Kilo's

One of the most marvellous lunch-good concepts in Brazil is a type of restaurant called ‘Kilos’. Cheap and filling, they work on a buffet-esque premise whereby you take a plate when you enter the establishment, and fill it up with as many different food groups as you wish – meat, salads, stews, deserts etc, from all the different stations. The only difference is that it is not all you can eat, you only get one shot…which is a pain in the ass if you miss out an entire section by mistake, and only see it after you have paid, as you then take the now laden plate to another station, and get your plate weighed, so they know how much to charge you. Being Brazil, you then have to go to yet another station to pay, but that is another story. Considering a kilo is rarely ever priced at more than 30 Reals, it is generally known far and wide to be a bargain lunch. Especially when you take into consideration the strength of the Real these days, the intense crappiness of the Pound, and the obvious fact that a whole kilo of food is more than a sensible person can eat in one sitting…..

Caipirinhas, which means 'little hillbilly'

With only 4 ingredients to their name - sugar, limes, ice and Cachaça (a type of sugar cane rum)…and when you consider that a bottle of Cachaça retails for approximately Reals $5.50 versus say a bottle of Vodka for $20 it all becomes that much clearer why it is so easy to get a Caipirinha literally ANYWHERE in Brazil. In all honesty, the most expensive element is probably the ice.

And I do mean anywhere. For example, say you are standing on a massive sand dune /desert/cliff top that you had to slough up/down/to for 20/40/60 mins, so you could watch the beautiful sunset, quite far from anything in particular, and you feel like a cocktail. Chances are there is a guy with a white chilly bin floating around somewhere on that particular edge of nowhere who would love to facilitate that desire. In this country, if you have a cooler, a couple of bottles of cheap booze, and some ice, you can be in the beverages industry. And if that chilly bin happens to have wheels, well all the better for manoeuvring it into said precarious location. Easy as pie. Mmmmmm Pie.

Of course you can also get a Caipirinha in any old normal place  – they go especially well with sunsets being watched from beach bars and roof tops too you know, but how boring is that!?

The funniest/most ridiculous thing for me though, is that we were taught to make them when we first arrived in Brazil, by an Australian couple. So authentic. True to form, they recommended that every batch of Caipirinhas must include a third of a bottle – a rule we adhere to religiously. Luckily you only need 3 batches between 6 or so in a sitting anyway, as the Cachaça is extraordinarily lethal, ….about 50% proof,  and far too fast acting and delicious for its own good, which means you end up pretty legless pretty quickly. Be careful if you are a cheap drunk or you could be anyones…….. And just so you can find this out for yourself, here is the recipe.

You will need…

• A Bottle of Cachaça. Know you can definitely buy it in Europe, but no idea about anyhwhere else
• White Sugar. Granulated is fine, but they only have fine stuff here which also works very well.
• Limes. Depends on how much you are making, but you need at least 3 or 4 for 6 people (Good juicy ones, not the crappy freeze dried ones you get in London)
• Ice
• Some kind of jug, probably plastic for when you cant see straight and drop it.
• A mixing spoon, fairly heavy duty.

1. Cut up the limes into segments, by first cutting off the ends, and the chopping into halves then quarters
2. Drop into jug
3. Add the sugar until it covers the limes. There is a bit of trial and error here as to how much you add – we prefer them to be less sweet, but the Brazillians are mental about sweet things. Your call
4. Mash as well as you can with the mixing spoon or masher until there is lots of lime juice, and all the sugar has been blended. Remember this is a drink of few ingredients, so put your back into it.
5. Add the ice. Am not sure exactly how much you are supposed to use, but we just add until it feels about right. Very technical.  Remember though, that it will melt. This is both a good and bad thing…you chose.
6. Pour over the Cachaça. As I have already said, we tend to use about a third of a bottle for each batch…..but that is possibly the reason why I have to go to bed as soon as I finish drinking them.
7. Enjoy!!