#6 Brazilian Cooking

#6 Brazilian Cooking
Exotic, Tropical Recipes from South America

Parabens! Today is very special, two years ago our friends arrived here in Canada to live and work from warm tropical Brazil. They have traded hot sunny beaches for 5 to 6 months of cold and snow but they don't complain. Even their two dogs arrived ready to take on this strange white stuff for the very first time in their cute little coats. It's been a very long process but finally this Friday they got their long awaited papers, they now have confirmation of permanent residence. In several ways their lives have been on hold but now we can all rejoice with them, they're landed! The next part of the confusing immigration process requires them to drive south, cross the border into the US, turn around and come back for a new entry stamp in their passports, this will make it all official. They are braving Canadian winter roads to do this right now! So in their honor I add a Brazilian cookbook that showcases some of the new foods they have introduced to our family.

If you haven't been to a churrrascarias restaurant, the highlight can be summed up in one word, MEAT! We joke and say Brazilian cuisine is meat, meat and more beautiful meat all cooked and served from long pointy swords, we were wondering how they would get these through customs but they made the journey into Canada just fine. Sure there will be some black beans and rice and wonderful little cheese buns with the most unique texture but the star of the meal will be the meat. Harking back to their strong gaucho tradition this seems to be the man's job to cook, this is good since it's heavy work, tons of meat are run through on each sword and it is set over an open pit or in wall sized grills. The photos show our friend getting ready to grill, note there's NO onion or vegetable matter taking up valuable room on the sword, just MEAT! The other picture shows a family meal with beautiful dishes including rice, feijoada black beans with smoky sausage, and all the trimmings that go along on the side, delicious! They have also brought a bit of the sunshine to the Far North with the drink called Caipirinha, lime and cachaca, it's wonderful and is shared communally. It's a great way to get a party started! We look forward to sharing a celebration toast with them when they return and become even more Canadian! So cookbook #6 is Brazilian Cooking by Carla Barboza Pinto.