Feijoada - National Dish of Brazil

Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil , there are two primary schools of thought regarding its origin.

The most common belief is that it was concocted by Brazilian slaves, who gathered and used the scraps from the mansion and literally transformed them into a slave-quarter delicacy.

The second school say adamantly, that the black turtle bean stew, is a Brazilian variation of the Portuguese dish, caldeirada and possibly the French; cassoulet.

Recipe For Feijoada

Serves 4 people
Preparation time: about 45 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours and 40 minutes
Suggested beverages: lime batida or beer

Ingredients
800 grams of black beans
250 grams of dried beef
250 grams of salted pork ribs
1 pigs trotter
1 pig tail or ear
100 grams of smoked loin of pork
80 grams of smoked bacon
2 thick pork sausages
1 Portuguese sausage
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 soup spoon of olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 orange

Preparation and Method

The day before you plan to have the feijoada, clean the pigs trotter and ear ot tail and soak them in cold with the pork ribs.

Soak the dried beef (cut into pieces), don't forget to change the water of both bowls a few times. (yikes).

Boil the salted meats in a saucepan, for about 12 minutes - drain, change water and cook...

Boil, drain and cook the dried beef, using the same method as above.

When the meats are tender, drain off the water, cut the pork ribs into small pieces and put to one-side.

Cut the bacon into small pieces and slice the sausages.

Put the beans in a large saucepan - add water, bay leaves and the orange cut into 2 halves (remove the outer peel only).

Cook for about 45 minutes, then add all the meats and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Remove a couple of ladles of beans from the saucepan.
Chop the onion and garlic and saute in olive oil, without browning them.
Add the beans and cook for a couple of minutes, then return all ingredients to the main saucepan.

Give a damn good stir, taste and add salt if required.

Cook the whole lot again for about 20 minutes...

Serve with white rice, kale, manioc, and some fresh orange slices.

Notes:
The meats you use can vary - for instance, you don't have to use the pigs ear, if you dont want to (yikes).

During cooking, skim off the oily scum which gathers - you will need to do this quite a few times.

Very, very special note: Ensure that you haven't got any important appointments a couple of hours after eating your feijoada - particularly, in enclosed spaces....smiley....

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See Also : Leek Onion Chop Onion