(Article source: Xinhua News Agency Outlook Weekly Global Magazine)
It is said that Brazil and Argentina love and kill each other, and almost everything has to be divided into winners and losers, especially on the football field, no one obeys anyone, and even the "ball king" has to be one out of one country. And when it comes to barbecue, people from both countries are naturally not far behind.
On August 20, 2017, a barbecue contest was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the picture shows participants preparing barbecue on that day Xinhua/Reuters
However, in this matter, the "confrontation" between the two countries is actually a bit "atypical". The grilled meat (mainly beef) in the two countries is derived from the Gaucho people, but the variety of beef used is different, the cutting and preparation methods are different, and the preferences and tastes vary from person to person.
The reporter of "Global" magazine lives and works in Brazil, naturally eats more and understands more about Brazilian barbecue, from the beginning of curiosity to taste every one, to later only pick a few parts each time to eat, and then gradually understand the Brazilian barbecue culture, deeply feel that Brazilian barbecue is not limited to food.
Brazilian barbecue is called locally as churrasco, and the word can be used directly in both the Portuguese language used in Brazil and in other foreign languages. According to research, the word evolved from an ancient language meaning roasted over fire.
Brazilian barbecue originates from the region bordering southern Brazil and Argentina, where the Gaucho people live by herding cattle. The Gaucho are a mixed race formed by the long-term combination of South American Indians and Spaniards, retaining more Indian cultural traditions, and they are accustomed to living on horseback, heroic and strong. The Gauchos who graze around will wear long swords and short knives with them, and when eating, they will use their long swords to wear a whole steak or whole beef leg, sprinkle it with coarse salt to taste, regenerate a bonfire, stick the meat around the campfire, and cut off a layer to eat when it is cooked, and eat it as it is roasted.
Therefore, nowadays, Brazilian barbecue buffets around the world are basically in addition to salad and side dish buffets, and waiters shuttling between tables, holding up the meat worn by a long iron braze, constantly using a knife to cut the roasted side into the customer's plate, and then take it back to the oven to continue roasting. In many Brazilian barbecue restaurants, waiters will also dress up in southern gaucho costumes and eat barbecued meat as if watching a show.
With the exception of a few areas in the south, most of Brazil's territory is located in the subtropics and tropics, so there is a need for cattle breeds with high heat tolerance. As a result, more than 100 years ago, the Indian zebu cattle were introduced in Brazil, and after continuous genetic improvement by the scientific research department, there was a breed with short hair, short growth period and tender meat, known as Brazilian zebu.
Why is it called a zebu? Because there is a bulge of muscle tissue at the neck of this cow, it looks like a large tumor. It is for this reason that barbecues in other countries do not have this part. This cow spike is called cupim in Brazil, and it is very popular because of its interlacing of muscle tissue and fat, which is particularly soft and sticky after roasting.
However, this piece of beef spike is the most troublesome to make, and it needs to be wrapped in tin foil first, smouldered and then put on the fire and grilled like other meats. Other parts of the meat are almost all sprinkled with coarse salt grains and thrown directly on the barbecue grill. Therefore, the world-famous Brazilian barbecue, in fact, can be said that there is no secret recipe, must say the secret recipe, that is, the meat quality is good, casually grilled can make people's lips and teeth fragrant.
With the development of Sino-Brazilian trade in recent years, more and more Brazilian beef is exported to China. Some people think that Brazilian beef is also average, and it does not feel tender when eaten. This is because the secret of Brazilian barbecue is not to roast until it is fully cooked. And most Chinese don't like to eat meat that is still bloodshot, and must be roasted until fully cooked, the meat will naturally be old.
The reporter once saw a picture of Brazilian barbecue, which can very illustrate the Brazilian understanding of barbecue: very unripe, sacred; Relatively unfamiliar, perfect; Just right, not bad; A little better than just now, are you sure? Fully cooked, don't tease us!
In Brazilian supermarkets, you can see that different parts of beef have different prices, and tenderloin, back rump, and veal that can be eaten by simply roasting are the most expensive, while the beef tendon meat that Chinese likes is the cheapest, and oxtail is not expensive, because Brazilians rarely stew meat (except for Minas Gerais in the southeast).
