Typical Brazilian Churrasco Side Dishes
Meat is great, and when barbecued just right it becomes a delicious treat. But Brazilian Churrasco is not just about meat and pork sausages. Did you know there are a lot of other delicious things you can skewer and barbecue to complement your meal? In a typical Brazilian churrasco you also have onions, potatoes (both sweet and regular), garlic bread, farofa, and salad.
Each of those side dishes has a special way of being prepared Brazilian style, and they can all be found below:
Onions:
As simple as it get, just skewer them and place them over the embers at the same height as the meat. I’ll know they’re ready when you move the skewer up and down and they glide on it.
Potatoes:
You can do these just as the onions, with the same glide-when-ready rule. Or wrapped in aluminum foil and nestled on the side of the embers. You can check if they are done with a thin knife or stick, just stick the knife in them and if it goes through easily they’re done.
Garlic Bread:
Now, you can buy this one in a store, but my personal favorite always gets compliments.
All you need is soft salted-butter and garlic heads. For about 200g of butter you need 5-8 garlic cloves depending on how much you like garlic. Simply peel and crush the garlic and mix it into the butter, then spread the mixture on bread and barbecue them garlic side up! This way the butter will melt into the bread and not out of it and onto the fire.
Farofa:
Typical Brazilian Churrasco Side dishes
A very Brazilian dish, even though I have heard it referred to as “Brazilian couscous”. (I personally don’t see the resemblance.) You can make it with a lot of different types of flour and other ingredients. So to start off I’ll show you the classic butter farofa.
You’ll need:
2 tablespoons of butter
1 ½ cups of manioc flour
As much salt and parsley as you like
Melt the butter on a frying pan. Then add the manioc flour and stir until it is all golden and crispy. (Be careful, as it burns easily). Once it is all golden pour onto the bowl you’ll serve. Then add the salt and parsley, stirring it all until you have evenly distributed them.
You can make the salad however you like it. We make ours with lettuce, tomatoes, grated carrots and olive oil.
Now all you need to do, is to make yourself a cold caipirinha. Oh, and enjoy your complete Brazilian churrasco!