Brazilians Eat Cupcakes...Right?

Yesterday, I attended a really fantastic Brazilian churrasco hosted by my friend Phillip. Phillip's annual meat-shindig is a must-attend; nowhere else are you ever going to find a better piece of beef.

Phillip doling out a portion of the 20 lbs of meat he purchased for the event.

One of the reasons the meat at Phillip's churrascos is so good is that he always uses a lot of picanha, which is a cut of meat not often found in the United States. Phillip procures his beefy goodness at Ana Brasil, which I understand is one of the few places locally where it can be purchased. It's utterly juicy, incredibly tender, ever-so-slightly gamier than most cuts of beef, and just melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Here, see for yourself.


Sorry, vegetarians.

In addition to the meat centerpiece, there are also always lots of other Brazilian treats available at these churrascos. Wonderfully sauteed couve (Brazilian collard greens); gallons of feijão (Brazilian black beans), and delightfully rich brigadeiro. And, of course, no Brazilian party would be complete without lots and lots of caipirinha, a delicious and rather dangerous drink made from a Brazilian alcohol called cachaça.


After a serving of this, you can justify another pound of meat.
And another caipirinha.

As for me, I needed an excuse to use my new cupcake caddy, so I strayed from the theme and brought a version of these cupcakes made with French vanilla cake, chocolate filling, and caramel buttercream icing topped with chocolate chips. When Phillip heard I was bringing cupcakes, he told me he looked them up in his dictionary and the proper word for them was "queques," but despite checking several Portugese-English and Spanish-English dictionaries online, I can't collaborate this. In fact, the only thing I found online that translated "queque" for me was this.

Phillip?



Well, whatever it is that queque actually means, suffice it to say that I like it.