Brazil - Australia (2-0)

On the 18th of June we had the first official churrasco grill party at our apartment in the Punta Negra building. At a Brazilian churrasco the idea is to eat as much meat as possible during a couple of hours while drinking fair amounts of beer and stronger spirits. The reason for throwing a churrasco can be almost anything but the fact that Brazil was going to crush Australia in the World Cup seemed like a good reason for inviting some friends and colleagues over to our place.

Much was at stake and I woke up early that morning, nervous.

Silvia, Gabriela and I did try the grill, or as we say here, churrasquero once so I knew that the charcoal would eventually catch fire and that the chimney worked but how would it be to grill for a whole bunch of hungry Brazilians? All Brazilian are self-proclaimed experts on how-to-grill-a-piece-of-meat-and-more-important-how-NOT-to-do-it... Brazilians learn how to cut a picanha (rump cut) before they learn how to walk! Hence, this churrasco was going to be a Do-or-Die thing for me! No time for a second chance. If I blew this most likely the word that "Ingemar does not know linguiça from salsicha" would spread like wildfire and I would lose the few friends I have made so far and not being able of making new ones.

At 9:30 AM Carlos Britez picked me up and we went together to get the meat. In Brazil you can not just go to the supermarket and buy meat for the grill, you need to rely on connections, making sure you get the best. Álvaro, at work, has a cousin that is a butcher, hence, this is a typical connection to rely on. We bought chicken wings already seasoned, picanha ("the best pieces are the smaller ones, not over 1100 grams! The fat should be yellowish because that shows it is from an older animal, which is good") and sausages, about 350 grams per person and went back to my place. I earned plus points for previosly having bought the correct brand of rock salt, on my own, without any help!

To succeed with any churrasco you need the best meat, the best salt and a churrasquero that contains the heat. I now possessed these three important ingredients and was ready for some action. Lock and load, baby, time to Rock´n Roll! Let the games begin!

Carlos and hiw wife Adi and their son Mateus arrived when the first Picanha was about to be served. Adi brought Farofa for the meat, very tasty stuff made of toasted flour and egg, mixed with vegetables (!?). Silvia´s sister Flavia with Milton and Mateus and Bruno were already there. Everbody had the Brazilian game shirt on, or Brazilian colours. The whole neighbourhood were partying and from about half of the balconies in the block the Ordem e Progresso-flag was hanging. During the minutes before kick off it was like New Year´s Eve (but during the day...)with fire crackers popping and rockets exploding all over.

Outcome: All meat was grilled and consumed. All but three beer cans were emptied. Brazil won. I still have friends in Brazil!