Churrasco (pronounced shoo-RAS-koo) or Brazilian barbecue was the traditional staple food of the gaúchos or cowboys of Southern Brazil.

The meat was originally cooked over coals, usually in a pit dug in the ground, skewered in metal spits. The only seasoning was coarse salt and each gaúcho had his own churrasco knife which he used to cut pieces of meat from the spit. People in southern Brazil have churrasco pits built in their backyards with bricks or incorporated into a wall with decorative tiles around the edges. (In the US, we use a gas grill!)

It has evolved into an elaborate meal, with different salads, sauces and farofa accompanying the meats. We start with caipirinhas, served with nuggets of sausage skewered on toothpicks and end with pudim de leite (Brazilian Style Flan) or torta de banana (Brazilian Style Banana Pie).

The meats used most often are Brazilian sausages, different cuts of beef, pork tenderloin and chicken. In the US, we use chouriço or a good spicy pork sausage in place of Brazilian sausages, t-bone steaks and sirloin strips, chicken thighs and drumsticks, and the pork tenderloin or pork chops.

(The recipe above does not have the version in portuguese language because all brazilian knows how to do and mainly how to eat churrasco.)

(Não apresentamos a versão em língua portuguesa porque todo brasileiro sabe fazer e principalmente comer churrasco.)