* Eating 52 Countries In 52 Weeks - Week 12 - BRAZIL

Brazil is Rio, Rio is carnival, and that is what you get when you eat at a Brazilian steakhouse where food is served in the continuous "rodízio" style. Agura Churrascaria is where the grilled meat of all kinds parade from table to table as part of a colorful and joyful food carnival. The large skewers keep returning to your table in the hands of traditionally donned men as long as the green side of your card is up saying "Yes please!"

Once we were seated, a plate of beautifully tanned (I mean fried) banana and a basket of Brazilian cheese bread arrived at our table even before our drink orders were taken. The freshly made cheese bread was in the shape, size and texture of éclair shells but the slightly salty taste did not need anything else on it - not even butter.

The banana on the other hand seemed strange to be served up front and tasting a slice did not have any titilating effects on my taste buds. However, once the different kinds of meat were served back to back, it became the perfect palate cleanser in between.

Our choice of drink was a Brazilian soda made from guaraná berries. The golden colored Guaraná Antarctica has been made with the exact same formulation since 1921 and has a quite controversial TV-ad history contradicting its mild taste.

Before the influx of meat, we were given an opportunity to visit the rich "salad bar" where the word salad takes on a whole new meaning where greenery is more the decoration and carbohydrates and proteins are the contents.

Returning from the salad bar, my plate looked like this:

One hot dish that resides within the perimeter of the salad bar is fejioada - a black bean stew with pieces of sausages bursting with flavor.

We thought it was a good thing that we had some food in us already as we turned the green side of our cards up to signal the invitation for meat carriers to our table. OH BOY! The perfectly marinated, meltingly tender, appetizingly juicy, succulant cuts of meats came on skewer...

after skewer...

after skewer...

after skewer...

We turned the red side up long before we were able to sample the long list of Filé com bacon, Alcatra, Maminha, Costela de Carnerio, Lombo de Porco, Filé, Picanha, Linguiça, Coraçáo, Lombo de Porco com Queijo, and Frango.

Without wasting a second, our server presented us with the dessert menu that resulted in a dilemma in which we were finally forced to order two desserts instead of sharing one as we usually do. Rick got the very dense and thick Flan which he claimed was on par with the delicious Peruvian flans he tasted from street vendors while visiting Lima.

I, on the other hand, picked the artfully decorated Passion Fruit Mousse - very light and fluffy.

If they had "sesta" (Brazilian for siesta) on the menu, we certainly would have ordered that next. One piece of advice I would give to the prospective Brazilian barbecue diners is "do not do it at lunch time ... on a work day!"

Bom apetite!