Slow Burn
Sarina Lewis has a lesson in bovine anatomy at Barbacoa, a Sao Paulo meat-eaters institution
There is something slightly disconcerting about ordering the night’s meal from an anatomy chart – particularly when said chart is being perused over what can only be described as an unusually alarming bowl of pre-dinner nibbles; belly, rear-end or hump, we mused, toothpicks battling to spear a delicately fried chick heart (taste like iron and not at all pleasant when paired with a minty caipirinha).
Brazilians don’t run shy of a little meat.
Of course for those that know the history of the barbecue, this is information that will come as no real surprise. Though Australian’s may have staked a cultural claim on the act of incinerating meat over flame in an outdoor setting, the Arawak Indians of the Southern Americas enjoyed something of a head-start. Legend has it that it was this tribe that introduced the intrepid Columbus to this culinary art, sparking the slow European spread of the techniques and rituals of the South American-style barbecue; a simple feast of meat roasted over a fire built on stones, and all with the aid of a wooden grill.
Needless to say, when it comes to Brazilian specialties there is nothing like the barbecue. And when it comes to Sao Paulo – so informs our genial local host – there is no better barbecue experience than Barbacoa.
Taking its name from the Spanish word denoting the green wood grill used by the Indians to broil meat, Barbacoa embraces the idea of a high-end, traditionally-inspired Brazilian steak house. It’s the modern-day equivalent of a gathering of peões gaúchos – South American cowboys – only in a much fancier setting (chaps and bandanas not permitted).
Which is, to bring a long story full-circle, precisely how we found ourselves choking down chicken pumpers and studying our very own D.I.Y beef-butchering guide in the heart of the city’s Itaim district.
The process begins with a visit to a vast and impressive salad bar, though any hope that this evening can be anything more than a decadent protein-fest is quickly quashed as the waiter begins to make his rounds, hot, charcoaled cuts of meat on a tray held high.
We bypass the first of 23 different cuts in the offing (costela, or rib, “the fat concentrated in the centre ensures the fire never dries out the meat”) and choose instead the cupim – hump of the Brahma steer.
“The prized and marbled meat of the zebu (Brahma) steer… the cut is roasted whole over charcoal for four hours” the meat chart crows. It is tender, smoky and a perfect medium-rare, blackened just slightly by the wood-fired flames.
Next up, a petite slice of filè mignon, a cut made tender “due to its lack of contact with the animal’s limbs”. Two cuts down, only 21 to go.
Flipping over our plastic disc from green to red (a handy device that lets wait-staff know when too much is enough), we take a moment to digest before diving in for one final round: Picanha, a special rump steak cut diagonally across the meat fibres for which, we are informed, no equivalent Australian cut exists.
Perhaps not surprisingly it tastes a lot like every other piece of beef chewed that evening, though the knowledge we are on to something unique was some relief when the indigestion hit.
Two hours and too much meat later we valiantly attempted to tackle the tempting confections crowning the dessert trolley, though with little success. Stuffing us in to the back of a taxi, our host announced that – with Brazilian cuisine down – the following night would be dedicated to discovering the best of Italian in Sao Paulo (the city’s population of more than 10 million inhabitants houses one of the world’s five largest Italian communities).
“Our pizza is the best outside Italy, and,” he assures us, adding with what could be a twinkle in his eye, or could simply be my suffering a momentary meat-induced black out, “there is no beef.”
Fast Facts
Barbacoa Itaim - Rua Dr. Renato Paes de Barros, 65. Ph. +55 (11) 3168 5522
There is a lot more to cuisine in Sao Paulo than beef (though Barbacoa is an experience the carnivorous shouldn’t miss). Some of the best Italian can be had at A Tal da Pizza (Rua Meandro, 430, Granja Vianna, +55 (11) 4612 0198), while Sao Paulo’s huge Japanese population – the largest outside Japan – searches out better-than-Tokyo cuisine at Jun Sakamoto, Rua Lisboa, 55, Pinheiros, +55 (11) 3815 9247.
For more information on the best spots to dine in Sao Paulo contact the Brazilian association of gastronomy, hospitality and tourism, +55 (11) 3327 2089/2088.