The Glittering World of Brazilian Cuisine
When he revealed in an interview with Culture Trip that a meeting with Brazil’s Alex Atala of DOM fame had convinced him of the potential of the cuisine to take hold here.
The mounting accolades for DOM have undoubtedly helped bring Brazilian food to the attention of the fine dining establishment, but it’s a real mix of other trends and influences that is really putting Brazilian food in the spotlight….
What’s fuelling the Brazilian barbecue flames?
South American food has been gaining popularity here for some time. First we took Mexico to our hearts with restaurants like Wahaca taking our tastebuds beyond the Tex-Mex experience. Next, raw seafood paired with citrus took centre stage with a real buzz surrounding the food of Peru, and eateries such as Ceviche championing the cuisine. And now? Well, it’s clearly Brazil’s time to sparkle.
Apparently, there was a little-known event called the FIFA World Cup last year, which just happened to take place in Brazil. In the run up to the event all the research seemed to suggest that Brazilian products would receive a real boost from the nation’s time spent in the spotlight - market intelligence firm Mintel even termed the trend Club Tropicalia. While the tournament is long finished and we can barely even remember England’s early exit, it seems the predicted food fanfare has followed the fans home.
We love the idea of footie fans scouring the streets of Britain for Brazilian restaurants, but the Brazilian food they may have become most familiar with on their travels are ‘boteco’. The Brazilians are particularly creative when it comes to these tasty bar snacks and it’s their love and passion for social, informal foods like this that’s been fuelling the flames of the Brazilian trend back in Britain.
In Brazil there’s an annual competition dedicated to the celebration of the bar snack and though it’s interesting to note that beer brand Leffe launched something similar here last year, our bars and pubs could clearly learn a thing or two from their Brazilian counterparts.
In many ways, Brazilian food is the logical food progression from the massive low-slow-and-smoked American barbecue trend of 2014. Barbecue dominates food from South Brazil, though the traditional cooking shuns charcoal in favour of cooking hunks of meat over huge chunks of wood, ensuring smoking and cooking are combined into one.
Marinades are used to bring out maximum flavour, keeping use of fats to a minimum. Combine our reignited carnivorous streak with the fantastically diverse range of street snacks available throughout Brazil and it’s easy to see why the British food scene, with its burgeoning interest in street food, is picking up the best bits of Brazilian.
We are also starting to see more ‘churasscaria’ (barbecue restaurants) with ‘rodizio’ (all you can eat) style service opening up in the UK. Here diners graze on delicious sides and brightly coloured salads at the buffet and work their way through roasted meats and fish, signalling to waiting staff with coloured cards when they’re ready to consume more.
Another trend that’s helping us to adopt Brazilian food and flavours is that of the ‘clean eating’ lifestyle. Those who are trying to cut processed foods will find that Brazilian recipes are particularly accommodating – staples like nuts, tapioca, cacao and lean meats cooked without oil fit the clean eating ethos for many. And, let’s not forget their favourite berry, the acai, is heralded as a super food. The Brazilian attitude to eating is starting to be recognised as a healthy one, in spite of those deep-fried bar snacks…
Why we should eat more Brazilian
When it comes to government guidelines about eating it’s interesting to compare our own 5-a-day fruit and vegetable policy with the all-encompassing advice from the Brazilian government. Official guidelines in Brazil rolled out last November have been winning over nutrition fanatics, thanks to a focus on the social sharing of food as well as a general common sense approach to consuming a balanced diet.
Rather than focussing solely on what you should and shouldn’t eat, the guidelines encourage the preparation of fresh food and urge Brazilians to eat in the company of others where possible. You can read the recommendations in English here but the ten rules below offer a summary of the advice offered:
- Make natural or minimally processed foods the foundation of your diet.
- Use oils, fats, salt, and sugar sparingly in seasoning, cooking and culinary preparations.
- Limit your consumption of processed foods.
- Avoid consumption of ultra-processed foods.
- Eat regularly and mindfully in appropriate environments and, whenever possible, in the company of others.
- Shop in places that offer a wide choice of natural or minimally processed foods.
- Spend time developing, exercising and sharing your culinary skills.
- Make food and eating important in your life, and plan your time around it.
- Out of home, eat at places that serve freshly made meals.
- Be cautious of food advertising and marketing.
Useful Brazilian food phrases
We imagine at this stage of reading our humble introduction to Brazilian cuisine you may be starting to feel a little peckish. So, anticipating your eagerness to duck into your nearest Brazilian restaurant to address your well-being balance and grumbling tum, we’ve gathered together a few Brazilian food phrases, which should give you a head-start when tackling the menu…
Acai
The acai berry comes from the acai palm tree. It’s usually served up in smoothies or as ‘acai na tigela’, a bowl of acai smoothie with granola or tapioca on top.
Brigadeiros
Condensed milk combined with cocoa powder makes these sweet snacks that are a favourite with children, though Jamie Oliver wasn’t a fan when he tried them last summer.
Cachaça
The most popular alcohol of Brazil, this spirit is distilled from sugarcane juices. It’s the star ingredient of the Caipirinha cocktail, one of Brazil’s most successful exports to date.
Cassava
This versatile root vegetable makes its way into many Brazilian meals. It can be simply fried, boiled in stews or made into cakes and desserts. Incidentally, it also happens to be a paleo-friendly starch.
Churrascaria
A place where churrasco style food is served – meats, cooked on a rotisserie using the traditional methods of the gauchos of Southern Brazil. Expect your food to be roasted over charcoal or the embers of wood.
Empadão
You might be familiar with the empada – a small pie filled with minced meat or vegetables. Empadão is the name for a supersize empada and the empadinha is a smaller cupcake-sized pie.
Moqueco
A type of Brazilian fish stew that contains salt water fish slow cooked in coconut milk and tomatoes, sometimes with the addition of prawns.
imenta-de-cheiro
This aromatic pepper is the foundation of many marinades and stews.
Rodizio
This is the name given to a type of restaurant service, whereby waiters serve meats to patrons as they are cooked, with guests signalling whether they wish to eat more using a card system.
Tapioca
Another staple of the Brazilian diet, tapioca in Brazil is made from the cassava root. It’s used to make everything from delicate crepes through to breads and cakes.
How to give your business a Brazilian makeover
While you won’t find a Brazilian restaurant on every corner or even in every British neighbourhood, there are a number of independent Brazilian eateries in the UK as well as some growing chains. Brazilian street barbecue joint Cabana ventured north at the end of last year, opening up a branch in Leeds.
And it’s not just the flavours of Brazil that is driving demand for Brazilian food – it’s that laidback attitude, relaxed yet attentive service and all of the easy options for healthy eaters too. These are elements that are easy to adopt at your own eatery and could reap fantastic benefits for your business. Here are a few ways you could make your own catering venture a little more Brazilian:
- Adopting rodizio-style service could help you reduce food waste at your buffet. As well as encouraging interaction between waiting staff and guests, you may also find that it helps you boost sales of extras such as drinks and desserts.
- Brazilian barbecue uses different cuts of meat to those traditionally popular in the UK. Learning to cook with these could help you adopt a more ‘nose-to-tail’ approach, reducing waste and decreasing your bill at the butchers.
- The informal sharing of food is easy to factor into your floor plans – think about introducing longer tables with benches where groups of friends can chat as they eat.
- If your food is fresh and unprocessed, don’t be afraid to highlight it on your menu. People who like to eat healthily enjoy eating out too!
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