Brazilian maionese is a potato salad, not the jar of mayonnaise. It is the cold bowl at a backyard churrasco and the usual plate next to young chicken (galeto) in the Serra Gaúcha. Diced boiled potato, often carrot, bound with mayonnaise, salt, and a little onion. It is mild on purpose. The fire already has salt and char.
What it is
The job of this bowl is fat and cold against the meat. In Rio Grande do Sul it sits with galeto and polenta. In São Paulo and Minas it sits with the rest of the barbecue, next to toasted cassava flour (farofa) and Brazilian tomato-onion sauce (vinagrete). It is not German warm potato salad and it is not a picnic bowl heavy with pickle relish and mustard.
Ingredients (about 8 sides)
- 2 1/4 lb (1 kg) waxy potatoes, peeled
- 2 medium carrots, peeled
- 3/4 cup (180 g) mayonnaise
- 1/2 small onion, minced very fine
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, or parsley and green onion (cheiro-verde)
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) fine salt, then taste
- Optional: 1/2 cup (70 g) cooked peas; 2 hard-boiled eggs, diced
Method
- Boil the potatoes and carrots in salted water until a knife slides through, usually 15 to 20 minutes for the potatoes, a little less for the carrots.
- Drain. Let them steam dry 10 minutes so the dressing does not turn watery. Dice both into about 1/2-inch cubes. Cool completely.
- Fold the cold vegetables with the mayonnaise, onion, herbs, and salt. Add peas or egg if you want.
- Chill at least 30 minutes. Taste again when it is cold; cold food takes more salt. Keep the cubes; a paste is another salad.
When it goes on the table
Make it in the morning. Keep it cold. Put it out when the first linguiça or chicken comes off. A spoon next to the meat, not on top of it. Vinagrete and farofa still belong on the table. The galeto plate is written out here: what to serve with young chicken (galeto).
What to leave out
No sweet pickle relish. No celery seed. No mustard-heavy dressing. No barbecue sauce in the bowl. A little onion is enough. If you want acid, put vinagrete on the meat, not more vinegar in the salad.
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