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Feijoada is a rich bean stew with pork and sausages. There are many versions of this dish. I have enjoyed this one.
500g dried beans (butterbeans or red kidney)
300g chuck steak
175g Chorizo- halved and sliced
200g-pork spare ribs -diced
175g bacon (in cubes)
100g black pudding –sliced
200g peeled tomatoes-crushed
One quarter white cabbage- diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 medium onions-sliced
150ml olive oil
1 cup of red wine
250ml chicken stock
One half cup of parsley
One half cup of coriander
3 fresh bay leaves
1tsp ground cumin seed
Salt and pepper-to season
1 orange sliced
1 chilli- finely sliced and steeped in 2 tbsp. of good olive oil
Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
Drain the beans and rinse under cold water.
Boil the beans in plenty of salted water until tender.
Drain the beans and set aside.
In a large heavy based pot brown the pork spare ribs in the olive oil for approximately 20 minutes on a medium heat.Add chuck steak, black pudding, bacon and chorizo and cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove meats from the pot leaving the oil and cooking juices.
Place onions, garlic and bay leaves into pot and cook until golden.
Re-introduce meats to the onion mixture.
Add tomato, seasoning, cumin seed, stock and wine and cook on a low heat until meats are tender (20 minutes –30 minutes).
Add cabbage and cook a further 20 minutes
Add parsley and coriander just before serving.
Taste for seasoning and serve onto a platter.
Place garnish on top.
Serve with steamed rice.
Wherever I have traveled in the world it is always the food borne of necessity- “peasant food” cooked with local produce, leftovers and love that always excites. In the seaside areas of Portugal the seafood the fishwives cannot sell at market is thrown into a pot, fortified with cheap wine, potatoes and tomatoes to emerge as an amazing, filling, seafood broth known locally as caldeirada. In Brazil the national dish is a heavily flavoured, hearty and exotic mixture of pork, palm oil and beans known as Feijoada. It was introduced to Brazil by the African slaves who were brought to Brazil to work the rubber and cotton plantations. They created this local favourite using the pig off cuts discarded by the plantation owners. A large pot of pig ears, tail, tongue and feet embellished with black beans was exactly the fuel needed for working the plantations or digging the mines. In todays recipe we have not stuck to tradition but rather used the finer parts of the pig, adding beef and vegetables to arrive at a less confronting, but beautifully flavoured meal. Feijoada is best eaten at lunch and shared with friends or family.
Brazil is fantastic food, fun, dancing, beaches, jungles, sun, exotic produce and beautiful bodies of native Indian, African and Portuguese extraction. Soak it up with a caipirinha the local fresh lime, cuchaca and crushed ice drink. Any visitor to Brazil should visit a Brazilian barbeque known locally as a churrasco. A fantastic array of salads including fresh palm heart salads forms the garnish to a never-ending procession of huge swords of marinated meats of all descriptions. For dessert choose from the best array of exotic fruits on earth including red papayas, mangos, huge passionfruits, bananas, custard apples or my favourite – the purple coloured “aceia” which was brilliant when mixed with banana and locally grown guarana. Many desserts (flans, puddings and ice creams) feature coconut and taste so fresh you could be forgiven for thinking they grew ready made on trees. No need to order at a churrasco as you are given a card with a green and a red side. Leave the green side up and the food keeps coming. Turn it to red when you have eaten enough. Many locals enjoy the” per kilo shops” where you choose your lunch before taking your plate to the checkout where it is weighed and you pay an amazingly low “per kilo” price depending on the weight of your plate.
Brazilian beaches are a great place to enjoy freshly shucked oysters, local prawns; lobsters and whole fish coated in chilli and manioc flour. If you prefer try steamed shellfish with a cold beer. While watching a game of beach volleyball you can order a skewered buffalo mozzarella ,or, cob of sweet corn cooked over coals by a smiling man with a portable brazier. Dende oil (a heavy full flavoured orange palm oil) and coconut milk are ubiquitous in Brazil and at their best in a spicy seafood moqueca. Salads, beans, chilli, manioc flour and rice are the most common accompaniments to meals. Bacalhau (dried salted codfish) is a legacy of the Portuguese and is enjoyed extensively in Brazil. It is often mixed with potato then crumbed and rolled into balls and enjoyed in bars with drinks. Great espresso coffee (cafezinho) is enjoyed at all times in Brazil.
There is no single national cuisine of Brazil but rather a collection of vastly different regional specialties. A fantastic mix of cultures, amazing produce and cooking styles ensures a very interesting cuisine. Brazil is also a land of incredible contrast where people living in seaside mansions coexist a stone throw away from the folks of the favelas (slums). Interestingly, both equally enjoy the same food borne of this unique land.
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