A beautiful picanha comes out of the butcher paper, and the thick white fat cap just stares right back at you. The knife hovers over it (whether to trim it or leave it, toss it or eat it) and for a cut with such devoted fans, the answer is different for just about everyone. The […]
Outside of Brazil, most diners’ experience with passion fruit is either a faint background hint buried in a combination juice or a thin decorative drizzle across a hotel breakfast plate – and neither one does the fruit any justice. Brazil actually grows a large share of the world’s entire passion fruit supply, and almost none […]
Picanha made its name on the Brazilian churrasco circuit, and beef picanha has since built a devoted following well outside of South America. The cut’s signature fat cap and its rich flavor turned it into a fixture at backyard cookouts and steakhouse menus alike. Lamb picanha comes from that exact same tradition – and it […]
Brazilian steakhouses have a very obvious promise – fire, meat and those endless skewers that never seem to stop. Walk over to the salad bar and plenty of these places will have sushi out for you – and you might find that pairing a little unusual. The story here is an interesting one. Brazil actually […]
At just about any Brazilian birthday party or Sunday lunch, a glossy and caramel-topped dessert usually makes an appearance – and outside of Brazil, most diners have never even heard of it. Pudim de leite condensado is one of the most well-loved desserts in the country, and if your only reference points are flan or […]
The skewers come around fast, the gauchos move through the room with intent and energy, and the whole meal runs on a set of unspoken laws that no one explained before you walked in. Most first-timers wind up with a polite smile plastered on their faces and a quiet prayer that they haven’t just offended […]
The brigadeiro has quite the history behind it. What started as a political symbol eventually became the centerpiece of nearly every celebration in Brazilian culture, and from there it made its way into gourmet kitchens all around the world – all from a recipe that started out calling for just three ingredients. The history here […]
Linguiça doesn’t get nearly enough attention in North American grocery stores. Outside of Portuguese and Brazilian communities, it tends to be a name people run into before they’ve ever actually tried it – maybe it was listed on a restaurant menu, or a recipe called for it and a trip to three different stores turned […]
A warm pão de queijo has a way of stopping everyone mid-sentence the first time they eat one. That thin, golden-brown shell gives way to a soft and chewy pull on the inside – and for many, that texture is all it takes to make them want to track down where it came from and […]
Bobó de camarão is a dish that pops up on Brazilian restaurant menus with almost no explanation behind it – and a one-liner just won’t do it justice. The name alone is enough to make plenty of diners stop and think, which is a pretty fair reaction to have. It’s a dish that deserves a […]
Finish a meal in Brazil, and a small cup of coffee arrives almost before the plates are taken away. The cup is small, the coffee is extremely strong, and the whole ritual happens so fast that it almost feels automatic. For first-time visitors, it can take a little while to get used to – especially […]
A Brazilian restaurant menu can make even the most well-traveled diners pause. Words like feijoada, coxinha and pão de queijo look nothing like the way they sound – and with no point of reference to go on, you either point quietly at the page or take a guess at a pronunciation that ends up nowhere […]
