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Brazilian barbecue is a cup winner

Byran Martin

Perfect marriage: In South America the sauce is almost as important as the grilled meat.
Perfect marriage: In South America the sauce is almost as important as the grilled meat.David Reist

Brazilian time, and I'm not talking, as I’m sure you are relieved to hear, about what comes up first when you google that line. It’s the next search result down, Brazilian barbecue.

It's World Cup time for the game that most of us have ignored for three years, nine months and 28 days since the previous one finished. But that's the thing about sport at the highest level, it's a pure thing, an event that brings together athletes and viewers from around the world, representing and cheering on their country. Sure, some of these international sporting events' claims to be a sport are tenuous at best - such as darts, golf and RPS. Even though they are no doubt fun to watch, any "sport’' where potentially you can drink grog and improve your game isn’t a sport, it’s a pastime.

Surely, I hear you gasp, out of the small number of examples I’ve used, the outlier is rock, paper, scissors, which is a sport as much as football is. Well maybe, I certainly won’t go up against the dozens of people that flock to the championships in Canada each year. But golf, well that’s just one way of ruining a good walk.

So it’s World Cup time for the world game. I’m not holding any candle for Australia’s chance at winning though. I hope I’m proved wrong, but this is as likely to happen as me getting a job at Brazilian Butterfly as a team leader. And, as another aside, by using businesses such as this to reinforce my point each week I have never asked or received any kickbacks. Although, I’d make an exception for the Ray Gulson Porsche centre. That new Cayman looks sweet.

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Where was I … Brazil! What better way to enjoy the World Cup than to cook and eat the food of the region and the participating countries. I can say with a fair degree of certainty that every country that plays football grills meat on their version of a barbecue. Stands to reason that if you are good at sport like football, you will need heaps of protein and grilled over hot coals is the animal way of getting your protein.

The main difference between the Brazilian or other South American version - they even have their own name for it, churrasco or asado which means, unsurprisingly, barbecue - and ours is that they cook over hot embers on open grills set up on the ground whereas we burn our meat in something like the magnificent "Grand Turbo" as sold at BBQs Galore (again, just an example, I have no desire to own one) which has flat plates, 20 or so knobs and is run by gas.

The whole experience of setting up a barbecue in the Latin American fashion is totally different. You need music, good wood, hard wood, a large outdoor area away from gas cylinders, petrol tanks and anything else that might explode. You work in a ring, start the fire early so that the embers are glowing red and starting to get that white ash building up. You get your bricks set up so that the grill will be about a foot or so above the fire pit. The heat should be that so you can only hold your hand just above the grill for five, maybe 10 seconds at best, then adjust the height accordingly. By moving the embers around and making little piles you can adapt the heat to suit the food you're cooking. The idea is to have an arrangement of meats and cuts, so there will be steaks and sausages that cook quickly, splayed out chickens and larger cuts like brisket to keep cooking as the fire burns down. A range of vegetables will be on hand if a vegetarian turns up. Like a PETA scout at a bull fight, they may not like what they see.

Having a good sauce to go with the grilled meats can certainly make the entire event more memorable. The barbecue sauce isn’t something we take too seriously, leaning toward to old favourite tomato sauce. However a well-made barbecue sauce is something of poise and beauty. In both North and South America the sauce is of utmost importance, almost more so than the selection of meat.

This sauce can go with any grilled meat, based on what is currently in my pantry and a recipe by Neil Perry, a man who knows a thing or two about grilling and an expert, I believe, at rock, paper, scissors.

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Grilled steak, with home-made barbecue sauce.

Scotch fillet or sirloin steaks, cut 2.5cm thick, at room temperature

Murray River pink salt

Grapeseed oil

1 lemon, quartered

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Have the barbecue, griddle or hot plate quite hot, like its smoking. Brush with oil, season the steaks on both side and place on grill. Let them cook without moving for two minutes, then quickly turn them 90 degrees to give that cross hatch pattern. Cook for another 2 minutes and then turn over and repeat. Hard to be exact with steaks, this will give you a rare steak if the heat and thickness are right. If you see blood come through to the upturned side you are looking a medium and then onwards from there.

Once it’s cooked to your liking, squeeze with lemon juice and wrap in two layers of foil and rest for 5 minutes. Serve with barbecue sauce and an array of vegetables.

Barbecue sauce (makes about 1 cup)

1, 2 or 3 chipotle chillies, crushed up

2 medium onions, sliced

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2 tbsp olive oil

2 chilli, crushed

1 star anise, crushed

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tin peeled tomatoes

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80ml red wine vinegar

Juice of one orange

80ml molasses

2 tbsp dark soy

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

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60ml tomato ketchup

2 tbsp Sriracha sauce

1 tsp black, pepper ground

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp potato starch or cornstarch

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1 tbsp cold water

Soak the chillies in hot water for an hour or so, then chop up. Heat oil and sauté onion, garlic, chili and anise over a medium heat for 20 minutes until really soft and starting to colour up.

Add everything else besides thickener and cook over a low heat for 30-40 minutes until it starts to get real dark and broody. Pass through a mouli and return to simmer. Mix starch and water and add the sauce, cook for a further five-10 minutes until it thickens.

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