Recent Brazilian Crossover Dishes

Recent Brazilian immigration accelerated in the 1980s when Brazil was experiencing hyperinflation and economic woes as well as the lingering effects of political dictatorship. Brazilians at first came from the southern provinces to East Coast regions with established Portuguese-speaking immigrant communities, such as New York and southern New England. Many of these immigrants were undocumented, and so estimates of Brazilian-born Americans today range from a few hundred thousand people to more than 1 million. The immigrants tended to move into service industries, including restaurant work, and construction trades. Chain migrants from the cattle province of Minas Girais established restaurants specializing in the all-you-can eat Sao Paolo “churrasco” barbecue, where waiters bring skewers of various meats (mostly brined before rotisserie grilling) and slice them at the table. As Brazilian communities expanded in Texas and Florida (Disney World had long been a favorite for wealthier Brazilian families), there arose national chains of churrasco restaurants, or “Brazilian steak houses.”