Rodízio - The Way of the Churrascaria

If you were to look up the Portuguese word rodízio in my Michaelis Portuguese-English dictionary you'd find the following definitions:

1 water wheel. 2 shift, relay work, scheduling of work. 3 turn, rotation. eles trabalham em rodízio / they work in turns. 4 caster (wheel). 5 shady deal, sharp practices. 6 coloq gossip, plot, intrigue. 7 alternation of people, facts or situations. 8 bras a system of service in certain restaurants where barbecued meats or pizzas are offered abundantly, according to the client's taste. 

Clearly, of all these definitions, it's number 8 that most concerns Flavors of Brazil (although Flavors of Brazil also likes number 6). Rodízio is the system used in most churrascarias, restaurants that feature a huge number of grilled meats, to get their products from the grill to the diners' plates. I thought it would be interesting and instructive for Flavors of Brazil to learn a bit more about churrascarias and rodízio (incidentally, the word is pronounced ho-DEE-zee-oo) and pass that knowledge on to readers of this blog.

In recent years rodízio-style churrascarias have become Brazil's most successful exportation in the world of restaurants, and today churrascarias can be found from Paris, to New York, to Las Vegas, Singapore, Tokyo and Vancouver. The high-end Brazilian churrascaria chain Fogo de Chão, founded in Porto Alegre in 1979, now has more branches in the USA than it does in Brazil, by the score of 16 to 6. The typical churrascaria offering of a huge salad bar plus an unlimited quantity of grilled meats has proven to be internationally popular, just as it is in Brazil.

Although the Brazilian style of grilling meats, churrasco, is age-old, the rodízio-style churrascaria is a relatively new concept, and dates back at most 50 or 60 years, to the middle of the last century. But even though the concept is not old, it's origins are already lost in time, and no one is exactly sure how, when and where the idea of having troops of waiters carrying meat-laden spears wandering around the restaurant slicing off pieces of meats directly on to customers' plates originated. Many have claimed the honor of being the first to introduce rodízio but no one has been able to establish a definitive claim. Certainly the style originated in truckstop restaurants along the interstate highways in Southeast Brazil, in the populous states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná. And certainly, the proprietors of those restaurants came from the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, where churrasco originated. Other than that all is speculation and/or self-promotion.

Vilma and Albino Ondarotto, 1975

The Association of Churrascarias of the State of São Paulo (acronmym: ACHUESP) has researched this topic and has formally crowned Churrascaria 477, located in Jacupiranga, SP, as the originator of rodízio, a title that the restaurant proudly claims to this day. Legend has it that on one particularly busy day when the restaurant was full of pilgrims visiting the nearby shrine of Bom Jesus de Iguape,an overstressed waiter began mixing up all his orders, serving the wrong meat to the wrong diner. The owner, Albino Ondaratto, to alleviate the confusion, told all the waiters to grab one of the large skewers full of meat from the grill and offer meat to any and all. Many other food historians, however, hotly dispute both the crown and the legend. The only thing that is certain is that Churrascaria 477 is still open in its original location in Jacupiranga and apparently does a nice rodízio.

In the next post here on Flavors of Brazil, we'll discuss exactly how rodízio works and offer an etiquette guide to churrascarias. There are unwritten rules of behavior in rodízio , both for waiters and for customers, and Flavors of Brazil is here to prevent its readers from mistakenly behaving poorly next time they visit a churrascaria, whether in Brazil or anywhere else in the world.

A Weekend in the Country

When the tropical heat of Fortaleza becomes too much to bear, local residents often head for the hills. Nestled in the mountains at an altitude of 2850 feet (865 meters) yet only 60 miles (100 km.) from Fortaleza is the small alpine resort town of Guaramiranga. The weather there is significantly cooler than on the coast, usually in the upper 70s (25C) during the day, and down to the low 60s (15-16C) at night. For residents of Fortaleza, these temperatures are a thrillingly chilly experience, and one to be savored. In and around Guaramiranga there are a number of inns, chalets and small hotels, and in the city itself a variety of restaurants. But many residents of Fortaleza have weekend homes there, or visit the homes of friends while in the mountains.

