Story by Michele Cross

It began as an ordinary day in April. The sun rose above the urban forest of high-rise buildings, transforming the sky into a kaleidoscope of colors and casting its warmth. We sipped coffee and read the news. The birds arrived filling the air with gleeful chatter as they indulged on their buffet of banana, papaya and mango. Morning peace eventually gave way to the flurry of getting ready to meet our friend, Cris. She arrived around noon, and we hopped in her car eager to embark on the day’s adventure. As we traversed the streets and neighborhoods of São Paulo, we discussed the mission. First stop, an açougue (butcher shop), followed by a padaria (bakery) and then a visit to a beer store known for its wide selection of Brazilian microbrews. Rodrigo had invited us to his home for our first churrasco (barbecue) and a futbol (soccer) game featuring his team, the Palmeiras. The day would become one of the highlights of our three-year work assignment in Brazil and inspire another extraordinary journey.

Churrasco is a quintessential Brazilian experience. It slows the pace of life and allows you to share the gift of time with family and friends. A day spent outside in lively conversations as you prepare the fire, coals and an array of grilled food. The air is abuzz with laughter and thick with the aroma of a savory family meal.

What is it that makes a family meal so special? Is it the time together? Or the comfort of a home-cooked meal? A meal prepared with love by mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, an aunt, uncle, cousin, or perhaps a friend. A meal whose ingredients are carefully selected from proprietors of local businesses you know and wish to support. Likely all of the above, as well as the home and table that beckon you to dine.

The Bootcamp

That warm sunny day in April 2018 marked the beginning of a cultural and culinary journey. My husband, David, quickly took to studying the art of preparing a churrasco. At each gathering, he found his way to the grill and conversation with the churrasqueiro, the person in charge of the barbeque. Our Brazilian friends, ever superb coaches, shared their experience gained while grilling over the years with fathers, grandfathers, uncles and friends. Replete with lessons learned, they imparted their knowledge with the care one takes when bequeathing a family tradition to the next generation. Over time, David began to assist. He shadowed the churrasqueiros, helped to build the charcoal fires, and became a sous chef of sorts. He learned to prepare each course and eventually made his way to the front of the grill. In April 2019, we came full circle. One year after our first churrasco, Rodrigo invited David to be the churrasqueiro at his birthday celebration. A final test and graduation from his studies: cooking for a group of thirty Brazilians spanning three generations. Family and friends greeted him with warm smiles, laughter and encouragement as they watched an American take the helm at this treasured Brazilian family affair.

The Experience

A churrasco is an experience that unfolds over the course of a relaxing day. The morning focuses on preparing the food. The afternoon is spent organizing the area de churrasco, an outdoor kitchen and dining area where the grill and charcoal fire are brought to life. As guests begin to arrive, they typically settle in with a beverage such as a beer or a caipirinha: the national drink of Brazil. Traditionally, a caipirinha is made with fresh lime juice, cachaça (a distilled sugarcane spirit) and sugar served over ice. It’s a drink well suited for the warmth of the tropics, as are other fruit variations such as mango, passion fruit, strawberries or pineapple.

The menu often starts with appetizer courses such as grilled pão de alho (garlic bread) and queijo coalho (grilled cheese). The choice of meats that follow vary depending on preferences, and amount to roughly half a pound in total per person. When hosting, we usually start with an assortment of linguiça (sausage), chicken, and occasionally pork belly or ribs. This is a feast where rookies can fall victim to a full stomach before the main beef courses arrive. One might liken it to a culinary marathon, lasting hours, which allows guests to relax and enjoy good conversation with the gathered company. While you could opt for any cut of beef, we favor the Brazilian cuts of picanha (sirloin cap) and fraldinha (flank steak) seasoned simply with good quality coarse salt and cooked mal passado (medium rare).

For those seeking reprieve from the meat-forward menu, you’ll find comfort in the side dishes. Traditional sides can include maionese de batata (potato salad), couve (sautéed collard greens), vinagrete (a refreshing diced tomato-onion vinegar salsa) and farofa (toasted cassava flour). I also like to add a mixed green salad tossed with homemade red wine vinaigrette, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. This addition always elicits a laugh and commentary from Cris, who early on declared my salad a “decoration” that looks nice but that no one would eat.

The Team and Presentation

Preparing a churrasco is a team sport. The churrasqueiro is often joined by a group of tias (aunts) and/or mães (moms), who make the side dishes, and a trusted assistant, who quickly cuts the courses as they come off the grill. The queijo coalho and linguiça are cut into bite-sized pieces. The beef is sliced against the grain into thin strips. The feast is served warm and family-style, often presented on a wood board on the table or in a dish that a younger family member might pass around, making sure to offer the selection first to the elders. With just a few people helping, hosting 30 is as manageable as hosting 10.

Bringing a Taste of Brazil Home

As our time in Brazil drew to a close, we began to appreciate the deeper impact Brazilian culture had had on us. It would always hold a special place in our hearts and our friends knew that too. They visited in the days before our move and brought gifts that would evoke fond memories of friendship, family and festive meals for years to come. A churrasco cookbook, a wooden cutting board and a carving knife with our names engraved. Nearly everything we needed to bring a taste of Brazil home.

