Boteco brings a little bit little bit of Brazil to Bengaluru

Every neighborhood wants an ‘adda’ and in Brazil it’s ‘boteco’ — a spot the place one can chew the fats and move the peace pipe with family and friends. At the lately launched Boteco in Bengaluru, one can relish the very best of Brazilian delicacies, created and plated by the expert palms of Chef Guto Souza, while luxuriating in a little bit high quality time.

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There is way about Brazilian delicacies that may sit comfortably on the Indian palate and much more that may tantalise the tastebuds into setting off on a South American journey. Although at first look the menu card may appear peppered with tongue twisters, the descriptions are spot on and ordering shouldn’t be an issue.

Begin with the starters. Do not let the phrases cheese bread idiot you into pondering the pao de queijo is garlic bread’s Brazilian cousin. Far from it. Cheese bread just isn’t bread per se — it’s a bite-sized bun (Indian pav, ring any bells?) crammed with the goodness of cheese. Not the oozy, drippy variety however a flavourful, melt-in-your-mouth kind. And because it has been kneaded from cassava flour and is gluten free, one can sit again with a plateful of pao and a tall glass of Caipirinha, Brazil’s nationwide cocktail, however that might be a criminal offense contemplating the unfold that awaits.

Cha-Preto, Brazil’s communal drink
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Both caipirinha and the cha-preto, a communal drink, use cachaça — a distilled spirit comprised of fermented sugarcane juice — as their base. Subtly potent and never too candy, it naturally pairs effectively with the meals served.

To ease you into the flavours of Brazilian fare, different starters embody the hen coxinha which is relatively like a samosa, bolinho de aipim — deep-fried cassava and cheese croquettes and the bruschetta de inquica — French baguette bread topped with pork sausages. While it could appear the meals is predominantly non-vegetarian, there are a myriad vegetarian choices as effectively.

Polenta cream with mushroom ragu
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

For occasion, the polenta cream and mushroom ragu, and the beetroot ravioli are a delight, each to see and style. “Brazilians love rice and a lot of our food is similar to Indian cuisine,” says Guto, a truth cautious eaters can be glad to know. The curry baiano is proof sufficient. From Bahia, a north japanese state of Brazil, it’s a delicately spiced curry of greens, potatoes, mushrooms and paneer served with rice.

“Instead of garam masala, we use fresh herbs, spices and paprika, but all the rest — ginger, garlic, chillies, coconut milk — remains the same.” he says. And it’s true. The casquinha de siri — crab meat sautéed with coconut milk, palm oil, tomatoes and paprika — might be a dish from alongside India’s shoreline, apart from its cheese topping.

Beetroot Ravioli
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Then there may be farofa, finest described as podi to a South Indian viewers. Toasted cassava flour is a continuing at any Brazilian barbecue and a fried onion model of farofa is current on Boteco’s meat and seafood platters.

There is a justified buzz when the meat platter arrives. Succulent morsels of tenderloin steak, pork sausages, pork wrapped with bacon, rump steak, grilled hen and prawns, vie in your consideration whereas the grilled zucchini, candy com, child potatoes, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and paprikas are to not be left behind both. The tantalising array of sauces on the platter don’t make it any simpler — a butter, thyme and cognac-infused sauce, roasted crimson pepper sauce, pineapple salsa, cassava mash — a couple of surprising delights that add to this gastronomic affair.

Guto, who believes the unique style of any meat have to be retained, doesn’t use marinades. “I just use sea salt to enhance the taste of the meat and top it off with flavoured butters.”

Mixed meat grill
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Some of the desserts could appear acquainted however the quindim, baked custard with recent coconut, and the lemon mousse are extremely advisable. Even those that usually are not followers of custard will get pleasure from this confection in addition to the mousse for the recent burst of flavour, minus the eggy aftertaste (or odor!) that normally accompanies custard. Made along with his mom’s particular recipe, Guto says they’re a throwback to his childhood recollections. “I love quimdim! Again a dish from Bahia, it is a simple dessert but the freshness of coconut imparts an amazing flavour.”

Great meals, nice firm and the leisure to get pleasure from each; a go to to Boteco should not be rushed.

Boteco is at 16/3, Magrath Road, reverse Garuda Mall, Bengaluru. Meal for 2 ₹ 1800+ taxes with out alcohol, ₹ 2500+ taxes with alcohol

Meet the chef: Guto Souza

“Chillies came to India from Brazil while cashews reached our tables from India,” says Guto. Talking with the person is a pleasant lesson in historical past, geography and gastronomy; faculty was by no means this enjoyable. Brazil is a melting pot of various cultures — Asian, African and European — and it displays in its delicacies. “Do you know we have the best offering of Lebanese and Japanese cuisine in the world apart from those countries?”

Chef Guto Souza
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

“I’ve always been fascinated with watching my Mum cook and even as a five-year-old I would ask her to teach me,” he says, admitting that his foray into critical cooking started solely when he was about 18. “I was living with my cousin who taught me a few things and I was beginning to get the vibe of creating in the kitchen. One day while he was at work I came across a photo of a fish dish in a magazine. It was just so beautifully put together, I just had to make it myself. So I went to the store, sourced the ingredients and replicated the dish. When my cousin got home that night, he was zapped,” he laughs.

“That was my first proper dish and it was a beautiful thing for me.”

“I moved to India in 2004 because I wanted to learn how to cook Indian food and I’ve learnt to make a lot curries.” His ardour took him to Goa the place he made the acquaintance of legendary cartoonist Mario Miranda. “He was a wonderful person and even though he was much older than I, we shared a wonderful friendship. I’d enjoy a meal at his home at least once a week and he has sketched my daughter. His wife, Habiba Hydari, taught me how to make lamb biryani — one of the Indian dishes I learned quite early.”

While garlic and thyme are two of his favorite elements, Guto loves the flavour of cardamom, a style he acquired in India. “If you use it well, just a little bit of cardamom can transform a dish,” he says.

“In Brazil we have a snack called pastel — it’s dough stuffed with meat and deep fried. My mum used to make this for us with leftover dough and when I came across a puri stand in Goa, I was so excited that I simply gorged on them,” he says, including that these recollections have been immortalised within the Boteco menu because the camarao Copacabana — a small puri topped with spicy tomato sauce, prawn, aioli and pineapple chutney — on the Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru places.

“This dish is a big hit in the restaurant and people really love it. And I always tell the story because they don’t understand why I have a puri in my menu.”

Chef Guto
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Though whipping up delicacies is baby’s play for him right this moment, Guto says his consolation meals is egg fried rice.

There is fondness in his voice and nostalgia when he talks about his mom’s lemon mousse recipe. “Actually, my mother used to make it as a tart. For me, it’s not just the taste; that burst of citric freshness is more of a memory. We were four kids growing up and my mom would barely set the bowl down before we tackled it with our spoons. Sometimes a taste or a scent can transport you and this lemon mousse takes me back to my mom and her cooking.”

Needless to say, whereas everybody loves Guto’s cooking, he prefers his mom’s. “She’s back home in Brazil and she still cooks,” he says, admitting that although no dish is now too difficult, “there are some things that she cooks that I have never even tried. I know I can do it but I don’t try because I don’t want the magic to disappear.”