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- Brazilian Cuisine:
- Churrasco:
Churrasco is the Brazilian way to prepare barbecue; churrasco and churrascarias (restaurants dedicated to churrasco) can be found everywhere in Brazil today, but the
tradition is original from the southern States, notably Rio Grande do Sul; which still concentrates the best churrascarias in Brazil.
A large part of Rio Grande do Sul is covered by the pampas (which cover also large portions of Argentina and Uruguay, producers of some of the best meat in the world),
flat lands with a vegetation which favours the farming of cattle; the gauchos (designation of the Brazilian cowboys) developed a particular way to prepare churrasco:
plenty of meat (farmers were more interested in the skin and the fat from the animals; there was plenty of meat left to eat), little condiment (usually only salt,
which was - and still is - important component in feeding animals), coal oven (wood was found everywhere, but gas wasnīt), slow cooking (gauchos spent long periods
away from home, they were no rushed); to top all this, a fabulous skill with knives.
For information (in Portuguese) about how to prepare churrasco, visit Manual do Churrasco,
particularly the Recipes section.
Churrascarias are amont the preferred restaurants of Brazilians. Most of them work in a buffet system; guests can eat as much as they like, tasting several kinds of meat.
Some of them have opened branches abroad, in USA, Europe and Japan; visit the websites of two of the most known Brazilian churrascarias: Fogo de Chão (the name means fire
on earth, reference to the ancient habit of preparing churrasco on open air, without ovens) and Porcão.
More than a typical food, the churrasco is kind of institution among Brazilians. Important events (weddings, anniversaries, football victories) are often celebrated
with a churrasco, which start in the morning and goes into the night.
- Beer:
When Brazil was a dependency of Portugal, wine was much more popular than beer; the reason was that Portuguese were producers and exporters of wine, and thus wanted to
secure the Brazilian market. Only after the Independence, in 1822, did Brazilians begin to import beer from Britain and other European countries.
Brazil have climatic conditions which favor the cultivation of all ingredients of beer; the tropical weather and the abundance of beaches helped Brazilians fall in love
with beer.
Today, each Brazilian drinks an average of 47 liters of beer per year (source: Latin American Association of Beer Manufacturers); first in ranking is Czech Republic
(158 liters per year), followed by Germany (115), United Kingdom (97), Australia (92), United States (84), Spain (75), Japan (56), Mexico (50) and Brazil. The combined
production of all Brazilian factories (included the exported beer) has been a little above 8 billion liters per year.
The biggest producer of beer in Brazil is Ambev; the name is short for American Beverage. Ambev controls more than half of the Brazilian beer market; there was ample
discussion about the convenience of allowing the merging of two other large corporations which resulted in Ambev; Ambev convinced the government authorities with the
reasoning that only with the merge would a Brazilian company stand a chance to compete in the international markets. In 2004, Ambev joined with Belgium group Interbrew,
creating the biggest beer group in the world, as measured by volume produced.
Ambev produces the following beers: Skol (market leader),
Brahma and
Antarctica. Skol is the undisputed market leader, while the other two brands fight with other
competitors: Kaiser (the Coca-Cola group had a participation in this beer - only venture of the group in the alcoholic market; Coca sold its shares to Canadian Molson),
Bohemia (the oldest Brazilian brand still existant; established in 1854) and Schin.
There are several other brands, many local and regional, which donīt have much relevance in the national market.
Even with the clear predominance of Ambev, the competition for small shares of market is fierce. For example, just until 2002, Schin was a minor player; in 2003, the
company invested massive cash in a publicitary campaign, which allowed them to gain a few points (worty milions of bottles and $$$) and fight over the second position
in market share; as a result, 2004 saw a sharp increase in beer marketing.
Brazilians donīt complain much about beer propaganda; besides loving beer, they love the beautiful women that often appear on commercials; visit the next link to
check out samples of women in beer commercials in Brazil.
For more information about Brazilian beer, visit the sites below (all in Portuguese only):
República da Cerveja (The Beer Republic): congregation of people who produce beer in small scale; tips on how to produce, recognize and enjoy good beer.
Professionals of Beer: site maintained by people who work in the beer market
Professionals of Beer: maintained by the industry; updated information about the market.
Cachaça and caipirinha
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