Brasil Legal For Summertime Grilling

Last week, I was 10-15 minutes early to pick up some ribs from Honey 1 for an office luncheon, so I stepped down the street to check out the often diminished inventory of Brasil Legal, Chicago's great little outpost for Brazilian Groceries.

It seemed to be a good week there. The shelves were lined with imported Brazilian black beans, manioc flour, Guarana Soda, and other goodies. I do note that I didn't see the concentrated juices that I'm so fond of on this visit.

Their little "ice cream" freezer was chocked full of American made garlicky Brazilian style linguica, those delicious little sausages that they serve at Fogo and lots of bags of the pre-frozen and delicious pao de quiejo, the cheesy bread puffs that grace the bread baskets of nearly every Brazilian restaurant both here in the US and there in Brazil.

The linguica is especially good on your summertime grill with some nice smoky undertones. I noted that in addition to the fat little garlicky sausages, there were some longer thinner sausages (the length and width of say a Slim Jim) that are worth looking into, too.

The freezer was also stocked with various frozen meals left over from the owner's weekend cooking ventures including a little feijoada.

Get there quick because when Brasil Legal sells out, its can sometimes be a several week wait for them to stock up again.

Brasil Legal
2153 N. Western Ave
(between Palmer St & Shakespeare Ave)
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 772-6650

YourPalWill wrote:I noted that in addition to the fat little garlicky sausages, there were some longer thinner sausages (the length and width of say a Slim Jim) that are worth looking into, too.

Yay! This may be exactly what I've been seeking! In an attempt to correct my spotty history with paella, I've tried (with moderate success) to make it for the family a couple of times, with various versions of Spanish chorizo. None of them seemed quite right - and then one day, because I had them in the freezer, I added some Chinese Lap Cheung to some leftovers. Of course, the flavor was completely wrong (though Sparky loved it) but the texture and fattiness was perfect.

I've since intended to post looking for a skinny, fatty, more mediterranean sausage - and this might be it! Thanks, Will!

I've been going to Brasil Legal for a while now (thanks to AnnieB!) and there are a few things which I like to get there in a pinch... The prices on those items are very high and, since the sausages are from Jersey and I go to Jersey with some regularity, I prefer to do my shopping there at the source and bring them back.

The smokey sausages are Calabresas; in the following picture are some of the long, thin lingüiças which I bought at BL last summer, after I ran out of my direct-from-Jersey imports:



We tried the little frozen cheese rolls (pão de queijo) and they're pretty tasty and a nice, no-fuss treat if you can't get to Brasil or Jersey... I have a bag in the freezer now.

A nice little shop that I'm glad is there but, as I said, the prices are high on those specialty items. Pepe's, up the street a few blocks on the same side of Western, offers some Brasilian items as well but the last time I was there a few weeks back, the stock was pretty well run down.

Antonius