Brazilian Hamburger

Brazilian Hamburger = hamburger, bun, ham, mozzarella cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and scrambled egg = delicioso !

Our Favorite Brazilian Food

On Thursday we had to go to Sao Caetano/ Sao Paulo to sign some documents for the sale of our house and to deliver the keys to the new owners. Afterwards we celebrated the sale of our house, which took 10 months, by going to a "churrascaria" (Brazilian steak house) for our favorite Brazilian food - churrasco. Churrasco is a large variety of steak cuts and various other meats cooked over a wood fired grill. Unlike American style BBQ, there is no BBQ sauce used for churrasco. It is absolutely awesome.

Brazilian Food

There is a large mixture of people from other countries in Brazil, especially in Sao Paulo, so you have a wide variety of foods available. There are many "estrangeiros" (foreigners) living in Brazil, including Japanese, Arab, Jewish, Italian, Portuguese, European, Hispanic, Chinese, Korean,... Typical Brazilian food is very good, and we enjoy it very much. Here are some types of foods that are available here:

- Typical Brazilian meal: rice, beans, meat (chicken, beef, or sausage)
- Feijoada: traditional meal, started by black slaves in Brazil; is a stew made of pork & beef, smoked sausage, black beans, and bacon; served with rice, greens, and farofa (a type of flour mixed with things like bacon, or sausage, and other things).
- Churrasco (my favorite): Brazilian BBQ (without BBQ sauce); a large variety of beef cuts, along with chicken, sausages,...
- Seafood ("frutos do mar"): a large variety of dishes with fish, shrimp, squid, and others.
- Pizza: cooked in a wood fire brick oven; typically thin and does not have tomato sauce; a huge variety available & very tasty.
- Italian foods: large variety of lasagnas, spaghetti, and pastas.
- "Esfihas" : these are made of bread stuffed with chicken or sausage or beef with cheese.
- Brazilian Hot Dog: it sort of looks like a hot dog, but has cheese & fried potato sticks & sometimes mayo & corn & cheese & peas & ...
- Cheese bread "pao de queijo": very tasty round pieces of bread with cheese
- Salgados: a snack type of food with many varieties available; a typical salgado is bread or fried dough filled with chicken, cheese, beef, or sausage.
- Guarana: very popular & good Brazilian drink made from guarana fruit
- Tropical Fruits: huge variety of tropical fruits
- Fruit Juices: a large variety of flavors; we like it mixed with milk
- Brazilian Coffee: puts American coffee to shame; very good & strong
- Desserts, Sweets: huge variety of "tortas" (pies), "bolos" (cakes), pastries, and other goodies
- Acai: a popular dessert made from the acai fruit; can be combined with granola &/or other fruits

(one thing to note: most Brazilians think that it is gross to drink milk with your meal)

Fathers Day In Brazil

Fathers Day in Brazil is on the 2nd Sunday of August, so technically I get to have 2 Fathers Days, one in June (American) and one in August. This past Sunday we celebrated Fathers Day with our good friends Junior and Elma and their families. They are a blessing in our lives, and they and their families have practically adopted us, so we spend alot of special occasions with them. Brazilians love to get together with family and friends, and we had a great time. There was lots of good Brazilian food, including our favorite - churrasco. Churrasco is a variety of steak and other meat cuts, and is cooked in a "churrasqueira", which is a wood-fired or charcoal-fired brick oven. There is no barbeque sauce, but the meats are seasoned very nicely with a course salt and sometimes other seasonings. It is awesome.

A Brazilian Birthday Party

Last night we went to our good friends Junior & Elma's house for a birthday party for their son Joao (John in Portuguese), who turned 5 this week. We have been very close friends with Junior and his family since we first visited Brazil on a mission trip in 2005. His family have practically adopted us, and he and his entire family have helped us a great deal since we moved here. They are truly a blessing from the Lord in our lives.

A Brazilian birthday party is similar in some ways to an American party - there is alot of food, a cake with candle(s), presents, and they sing a birthday song, although it is very different than the "Happy Birthday" song Americans sing. Brazilians know how to have fun, and we are amazed at how they can regularly stay up late at night and then have no problem the next day. Last night they hired a company called "Personal Pizza" to provide the food, and you could get any kind of pizza you wanted with any type of topping you could imagine (bacon, "calebresa" - sausage, chicken, mushrooms, 5 different cheeses, onions, corn, peas, eggs, tomatoes, dried tomatoes, tuna, sardines, olives, peppers,... Brazilian pizza is very different than American pizza, but it is very good). After the regular pizza they made many different types of "pizza doce" - dessert pizzas. Great food and a great time.

some of the guests waiting for their personal pizzas

Junior & Elma, their son Joao and daughter Isabella, and other kids ready to sing

some of the many types of "pizza doce" - dessert pizzas

Brazilian Food

In the Sao Paulo area there is a large mixture of people from other countries, so you have a wide variety of foods available. There are over 1 million Japanese, over 1 million Arabs, and also many Jewish people, Italians, Portuguese, Europeans, Hispanics, and Chinese. Typical Brazilian food is very good, and we enjoy it very much. Here are some types of foods that are available here:

- Typical Brazilian meal: rice, beans, meat (chicken, beef, or sausage)
- Feijoada: traditional meal, started by black slaves in Brazil; is a stew made of pork & beef, smoked sausage, black beans, and bacon; served with rice, greens, and farofa (a type of flour mixed with things like bacon, or sausage, and other things).
- Churrasco (my favorite): Brazilian BBQ (without BBQ sauce); a large variety of beef cuts, along with chicken, sausage,...
- Seafood ("frutos do mar"): a large variety of dishes with fish, shrimp, squid, and others.
- Pizza: cooked in a wood fire brick oven; typically thin and does not have tomato sauce; a huge variety available & very tasty.
- Italian foods: large variety of lasagnas, spaghetti, and pastas.
- "Esfihas", "Lanches": these are made of bread stuffed with chicken or sausage or beef with cheese.
- Brazilian Hot Dog: it sort of looks like a hot dog, but has cheese & fried potato sticks & sometimes mayo & corn & ...
- Cheese bread "pao de queijo": very tasty round pieces of bread with cheese
- Guarana: very popular & good Brazilian drink made from guarana fruit
- Tropical Fruits: huge variety of tropical fruits
- Fruit Juices: a large variety of flavors; we like it mixed with milk
- Brazilian Coffee: puts American coffee to shame; very good & strong
- Desserts, Sweets: huge variety of "tortas" (pies), "bolos" (cakes), pastries, and other goodies