Week 18: Picanha

I had never had Brazilian food. Nor I knew what the Brazilian cuisine was famous for. After this week I will not be able to say so again.

I have been invited to a birthday party in a Brazilian restaurant in East London. The atmosphere was quite cheerful since the very beginning and the music very nice. To break the ice I got caipirinha. Where else should I drink caipirinha if not in a Brazilian place!? Then dinner arrived. We had decided to share platters, so we could try and taste more things. We digged ourselves into:

-         a platter of beef with pork belly, chicken thighs, pork chops, beef ribs, sausages, and picanha steak (picanha is a particular cut of beef quite popular in Brazil similar to the top sirloin cap);

-         a platter of fish with calamari, octopus, king prawns, mussels

-         a platter of vegetables with grilled courgettes, butternut squash, Palmito (heart of Palm), beetroot and halloumi cheese

-         more caipirinha

All served with a side salad and farofa, a toasted cassava flour mixture. Its smoky and slightly salty taste is delicious when sprinkled over the meat.

Everything was delicious and filling. That is why it was great that a certain point the restaurant transformed itself into a club, so that you could shake off all the calories of the meal with some dancing. Suddenly two beautiful Brazilian dancers appeared to initiate the party, dance samba and make everyone feel like being in Rio’s Carnival. I must say that from what I could see Brazilians know how to enjoy themselves.