Hello from Sao Paulo

Hi Julia,

Welcome to Expat.com

Armand
Expat.com Team

Olá Julia, Bom dia!



On behalf of everybody at Expat-blog, welcome on board. I hope you'll find your participation here on the Brazil Forum both enjoyable and informative.

I'm sure if you've been following any of my postings here on the English version of the Brazil Forum or on the Portuguese language version you will already know that I've been here in Brazil for many years, that I'm fluent in Portuguese and I am crazy about cooking too. You might even want to check out the following:

Traditional Brazilian Recipes

My Traditional Brazilian Recipes for your Christmas Dinner

Traditional Brazilian Sweets

If you're thinking of cooking up your own "really American style hamburger" you must first start with the very best and freshest of ingredients.



The secret to a great burger is obviously a really good hamburger patty. While the ready prepared beef patties are suitable it is far better to make your own using high quality (very lean) ground beef. A top cut of beef, either alcatra or fraldinha but still using a bit of fat from that cut is prefered for this than simply using "carne moida" that you get in the supermarket. It should be mixed with a little bit of finely chopped onion, some spices (perhaps a bit of Sazzon for meat or some finely chopped cheiro verde), about a cup, depending on the amount of beef, of oatmeal (aveia em flocos) which will help keep things together and also absorb some of the fat thus improving the flavor and one whole fresh egg. You'll end up actually with something that would be very much like the kind of mixture you'd use to make a meatloaf.  Make a good side ball of the meat mixture and using an appropriate sized tin can (opened at both ends) as a form. Press the meat ball down with something to form it into a patty about 1/2 inch thick inside the can. This should be done on a piece of waxed paper (papel de manteiga) or plastic wrap, then once you remove the patty from the form you can either cook it straight away, or place another sheet on top of it, making several to freeze for later use. This is very convenient because you end up with high quality patties that are every bit as easy to use as the commercially available frozen patties.

The rest of the ingredients for the burger must be the best possible. A good sized hamburger bun, with sesame seeds. If you can't find them at your local bakery or supermarket try Casa Santa Luzia on Almeda Lourena in Jardins, they'll surely have them.

Use the very best of Cheddar cheese if you're making a cheeseburger, other cheeses will not give the same "Yankee" flavor and tend to be a bit greasy.

Garnish your burger with fresh leaves of lettuce (iceberg or romaine "crespo"), a thick slice of tomato, a thin slice of onion separated into rings if you like onion and some real pickles ( real dill pickles are probably available at Casa Santa Luzia too). Top with a bit of mustard, kectchup and mayonnaise and you should have the perfect hamburger. If you can find thin-sliced breakfast bacon like that which is available in North America it will be a super addition to the burger as well. Fry it or microwave it between several sheets of paper towel to absorb the grease and pop it on top of the burger, close it up and ENJOY!

If you're a real fan of the Brazilian style burger you could add a fried egg, some shoestring potatoes and a bit of canned corn to turn it into a "X-Tudo", but then it wouldn't really be an American style burger anymore, would it?

Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team