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 […]
Skewers of picanha arrive at the table still sizzling. Coils of sausage follow – then the lamb, then more beef. Brazilian churrasco is less of a meal and more of a procession of meat, rich and salted and charred over an open flame. Most guests show up hungry with their attention fixed on the food, […]
Plenty of drinkers assume cachaça is Brazilian rum with a different label on the bottle, and it’s not an unreasonable place to land. The two spirits are made from sugarcane. They have deep roots in tropical climates, and they like to show up in the same kinds of cocktails. With that much in common, it […]
Brazilian restaurants work very differently from what most of us are used to back home, and it takes a minute to get your bearings the first time around. Walk in, and instead of a host handing you a menu, you’ll probably get a ticket pressed into your hand before you’ve even spotted where the food […]
