Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Churrascarias - Steakhouses

I bet many of you have heard of Brazilian Steakhouse and many of you have tried this delicious way of appreciating a good meat. The Brazilian barbecue, churrasco, is made with pieces of meat, chicken, pork sausage, lamb, and some other variations. 


http://garfoebombacha.blogspot.com.br
Churrascaria is the type of restaurant where the meat is fired roasted and served in slices.  Before starting you can serve yourself some salad and appetizers... then just wait for the fun to begin! 
In some restaurants the waiters, are dressed in a typical gaúcho outfit, they go from table to table offering a large variety of meat to each customer. In Brazil gaúcho is how we call those born in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where this process of roasting the meat placed on a skewer over pits of open fire began. 
Once you sit by your table you will receive a disk which one side is green, the other side is red. While your disk is turned with the green side up the meat will keep coming... if you wish to stop, just turn the red side up.  
If you wish for a specific type of meat, you can ask the waiter, you don't need to wait until they bring it.
Here are the best steaks you will find:

  • Picanha: a prime cut of the top sirloin
  • Alcatra: top sirloin
  • Filet Mignon: the most tender cut
  • Costela: ribbs
  • Linguiça: pork sausage
  • Cordeiro: lamb
  • Vitela: veal
  • Frango: chicken
  • Porco: pork






Where do I find the best churrascaria?


Rio de Janeiro
Porcão Rio's -  located in one of the most beautiful places in Rio, where you have a view to Guanabara Bay, Corcovado e Pão de Açúcar. There are other locations such as Ipanema and Barra.

São Paulo 
Fogo de Chão - there are 4 locations in São Paulo: Moema, Santo Amaro, Vila Olimpia and Center Norte Mall.

Curitiba 
Batel Grill - it was recently renewed and now fits 480 people, they serve meat from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Australia. Its wine cellar has over 1800 bottles.

Porto Alegre
Galpão Crioulo Churrascaria - very traditional, you will watch a typical dance performance while enjoying an amazing meal in a nice ambient. 


Belo Horizonte
Fogo de Chão - amazing meat and great service.

Brasília
Fogo de Chão - capacity for 500 people, there you will be seated close to very important people such as diplomats, magistrates, and judges. 

Salvador
Fogo de Chão - besides being located in Bahia they don't serve sushi, or seafood. Their speciality is meat, good meat!

fogodechao.com.br



FYI: Ronaldinho Gaúcho received this nickname because he was born in Rio Grande do Sul. The capital Porto Alegre is one of the host cities for the 2014 World Cup.








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1 comment:

  1. Hello Everybody I am Fernanda's friend and I live in Rio Grande do Sul where churrasco is the favoirite meal for 9 out of 10 residents.
    Here in the southern most state of Brazil mostly all families have the tradition of getting together every sunday for lunch and eat churrasco. We roast ourselves ... During the event the men of the family gather around the churrasqueira ( barbecue machine) while the woman prepare the rice and side dishes to accompany the meat.
    That 's when we talk about our week, get to know the news about our family members and gossip lol.
    After the long lunch we have our regular nap and only wake up to watch on tv the afternoon sunday soccer . That is a traditional Sunday :)
    Family, churrasco, nap and soccer.
    I will be posting some steakhouses recommendations for you guys soon :)

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