The Great Clogger

Brazilian food is not exactly healthy. If you take for example some of the most popular dishes in the country - feijoada, acarajé, churrasco - they'll all present highly above-average levels of cholesterol/fat. Also, brazilian people tend to like extremely salty or sweet food (at least for international standards).

In the South, they have a typical hamburger wich they call "X-Gaúcho" or "Hamburguer Gaúcho". The "X" stands for "cheese", which is how this letter sounds like in portuguese. Thus, in Brazil, we have the "X-Salada", meaning a hamburguer with cheese and salad, and the "X-Tudo" (lit. X-Everything). The particularity of the Gaucho-burger is its size. The bread is almost as big as a regular dessert plate. It always comes split in halves, for it's almost impossible for one person to eat one of those alone. As for what comes inside, besides the hamburger meat you will find corn, green peas, cheese and mayonnaise, in its simpler version. There are lots of varieties. Near my house, they sell a really big one named "X-Campeiro" (Cheese Countryside). Curious about the stuffing?

- A Hamburguer

- 2 slices of cheese

- Some mayonnaise

- One fried egg

- A slice of ham

- Green peas

- Corn

- Minced bacon

- Minced Calabresa sausage

- Minced chicken hearts

- Tomatoes

- Chopped lettuce

I swear it is HUGE (and as delicious as it looks)! If you have heart problems, you'd better run away from it!

(Photographs coming soon!!!)

Extra Large food!

This is not the gargantuan X-Campeiro, it is just a regular sized X-Bacon

A delicious way to get your arteries clogged

Juicy!

Brazilian Food #1

A long time ago, the wife of a Chief indian gave birth to a snow-white girl, who she named Mani. Seeing the baby was pale as the moon, the Chief decided to kill her the next day. That night, a white man came to him in dreams and convinced him into not commiting the crime: his daughter was a gift from the Gods. The girl grew up to become a beatiful and smart child but did not live for very long. Mani died during her sleep, in a night illuminated by the full moon. She was burried inside her hut and all the people mourned the loss. Their tears watered her body underneath the earth and, days later, a strange plant appear. As it grew, its roots tore up the earth and the indians decided to cut them. Noticing the white core, they named it Manihuaca (Flesh of Mani or Horn of Mani)

Manihuaca

Manioc or cassava (in portuguese known as mandioca, aipim or macaxeira, depending on the region) is, according to my father and a famous Brazilian chef, the main component of Brazilian cuisine. It is the only ingredient widely used from North to South, by all people and to all purposes. The roasted manioc flour is a very common "side order" and people usually  mix it with rice and beans in their plate. A variety called "farofa" consists of this roasted flour with some other ingredients, usually eggs, bacon, minced onions, garlic and bananas all mixed up together. It is a real treat!

Crop of manioc

 In June and July, it is commonly served baked or fried with all kinds of meat during festivals called "Festas Juninas". The cake made up from the manioc flour is also a very common dessert sold during these festivities.

Festa Junina about to begin in a parking lot - Bird's eye view.

Grilled manioc and pork meat topped over rice

Manioc cake

Being one of the the most usual components in Brazilian cuisine, there wil be a lot about this root in upcoming posts.