I spent the past weekend in Guaramiranga at the home of a good friend, taking advantage of the cool weather, in bright sunshine during the day, and under clear, crisp skies at night. On Saturday, we spent the day at the home of another friend, where we were treated to the Brazilian holiday ritual called churrasco. (Click here to read a bit more about churrascos in an earlier post on Flavors of Brazil.) There was a group of a dozen or so people, including three generations of the host family and friends from each of those generations. As is typical, the party started about noon, on a large open deck which has a full barbeque-kitchen at the back and a view over the forest and a small pool at the front. The kitchen includes a full barbeque pit, a traditional Brazilian wood-stove (very different from the North American model), an oven, a brick pizza-oven, two sinks, and a wet bar.

Wood Stove

Wood-burning oven




















Coffee-making utensils

While the fires were lit and stoked, drinks were served around the large antique dining table on the shaded and covered deck, and much talk moved between the table and the cooks (who were also guests) at the grills. Courses were cooked separately, mostly one at a time, and each was served when it came off the grill. Sometimes there might be as long as an hour between courses, an hour filled with chatter, laughter and toasts.

The first course to come to the table was prepared on the wood stove. Chicken drumsticks and small, pudgy pork sausages were cooked over the fire in an enamelled cast-iron pan, then sauced with a sweet and sour sauce using local honey and citrus juices, flavored with home-grown rosemary.

Drumsticks and sausages on the wood stove

Drumsticks and sausages served

While the guests were nibbling (actually more like gobbling) the chicken and sausages, spatchocked quails were grilling in the barbeque pit. Raised just down the road, these little birds were grilled very simply, with just olive oil and salt. They came to the table crunchy and crispy, and most people had more than one.

Quails on the grill

Quails served at table

There was a longish break after the quails, fortunately. While the cooks were preparing the steaks (picanha) and pork loin on the grill, I was given a tour of the garden by the hostess. There were hundreds of bromeliads and orchids, ferns of every type, heliconia and strelitzia, and some beautiful food-bearing trees including avocado, lime, tangerine and palmitos.

Tangerines ripening

I returned to the deck just in time for the main course to be served. Up to this point, the food had consisted entirely of meat, which is typical of a churrasco. For the main course, the meats were accompanied by rice (with carne do sol and fresh bananas from the garden), manioc flour, and home-made hot pepper sauce.

Main course meats being cooked on the grill

Beef steaks - picanha cut

Rice with carne do sol and bananas

By the time the last of the main course was cleared away, it was approaching 5 pm, and since we'd begun at noon, it had already been a five-hour meal. Things slowed down a bit, coffee was made, and about an half an hour later, coffee and aged cachaça were placed on the table, and the meal ended with drinks and a coconut-cashew nut cake. Shortly thereafter, as the sun set, people began making their thank-yous, and all had left by abou 6:30 pm. A churrasco is a daytime event, and rarely goes past sunset.

Although the meal was very meat-heavy, because it was served at such a slow pace, no one became over-full. Just as the appetite reawakened, another grilled meat seemed to appear as if by magic on the table. A beautiful way to spend a beautiful day - lovely surroundings, good friends, and good food and drink.

Enough to make one want to go away every weekend!

Saturday churrasco - Part 2 PICANHA

In my previous post, I mentioned how a typical Brazilian family churrasco consists of a series of grilled meats served directly from the grill and served in small bite-size pieces. There's often chicken or pork at a churrasco and sometimes even grilled coalho cheese but there is always beef of some sort. The majority of Brazilians are confirmed carnivores, and I'm sure a large majority would say that beef is their favorite type of meat. And if asked what cut of beef is their favorite, the same majority would loudly acclaim picanha as the best, most noble cut of beef.

