and if you split the words, it means ass face. seriously. anthony: ass face? leonardo paixao: it s actually exactly the words. anthony: so how was the how was your dinner tonight? were you were you busy? leonardo paixao: you know what happened tonight? it came like three clients. a lady with her husband and her chef. and she said, oh, this is my chef. he is going to eat and me and my husband are not because we re eating special food for detox. we re full of restrictions and we brought we brought our soup, so if you can please heat my soup for me because detoxing. anthony: detoxing from what? what are you, a heroin addict? i mean, go home and do some more heroin. thank you, guys. group: thank you, tony. anthony: to minas. there s always somewhere that cooks come from. usually it s the ass-end of a country.
but he threw it all out in 2000 to start the comida do buteco, an annual competition for botecos. it s a big deal here and it raised botecos from male-dominated, dirty glass joints to the centerpiece of the minera social scene. so what s on the menu? eduardo maya: boteco in minas is a bit like the italians. we eat a lot of pork here. an important thing about the boteco in minas is that they serve real food food from minas gerais. anthony: so what are we having tonight? eduardo maya: i think we are having tongue, of course. ox tongue. anthony: right, uh, i m intrigued what eduardo maya: would you like some tripe as well? anthony: i think a little tripe as well. eduardo maya: would you like some hand of the pig? anthony: yes, yes, yes. eduardo maya: so now you are gonna you are going to go deep, deep inside minas. anthony: i m happy. yes. eduardo maya: lovely. okay. [ shouts in portuguese ] anthony: ox tongue cooked with basil, mint, and pepper. perhaps the
alone. it s a philosophy that carries over to the botecos. they re basically neighborhood joints found all over brazil serving beers, cachaca, and a few homemade dishes. places like this one bar do careca. what are the requirements that define a boteco? eduardo maya: it s a place where the family is. behind the counter full-time. anthony: mom and pop. eduardo maya: mom and papa, yeah. anthony: eduardo maya is a self-taught gastronome and paterfamilias of the boteco scene here. luiz otavio, a beverage tycoon who specializes in the legendary cachaca, of minas gerais. eduardo maya: if the boteco is good, people come all over town. it s like a home outside our home. luiz otavio: it s a group therapy. anthony: what do you talk about? eduardo maya: we talk about everything but business. anthony: sports? luiz otavio: jokes. eduardo maya: sports. luiz otavio: women. eduardo maya: food. luiz otavio: food. anthony: eduardo had previous incarnations as a banker and
inhotim. a massive jurassic park for contemporary art stuck smack-dab in the middle of seemingly nowhere. a place that will make you say, what the hell is this doing here? beatriz: this museum has put minas gerais in the world art map. everybody that is in contemporary art today knows this place or have heard about this place. anthony: wow. beatriz: wow. anthony: beatriz lemos de sa is an art dealer who represents brazilian artists based in belo. beatriz: this is tunga pavilion. tunga is one of the major contemporary artists in brazil. he started his work in the 70s, and he has also this revolutionary side. he likes the transgression, so that s why he uses all kinds of
french. but why do you think brazilian food real brazilian food, does not have a higher profile internationally? boy: it s a hard question because most chefs and other people who work with food will think this everyday. galastro: we just have to figure out how to get ingredients there. group: yeah. [ laughs ] anthony: yeah. this is a problem. because a lot of the really amazing brazilian products just don t travel. you can t. galastro: you have a health department system that controls with an iron hand, you know? anthony: i can tell that. i mean, it s tough. galastro: we ve got a lot of problems here in minas with our cheese, cause it s made of raw milk. i ve never seen or heard anyone that even got sick by eating our cheese. by our blood sausage. we grew up eating that. felipe: should we bring the milk? anthony: yeah, sure. yeah. anthony: and the piece de resistance, frango ao molho pardo. chicken in brown sauce, baked in a clay pot finished with the blood of ch