Amazement in Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Porcao

How can I start writing about a place as beautiful as a dream, a place I have dreamt about for almost a decade. Everything, from when the luggage tag with GIG on it was applied to my backpack, when we caught the first glimpse of light after landing at the airport, to when our bus approached the city at night time, felt like a dream becoming true. Having dreamt of Brasil since childhood, I had high expectations for Rio. And I was not disappointed. Exploring the place during the time we spent there, two words came to mind to define the place; kindness and simplicity. Kindness, gentileza, is a quality of Rio’s people. We found the people to be kind and welcoming, favela children are happy to offer a smile and casual passer-by are ready to give a helping hand. Simplicity, as Rio is beautiful in a simple way. The stunning backdrop of the city is one of the most spectacular on Earth, amid limestone hills and a bay that was mistakenly believed by the colonisers to be the mouth of a river (hence the name, Rio de Janeiro). Simple was also the best adjective to describe the food we were able to sample during our stay in Rio. Simple but delicious. Before leaving for this trip I made a vow not to fall into tourist traps; now, after only a week in Brasil, I am aware this is likely to be an extremely hard task. I care about my bowels too much to be enticed to try food from a dodgy-looking lanchonete. However, our first dinner in Rio was in a place which is not only a tourist trap, but also an amazing restaurant. I am talking about Porcao, THE churrascaria. A churrascaria, or rodizio (I am yet to understand the difference, if there is one) is a restaurant where meat is served to one’s hearts content. The meat is freshly grilled and served carved from a sword. There was also a salad and sushi bar included in the fare, but neither of us decided to partake from it. We wanted to have as much meat as possible. The buffet, however, did look interesting; featuring seared tuna with cayenne pepper and passionfruit sauce, mozzarella rolled around sundried tomatoes and basil and mango salad with toasted sesame and nigella seeds amongst many others. The meat was memorable. A piece of sirloin was truly the most amazing piece of meat I ever had in my life. It was perfectly rare inside, but not oozing blood, grilled with merely a smear of salt, pepper and olive oil. The meat itself had that distinctive taste that only South American grass-fed free range beef has. Carnivores in Rio, go there. That’s all I can say. Other highlights included skirt, picanha (the cap of the rump, Brasil’s favourite cut of beef), the interesting ‘baby bifi with garlic’ (another piece of skirt smothered in garlic paste) and ostrich in parsley sauce. Pork was delicious too, especially ribs and what we named ‘pork potatoes’, a piece of loin marinated in lemon, garlic and thyme. We left R$200 (about £65) poorer, but happy.