Lalandia’s Pampas Grill is a restaurant that specialises in the so-called ‘Churrasco’ concept. We are proud of being the first in Denmark to cook meat in the traditional manner of a genuine Churrasco grill. Churrasco has its origins in the pampas of Brazil.
Around 300 years ago, immigrants from Europe, mainly Portugal, Germany and Italy settled in the Rio Grande do Sul region in southern Brazil. There they survived by raising and driving cattle. These cattle-drivers, in a sense “cowboys”, became famous under the name “Gauchos”. Their life was often both rugged and hard, and they often spent several weeks or months at a time on the Brazilian steppes, the pampas, moving herds of cattle. In the evening, they gathered to relax after a long day’s work.
Here they sat in the twilight around the campfire and told stories, played music and sang songs. They slaughtered an animal from the herd, placed the meat on a skewer and stuck the skewer into the ground at an angle so that the meat would be grilled “to perfection” over the embers of the fire. That was also how special occasions were celebrated, when a sumptuous meal would be prepared, with the Churrasco perhaps consisting of anything from beef to poultry, fish and pork. The meat was also accompanied by delicious accompaniments such as seasonal vegetables, fresh fruit, rice and beans.
While the meat was still on the skewer, it was cut off using a particularly sharp knife, and the tender, juicy meat was generously served to each person individually.
The meat was taken around the fire several times, until everyone was full. This genuine Churrasco tradition of preparing and serving meat was proudly passed from father to son.
A Churrascaria is known today as a type of Brazilian/Portuguese steakhouse. This is, as previously mentioned, a restaurant serving Churrasco, which freely translated from Portuguese means barbecue. The restaurant serves many different types of meat, all grilled on skewers in a special Churrasco grill which rotates the skewers so that the meat is cooked to a turn.
There are many different ways of serving Churrasco, but the most famous and wide-spread is Rodizio, which directly translated from Portuguese means rotation. Here the Passadors, contemporary Gauchos, go around the tables carving the various meats directly from the skewer onto the plates of guests. These “meat waiters” thus circulate around the restaurant offering more meat, ensuring that plates are always full. The restaurant uses the “all you can eat” principle, where guests pay a fixed price for their meal regardless of how much food they eat. Nobody should have to leave the table hungry.
This 300-year old tradition can be experienced at Lalandia’s Pampas Grill, where the entire experience and the impressive theme ensures guests feel that they are sitting in the twilight on the open Brazilian steppes.