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Typical Brazilian
churrasco. From left to right and down, fraldinha, picanha, chicken
heart, sausages, bread with garlic sauce, sliced picanhas with garlic
and chicken legs. |
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Churrasco is a Portuguese
and Spanish term referring to beef or grilled meat more generally. |
Differing across Latin America and
Europe, churrasco is a
principal ingredient in the cuisines of Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, Uruguay,
Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries.
A Churrascaria is a restaurant serving grilled meat, many offering as much as
you can eat: the waiters move around the restaurant with the skewers, slicing
meat onto the client's plate.
In Brazil, churrasco is the term for a barbecue (similar to
the Argentine, Uruguayan, and Chilean
asado) which originated in southern
Brazil. Brazilian churrasco contains a variety of meats which may be cooked on a
purpose-built "churrasqueira", a grill or barbecue, often with supports for
spits or skewers. Portable "churrasqueiras" are similar to those used to
prepare the Argentine and Uruguayan asado, with a grill support, but many
Brazilian "churrasqueiras" do not have grills, only the skewers above the
embers. The meat may alternatively be cooked on large metal or wood skewers
resting on a support or stuck into the ground and roasted with the embers of
charcoal or wood.
