Bringing the taste of Southern Brazil to CultureFest

Last modified: 29 Sep 2020 8:40am

A weekly barbeque with friends has become business for Killinchy farm hand Marcos Weit and will be put to the test at this year’s CultureFest.

Marcos will be one of 20 food stalls featuring food from 16 different countries at the festival on Sunday 18 October at Lincoln Domain, 10am–4pm.

Marcos’ barbeque is nothing ordinary. He cooks massive chunks of meat, pitched onto huge skewers on a large charcoal grill over a pit of fire in true Southern Brazilian style.

“Some people say you have a whole beast in there,” he laughs.

Marcos seasons the meat with a pinch of rock salt and a squeeze of lemon to really bring out the chicken, lamb, beef or pork flavour.

His barbeques have already proven quite popular.

“My boss one day asks, ‘Can you cook a barbeque for me?’ And I said, ‘Okay fine I’ll do it’ and then one of his friends asked, ‘Can you do it for me too’ and because of that and doing it every week, I thought, ‘Why not, maybe I’ll try to start a business’. So I’m sort of using CultureFest to put my name out there so people see it.”

Food-lover Marcos has fond memories of helping his Dad with the barbeque every Sunday as a child back in Brazil.

He moved to New Zealand seven years ago to spend a year as a farm trainee on a blackcurrant farm in Killinchy, but stayed when his boss offered him a longer position.

Marcos says he is proud to be part Kiwi and Brazilian and enjoys playing Saturday football for Selwyn, tramping, mountain biking and skiing. Every few years, he visits family in Brazil and starts up the barbeque on a Sunday.

For more information visit our CultureFest page.