Death by Beef
Quintessential Brazil is the churrascaria, or barbeque. A churrascaria is a restaurant (usually immense in size) which, for a small fee, feeds you cut after cut of beef until you cry out for mercy. Waiters circulate from table to table with cuts of meat on skewers in one hand and large sharp knives (really, they are more like swords) in the other. People heading towards the salad bar or the washroom should exercise extreme caution. These are not toys. Customers indicate their receptiveness to eating more beef by flipping individual or table-based coasters to the green “yes please” or the red “no thanks” side. Given the green light, waiters will then stop at a table and offer customers a slice or two of their wares. Most churrascarias also have large and impressive salad bars which offer enough options to satisfy the hungriest of vegetarians.
The danger of the churrascaria is the distinct possibility that you will consume far too much meat. The problem is that it is just so tempting as it parades past that it is difficult to resist yet another piece of meat. Aside from my first few experiences at the churrascarias, I mostly manage to not overindulge. However, I have woken up on several occasions the morning after a churrascaria dinner, still full from over consumption. On the positive side, my iron levels are doing just fine!
Another fun factor at some churrascarias is the fact that the waiters like to put on a bit of a show, feigning offence at the fact that you never accept their particular cut. Nell and I went to the churrascaria near my place one of her nights in Sao Paulo. We had a terrific time watching the show of waiters as they tried to get us to accept skewered chicken hearts and other delicacies. One waiter was particularly offended with the fact that after telling him that we were absolutely stuffed, we went on to order shots of liquor from one of his colleagues. Apparently, this was cause for great consternation. As a brief aside, the purchase of said liquors led to our acquisition of the two shot glasses, a green ceramic cow foot and a green ceramic cow head. As you can imagine, they make lovely additions to my glassware collection!
On a more cultural note, the churrascaria fills a very special place in the heart of most Brazilians. Extended families will gather at churrascarias on weekends and in the evenings and will enjoy many hours of eating, talking, laughing and drinking. Most houses have built in churrascos in the backyard and any weekend or holiday is occasion to bring the family together for some barbequed meat. There is a range of churrascarias to fit almost any budget, from the R$9 Claire and I spent in Shopping Ibirapuera to R$55 at Fogo do Chao, one of the top churrascarias in Sao Paulo.
The danger of the churrascaria is the distinct possibility that you will consume far too much meat. The problem is that it is just so tempting as it parades past that it is difficult to resist yet another piece of meat. Aside from my first few experiences at the churrascarias, I mostly manage to not overindulge. However, I have woken up on several occasions the morning after a churrascaria dinner, still full from over consumption. On the positive side, my iron levels are doing just fine!
Another fun factor at some churrascarias is the fact that the waiters like to put on a bit of a show, feigning offence at the fact that you never accept their particular cut. Nell and I went to the churrascaria near my place one of her nights in Sao Paulo. We had a terrific time watching the show of waiters as they tried to get us to accept skewered chicken hearts and other delicacies. One waiter was particularly offended with the fact that after telling him that we were absolutely stuffed, we went on to order shots of liquor from one of his colleagues. Apparently, this was cause for great consternation. As a brief aside, the purchase of said liquors led to our acquisition of the two shot glasses, a green ceramic cow foot and a green ceramic cow head. As you can imagine, they make lovely additions to my glassware collection!
On a more cultural note, the churrascaria fills a very special place in the heart of most Brazilians. Extended families will gather at churrascarias on weekends and in the evenings and will enjoy many hours of eating, talking, laughing and drinking. Most houses have built in churrascos in the backyard and any weekend or holiday is occasion to bring the family together for some barbequed meat. There is a range of churrascarias to fit almost any budget, from the R$9 Claire and I spent in Shopping Ibirapuera to R$55 at Fogo do Chao, one of the top churrascarias in Sao Paulo.
posted by Karen @ 4:17 p.m.
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