By Dantas

African slaves created the most famous Brazilian dish, feijoada, during their time in Brazil. They used scraps from the Big House and transformed them into a slave-quarter delicacy. Some Brazilians argue that feijoada is a variation of the famous Spanish “cassoulet” and the Portuguese “caldeirada.” Whatever its origin, feijoada stands as an important symbol of Brazilian heritage. It is the most famous dish in the Brazilian cuisine.

It is very easy to prepare. But to get the right flavour of an original Feijoada took me over six months of trial and error. I do a more European version of the dish. A lot of people don’t like the pork scraps. So, smoke sausages and pork loin will give the same dish without tongues and trotters.

Feijoada Completa

* Serves six
* Preparation time: 40 minutes
* Cooking time: 2 hours and 30 minutes (approximately)

Ingredients

800 grams of black beans
250 grams of pork
200 grams of smoked loin of pork
80 grams of smoked bacon
2 large pork sausages (“paio”)
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 soup spoon of olive oil 2 bay leaves

Preparation

The night before, soak the beans in water.

Place the beans in a large pan with a thick bottom. Add water and the bay leaves. Then cook for 60 minutes.

In a separate pan brown the meats with some onions and garlic. When the meat starts to change colour add some of the gravy from the bean stew. Leave to cook for 20 more minutes.

Return the entire mixture to the large pan, mix and taste for salt. Adjust the temperature as necessary and leave everything to cook 20 minutes more or until well cooked. Like all stews, the farther ahead you are able to prepare it, the more the flavour comes out.

It is best served with white rice a tomato salad and some farofa (cassava flour)