A wonderful CHURRASCO this weekend! A churrasco is a BBQ, but quite different to what we're accustomed to! I had the fortune of accompanying one from beginning to end.

There are many farmers in the São Miguel area, and usually everyone tends to hold one churrasco each year. This is how the day is spent if you're hosting the churrasco.

The days leading up to the churrasco, you choose one of your cows and a goat/ sheep. You keep them separated from the rest, and leave them in an enclosure. You start spreading the invites/ news of the churrasco. And, last but not least (and probably the most important) you arrange the drinks. You HAVE to have multiple freezers fully stocked with beer, and soft drinks, at a delicious temperature of -2/-3ºC. You can count on about 200 crates of beer (each crate holds 24 600ml beer bottles). If you don't have the beer cooled then you might as well cancel the whole thing.

Warning: the next part is not suitable for the weak... Graphic descriptions... Skip the next paragraph, if you wish...

On the morning of the churrasco itself, the WHOLE (sons, daughters, grandkids, uncles, aunts, etc) gets to the farm super early, like around 5.30/ 6.00. The host gets up as soon as the light comes so that he can slaughter the cow, and let it bleed out. I did not witness this part, so not sure how it is done. When I got there with my friend (daughter of the host) around 6.30, everyone had already started to prepare the cow. The whole cow gets used, from its bones, to the meat, to the organs. The bones are cleaned of their meat and put aside for future use. The big meaty parts get cut up into large slabs, and then covered with thick salt and hung up in the sun to dry. The organs each have their own function. The tongue, heart, liver, and kidneys get cleaned and then chopped into bit sized bits. These later get fried and then mixed with the blood to make one of the local dishes. The stomach gets properly cleaned and then it joins the rest of the meat to be BBQ later. The intestines have a really tricky cleaning process. First all the s*** (excuse my language) gets squeezed out. Then the intestines get turned inside out and washed in water. Then they go through a quick boil. This a) disinfects them and b) loosens the two layers. One of these layers gets thrown to the dogs, the other layer gets boiled in water, and then dried out, for future use in the making of sausages. I think the brains actually got thrown to the dogs...

The children are sent on a wood collecting mission. They have to gather enough pieces to be able to make three or four temporary wood stoves. These woodstoves are used for multiple things, but one of these things is the making of pirão. This is made very simply by boiling the bones in water, and adding some things... Onions, garlic, tomatoes, a local green pepper (tiny thing but not spicy), pepper, salt and lots and lots of cilantro. When it is ready, we remove the bones, and let the stock really boil... When it is served, we pour the stock over the mandioc flour, farofa. This becomes an incredibly tasty mush! Its appearance definitely does not do its taste any credit!

Whilst all the above is going on, which, btw, the cutting is done by the men, a group of women gets assigned to making lunch! The churrasco only starts towards 4 o'clock. A really really big lunch gets prepared for the workers! Rice, beans, meat, spaghetti, salad. Meanwhile, the goat/ sheep which had been separated also gets killed. This I did get to watch.

Warning: again... weaklings... skip this paragraph...

In our case we had a male sheep. The slaughtering takes at least two men, but easier done with three. Someone holds the sheep down, will another guy hits the sheep really hard on its head to knock it unconscious. When the sheep is unconscious, it gets hanged by its hind legs. Then someone slits the sheep's throat, and the sheep is left to hang. This allows all the blood to flow out, and be collected, to add into the organ mixture later on. Then, the sheep gets skinned. This happens in one go, as the skin gets treated and then sold. Once skin free, all the organs get cut out, and the cutting up of the meat can start taking place. The rest of the process is the same as for the cow.

Towards 3 o´clock, the band starts arriving, and people start trickling in. So, the party can get started! The rest of the churrasco involve handing out lots and lots of BBQed meat, selling lots of beer, dancing tons and tons, and just having a super fun time with friends, family and neighbours!