacon. For white meats (chicken), people marinate it with a mixture of salt, garlic, and lime juice, while red meats (beef) are still only marinated with salt. Brazilian barbecues have become very popular and many people can find them in different countries. Waiters will bring people different types of delicious barbecue every 5 minutes, so make sure to have a big appetite! Churrasco can be eaten for any occasion with salads, sauces, and farofa (manioc or cassava flour). Here is a recipe to barbecue picanha:

Ingredients

1 slice of picanha (ask for tri-tip or rump when buying it from your butcher)
Salt
Garlic paste

Cut the picanha into 2 inch-thick beefs

Leave the fat layer on it (just remove after grilling)

Rub the rock salt on the meat alone or with garlic paste

Arrange the meat in skewers or directly over the grill

Cook the meat to your preference.

In the Brazilian way, you can slice the outer layers and keep the rarer meat in the grill for more cooking. Serve with white rice, vinaigrette, or any sauce you like and enjoy!

sources: http://www.cookbrazil.com/picanha.htm, http://www.maria-brazil.org/brazilian_barbecue.htm