Churrasco

Churrasco is Brazil's barbecue tradition: large cuts of meat, seasoned with little beyond coarse salt, grilled on long skewers over charcoal or wood embers. It is a weekend gathering at home as much as a restaurant meal; a churrascaria is the restaurant that serves it, and rodízio is one way those restaurants serve it.

What it really is

Cuts are salted, threaded onto long metal skewers and cooked over the steady heat of charcoal or wood embers rather than directly in the flames, turned so the fat renders and the surface browns without burning. Picanha — the top sirloin cap with its band of fat — is the best-known cut; others such as costela (beef ribs) and fraldinha (flank), linguiça sausage, chicken and chicken hearts are common choices, but no plate has to include all of them.

Churrasco and rodízio are not the same thing. Churrasco is the grilling itself, and a backyard churrasco is just as much churrasco as a restaurant one. Rodízio is a restaurant service style in which waiters, called passadores, go from table to table carving slices straight from the skewer, continuing until the guest signals to stop — often with a small card that is green on one side and red on the other.

How it's served

• Sliced from the skewer, at the table or at the grill.
• With simple sides: farofa, rice and beans, a tomato-and-onion vinaigrette salsa, salad and sometimes grilled pineapple or cheese bread.
• In a rodízio, cut after cut until the guest turns the card to red.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the cuts and say whether it is a fixed selection or rodízio service.
• Plain beef with coarse salt carries none of the 14 EU allergens, but the other components need checking one by one: linguiça and other sausages can contain soy, milk or gluten depending on the product, garlic bread contains wheat and milk, and marinated chicken depends on its marinade.
• Name pork and chicken explicitly when they are part of the selection.