I've previously posted about the differences between Brazilian and North American cuts of beef, and how differing styles of butchering means that it's impossible to directly relate a Brazilian cut to a North American one. The cut known as picanha is probably the most famous example of this - Brazilians consider it the best cut, and in North America it doesn't exist. Or at least almost doesn't exist. The picanha is part of what's called "top sirloin" in North America, and it's not usually separated from the rest of that cut. On the odd occasion when it might be cut separately, the correct name is "rump cover." With that name, it's no wonder the cut hasn't become popular in North America - somehow the name lacks gustatory appeal. "I'm dying for a nice rump cover for dinner tonight" or "I think I'll have the rump cover" bring rather unfortunately visual images to mind (or at least to my mind!)

Call it picanha or rump cover, it's a delicious cut of meat, either way. A fairly thick layer of fat covers a tender and lean nugget of meat, and in grilling, this layer of fat moistens and flavors the meat. Picanha is served with the fat attached, and although most people cut the fat away, some consider it the jewel in the crown, and eat it alongside the lean center cut.

 In typical churrasco style, picanha is simply grilled, seasoned only by salt. However, salting a picanha or other cut of meat for grilling is done in a unique was in Brazil. The salt used is very coarse rock salt, and it's applied very liberally to both sides of the picanha before it goes on the grill. Here's how a piece of picanha was salted yesterday by my friend Marcos César:

Interestingly, this enormous quantity of salt doesn't mean over-salted meat. By using coarse salt and by totally covering the surface of the meat, a crust is formed during cooking, which keeps the meat inside juicy and tender. When the picanha is removed from the grill, the salt crust is knocked off, and only then is it sliced and served. I've done something similar with a whole fish - roasting it in a bed of coarse salt, and then knocking away the salt crust to reveal the juicy fish inside. In Brazil, the same technique serves to ensure a juicy and properly seasoned steak - give it a try next time you fire up your grill and serve your steaks Brazilian churrasco style.

Saturday churrasco - Part 1 PORK RIBS

This weekend is a long weekend in Brazil - Monday, November 02 is the holiday called Dia dos Finados. The name means "Day of the Dead" and it's the same holiday that's celebrated in Mexico as Dia de los Muertos (although without the laughing skeleton cookies etc.). On Dia dos Finados many families visit the tombs or graves of departed family members to celebrate their remembrance. There's a strong family-bond connection to the whole weekend. Yesterday, Saturday, I was invited to a poolside BBQ (churrasco) at the home of a good friend, Fátima Dantas Lima. There were grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, children and grandkids. There was beer and soft drinks. And there was meat, lots of it!

Rather than being a sit-down meal, the typical Brazilian churrasco is more like a multi-hour-long snacking festival. Meat is grilled in small quantities, and then served in bite-size pieces for nibbling, accompanied only by farinha, a crunchy manioc flour, and vinaigrete, a simple sauce of chopped tomato, onion and green pepper in vinegar.

Often a churrasco will start with one meat, then move on to another, and another, and another. At yesterday's party, the guests were first served pork ribs, then steaks, then spicy sausage.

In Brazil, it's very common to have an outdoor brick barbeque for cooking churrasco. The meat is grilled over natural charcoal. I've not seen briquets nor a propane barbecue since arriving in Brazil. The meat is seasoned only with rock salt and grilled. It's not common to marinade the meat, nor to apply barbeque sauces during cooking.

First up on the menu were two racks of pork back ribs. They were salted, grilled, and served unsauced.  The high heat of the charcoal and the quick cooking time insured that much of the fat was rendered, leaving crunchy bits of fat, a equally crunchy crust, and tender and juicy meat inside. Nothing could be simpler, and I'm sure meat has been cooked just like this since the beginning of time. It was superb, and a great start to the party, washed down with icy Brazilian beer (Portuguese: cerveja).

For the main course, check the following post, found here.