Among them, the tip of the back rump is also called triangle meat, and the barbecue restaurant will fold this piece of meat into a semi-circular arc and wear it to grill, the shape is beautiful and delicious. This piece of meat is characterized by a layer of fat on the side close to the skin, and after roasting, the meat is soaked in oil to be more tender, and the fat part is not greasy.
In Brazilian barbecue restaurants, there are more than a dozen parts of roast beef alone, and in addition to beef, barbecue restaurants will also grill chicken thighs, sausages, chicken hearts, pork chops, lamb legs, cheese, garlic bread, pineapple, etc., accompanied by fries, cheese sticks, cheese wraps, Brazilian fried dumplings, tapioca flour scrambled eggs, and a variety of salads, hot dishes and fruits that you can pick up.
Of course, Brazilians don't always eat barbecue in a rotisserie, and they can always grill meat at their home or out for a picnic. In Brazil, barbecue is also a social event, and gatherings of friends and family are usually grilled in their backyard or in public areas of the community; Brazilians like to throw parties, and barbecues are sure to have at parties on weekends and holidays.
Chinese often say that "there is no trouble that cannot be solved by a hot pot", and in Brazil, it can be directly replaced by "no trouble cannot be solved by a barbecue". During the World Cup in Qatar last year, after the Brazilian team was eliminated by the Croatian team, the reporter of "Globe" magazine wanted to comfort Brazilian friends, but saw that they posted this status map on social media: The group of friends who gathered to watch the game were sad for about ten minutes, and they all smiled after the barbecue began.
When it comes to the World Cup, you can't fail to mention Argentine barbecue. Argentina's World Cup victory last year is said to be inseparable from the fact that Argentina's players can eat barbecue every day. In order to eat barbecue, the Argentine team even gave up the comfort of five-star hotels and chose to live in student dormitories, which is convenient for barbecue. This shows how important grilled meat is for Argentines.
The reporter of "Global" magazine has traveled to Argentina several times and learned about some Argentine barbecue with local colleagues. It may be secretly said that in fact, the reporter thinks that Argentine barbecue is more delicious.
Argentinian barbecue, Spanish for asado, literally means grilled. Like Brazilian barbecue, Argentine barbecue originated from the Gaucho people, because in addition to living in southern Brazil, the Gaucho people also live in places such as the Pampas steppe of Argentina.
One of the core ingredients of Argentine barbecue is Angus beef, this breed originated in the northeast of Scotland, improved in the early 19th century to a black hornless shape, good meat quality, high meat yield, coupled with the natural fertile "black soil" of the Pampas grassland and high-protein pasture, providing a guarantee for the quality of beef.
Argentinian barbecue is either set up on the ground and the whole meat is placed around a campfire, called vertical roasting; Either put an iron rack and spread the large pieces of meat flat on the rack and grill them horizontally, which is not the same as the Brazilian barbecue cut, and the overall meat is larger and more bold.
Brazilian grilled meat only needs to be seasoned with coarse sea salt, while Argentinian barbecue does not even need coarse salt grains, a little salt or no seasoning at all, just dip it in a green sauce called chimichurri.
Like Brazilians, Argentinian parties are often inseparable from barbecue, and most family dinners on important days are eaten with barbecue. The difference is that Brazilians like to squirm with beer while eating barbecue, while Argentines like to enjoy tango with red wine.
However, when eating barbecue in the birthplace of Brazilian barbecue, you can find something in common with Argentines - drinking yerba mate. Yerba mate is made from the leaves of the yerba mate tree, and Argentines carry their yerba mate sets almost everywhere they go – tea cups and kettles, as well as leather bags specially placed on the tea set to carry on their shoulders; And if Brazilian gauchos meet fellow villagers in out-of-state, they will definitely pass a cup of yerba mate to drink together, and it must be the same straw. Former Brazilian President Dil Rousseff drank yerba mate with the crowd at a polling place in his hometown of Rio Grande do Sul when he voted in the 2014 presidential election.