Yet one thought remained. How would we create a genuine churrasco experience in the United States? Undeterred by the scarcity of time or the global pandemic, we embarked on our last excursion with Cris. Once again, we hopped in her car and traversed the streets of São Paulo. Waze guided us to a seemingly abandoned and dilapidated building, home to the showroom of Largrill. Our mission? To buy a live fire grill, a grill fueled by hardwood with fire yielding embers and flames that infuse the food with a rich smoky flavor.

With that purchase, we turned the page to our next chapter. Traveling over 5000 miles, we returned to Chatham and the start of another epic adventure: the creation of an outdoor kitchen at our home. We envisioned a space that would fuse Brazilian and American cultures, and celebrate Cape Cod coastal living, New England history, geology and craftmanship. A venue where we could feature locally-sourced food and play host to churrascos and other sea- and farm-to-table meals.

Build It and They Will Come

The design of the outdoor kitchen started as a pencil drawing sketched during the pandemic. It featured a live fire grill, a sink, a high-output burner, a wood-fired oven, a refrigerator and a large table. As the design evolved, we prioritized sourcing materials locally and working with local craftsmen and artists. Cape Cod and New England, abound with hidden treasures, proved to be the perfect place to incubate and cultivate design ideas. Driftwood from Provincetown. Wood from an 1860s sheep barn in northern Vermont. Cut nails from America’s oldest nail manufacturer, Tremont Nail Company (Mansfield, MA). Stone veneer quarried in New England and other reclaimed wood and stone from Cataumet Sawmill.

Bringing the kitchen to life took a village. A village of immensely talented masons, craftsmen and artists who transformed stone, wood, metal and other materials into key elements of the space. Joren Smith of Elements Concrete Inc. (Newburgh, ME; formerly Chatham) translated our ideas for color schemes into concrete counters, a sink, and an 1100-pound tabletop that would seat 14 to 16 people. Scott Feen of Atlantic Workshop (Orleans, MA) transformed driftwood into a rustic table light which would illluminate evening meals with a soft warm glow. Raul Frausto (Hyannis, MA) helped personalize the space, engraving soap stones for the fire box and resurfacing granite for the wood-fired oven base. And Steve Swain of Frying Pan Gallery (Wellfleet, MA) added a touch of local art with the installation of a steel North Atlantic right whale mother and calf.

With the construction complete, the time had finally arrived to welcome family and friends.

Alma da Familia & Cape Cod Living

Labor Day weekend 2023 marked the official opening. Three generations of family gathered to celebrate Dad’s birthday. With the lingering warmth of the summer sun and a gentle breeze off Nantucket Sound, it was a perfect day to enjoy a churrasco in the comfort of our new kitchen, affectionately named, Alma da Familia, Portuguese for “soul of the family”.

The menu? Queijo coalho, pão de alho, linguiça (mild and spicy), chimichurri chicken, marinated pork belly, picanha, smashed potatoes and “decoration” (a lightly-dressed mixed green salad). We purchased most of the ingredients at Gol, a Brazilian grocery store in Hyannis. And no birthday would be complete without cake and ice cream. We treated Dad to a beautiful camping-inspired chocolate cake from Cape Cod-based Handmade with TLove (@handmade_with_tlove) and an assortment of ice cream flavors from Cape Cod Creamery. Ice cream sundaes with flavors like Dennis Double Chocolate, Truro Turtle, Sandbar Swirl and Monomoy Mud Pie, became a tour of the Cape for the kids and adults alike. For those seeking warmth, the firepit played host and offered a fine selection of roasted marshmallows and S’Mores.

It was a day filled with much love, laughter and good food cast amidst the beauty of outdoor living on Cape Cod. Grown-ups and kids playing games in the yard. Leaves rustling in the wind. Birds and butterflies dancing gracefully about. The sun giving way to the moon. The glowing light and warmth of the fire tempting you to stay a little longer and admire the stars. One of those days you wish you could turn back time and revisit. It was everything we had envisioned and more.

While the traditional churrasco remains a staple on our summer menu, over the years, we’ve adapted and experimented with other locally-sourced ingredients. Fresh tomatoes and vegetables from Cape Abilities Farm (Dennis), Hart Farm (Dennis) and cheese from ACKGoia (Brewster) pair well with grilled meat, in addition to offering options for those looking for a lighter meal. In 2024, we repurposed an antique steel military cart to create a pop-up oyster bar with a harvest from Dennis, Barnstable, Chatham, Wellfleet and Duxbury. I imagine the menu will evolve in 2025 as we continue to explore and discover other purveyors of ingredients from local farms and the sea.

Why not give churrasco a try? Bring a taste of Brazil to your summer grill. Whether you are on Cape for vacation, the season or full time, all you need is a grill, a Brazilian-inspired menu of your choice, and a group of family and friends willing to spend a relaxing afternoon and evening dining in your “test kitchen”. I suspect it will be a highlight from the summer of 2025: a day in which you enjoyed a slower pace of life, cherished time with family and friends over a savory meal, and outdoor living in this beautiful place called Cape Cod. Perhaps you might even find yourself at the start of a new journey.

Michele is a leader who drives impact for her clients and society through her work to combat fraud and corruption. She has lived in the US, Japan and Brazil and eagerly embraces any opportunity to explore, engage and learn about history, cultures, languages and the arts. Michele, a lifelong outdoor enthusiast, counts paddleboarding on Nauset Marsh, fly fishing for striped bass on Brewster Flats, and hiking among her favorite things to do on Cape. She enjoys creating dining experiences focused on locally sourced ingredients.