Almost every Sunday, when we lived in São Paulo, we would walk over to the bakery just down the hill from our apartment, and buy 2 chickens.  Even today, I can almost smell the aroma wafting up from the bakery, more than 15 years later.  They were a memory that was worth trying to recreate.  In our São Paulo neighborhood, quite a number of households didn’t cook.  They had “people” for that.   You could only get the chickens on Sunday, because you see, Sunday was the maid’s day off, so it was either pizza or these chickens.  Practically every bakery, and there was a bakery on almost every block, had these types of chickens and the one near us served theirs with potatoes.  These bakeries had spectacularly delicious bread, too.  And many had a little lunch counter and “coffee bar”.  As you might imagine, coffee was everywhere in Brazil.  But back to the bakeries and their chickens.  What made the potatoes so good, was that they were par-boiled and then placed in the broaster under the chickens.  Then, as the chickens turned on the spit, the goodness on the chicken dripped down and those potatoes finished cooking in that deliciously, flavored broth.  When you purchased your chickens, the attendant would cut the chicken into pieces, place them in a plastic bag-lined take-out box, throw some of those potatoes on top and then drizzle a couple of large spoons for the drippings over everything.  You would buy a loaf of bread, because there were drippings to mop up…I did mention drippings, right?  (Inhaling deeply…) I swear I can smell that aroma right now.  Which is okay, because I have my version of Brazilian chicken in the oven, with potatoes, at this very moment.  I haven’t quite recreated it perfectly.  Maybe the memory is better than the chicken was, or maybe it was that walk to the bakery and the moment itself.  So this will have to do…for the moment.

Let’s break this down a bit.  It’s much simpler than this sounds.  Once you do taste this, this will be your go-to dinner and it’s great for entertaining, as well.  I make up a triple batch of the rub (it makes a great gift from the kitchen, too).  It’s also pretty good sprinkled on the potatoes.  You’ll want to use 3-4 teaspoons per chicken.

To simulate the broaster, I use a rack that has “legs” and stands above the potatoes by about 2 inches, but one that rests on the edges of the pan will work very well, too.

The day before, so Saturday, make your seasoning and rub that all over the chicken, getting it into every possible nook and cranny.  When you do this, get up close and personal with your fowl.  Refrigerate it overnight or up to 48 hours.

When you par-boil the potatoes, you’ll want all of them to be about the same size.  I cooked these for about 8 minutes.  It’s difficult to see, but the center is still quite raw; it’s a bit lighter in color. Place the par-boiled potatoes in a deep pan (at least 2 inches deep and preferably one that can go on the burner, but that’s not a deal breaker), and add the broth.  Place a cooling rack, over the potatoes,  then the seasoned chicken on the rack.  It’s a good idea to take the chicken out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before you’re going to cook it.  Just before you slide the chicken into the oven, “shower” it with some extra salt.

You should be able to see some grains of salt on the bird (there in the middle of the breast).  This will make for a crisper skin.  Most Brazilians I know have never met a salt shaker they don’t love…black pepper it another matter entirely.  A squeeze of lemon or lime juice is nice, so you might want to have a bowl of wedges on the table.

If you don’t wish to roast a whole chicken, I seasoned some bone-in, skin-on thighs and just placed them skin side-up directly on top of the potatoes.  It worked pretty well, but of course the bottom of the chicken didn’t brown, but you could put them on a rack, as well.  They were still wonderful.  I would imagine you could use bone-in, skin-on breasts.  When you use pieces of chicken, you’ll need to cook the potatoes until they are at least half-cooked through.  Whatever you choose to do, it will be delicious.

Now that’s Sunday dinner, Brazilian style!