American comfort food

Last night I made good old fashion 'traditional' American-style hamburgers. You know the ones: thick, juicy, with onions, garlic, salt and pepper mixed into the ground meat, served with cheese and grilled onions, tomato, lettuce, ketchup and mustard. Plus moments-ago-fresh hamburger buns from the bakery down the street.

Luiz and I had to pinch ourselves. We practically said in unison: "Why haven't we been making these more often?"

To be fair, the burgers here are great. They are always fried in a pan or on a flat grill. I’ve never seen ground meat at a BBQ (unless spiced and wrapped around a skewer, Lebanese style – mmm-mmm!)

Late-night munchies are often satisfied by a humungous “X-tudo.” I love this twist of language. The letter X in Portuguese is pronounced “sheesh.” This sounds somewhat like the English word “cheese.” The Portuguese word for “everything” is “tudo.” So if you want a Cheese Burger with Everything you ask for a X-tudo. And believe me – Brazilians know the meaning of “with everything.” Fried egg included.

But in the end – man I loved that home town burger last night!