🇧🇷 Brazilian Cuisine

Churrasco

Prep Time 2 hours
Servings 8
Difficulty Medium

Brazilian-style barbecue featuring large cuts of beef seasoned with coarse salt, slowly roasted on skewers over charcoal, a tradition central to Southern Brazilian culture.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs beef top sirloin cap (picanha) or rump roast
  • 3 tbsp coarse sea salt
  • 4 skewers or rotisserie spit
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder (optional)
  • Chimichurri sauce for serving

Instructions

  1. 1 Cut the beef into thick steaks about 2 inches thick, keeping any fat cap intact as it bastes the meat during cooking and adds tremendous flavor.
  2. 2 Season the beef generously on all sides with coarse sea salt, pressing it into the surface, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.
  3. 3 Thread the beef onto large skewers, bending each piece into a C-shape so the skewer passes through three times, ensuring the meat stays secure during rotation.
  4. 4 Grill the skewered beef over hot charcoal, rotating every 10 to 15 minutes, maintaining a distance of about 12 inches from the coals to cook slowly and evenly.
  5. 5 Once the exterior is beautifully charred and the interior reaches your desired doneness (medium-rare is traditional), slice thin pieces directly from the skewer onto plates.
  6. 6 Serve immediately with chimichurri sauce, farofa, vinagrete salsa, and white rice on the side.

Did You Know?

Brazilian churrasco originated with the gauchos (cowboys) of Southern Brazil who would slow-roast large cuts of beef on swords stuck into the ground around open fires on the pampas grasslands.

From The Culinary Codex — http://theculinarycodex.com/dish/brazilian/churrasco/