This is probably one of the most popular and traditional Brazilian dishes. It is traditionally served every Wednesday and Saturday lunchtime and has been on the menu since the 1850’s.
Serves 6
Braza by Andre Felicio
Recipes and images from Braza by Andre Felicio, New Holland Publishers RRP $45 available from all good bookstores or online www.newhollandpublishers.com
INGREDIENTS
500 g black beans
400 g dried salted meat
200 g thick bacon slices
200 g chorizo smoked
200 g calabresa sausage
200 g black pudding sausage
200 g pork belly smoked
200 g pork leg
500 g pork ribs smoked
3 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
1 bird’s eye chilli, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper ground
4 oranges
To accompany you will need:
white rice
tomato salsa
farofa básica
Chinese broccoli
malagueta sauce
oranges, peeled and cut into segments
METHOD
Cut the dried, salted meat into small pieces. Place the black beans in a pot with double the water, and add the dried salted meat. Change the water at least four times every three hours.
Dice the bacon, pork belly and pork leg. Cut the sausages into small pieces. Cut the pork ribs, leaving 1 bone on each piece. Add half of this meat to the pot.
Place the pot with the black beans, dried meat and water on the stove adding another litre of water. Add the bay leaves. Bring to the boil. Make sure you mix it occasionally, using a flat, wooden spoon, trying to scrape the bottom of the pot, to stop it from burning. Once boiling, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1½ hours.
After 1½ hours, set the bacon aside, and mix in the rest of the meat and cook it for a further 1½ hours.
Towards the end of the last 30 minutes, get a frying pan, heat up some vegetable oil and cook the bacon, onion, garlic, parsley and chilli for 10 minutes. Using a ladle, add some black beans from the big pot into the frying pan. Use the wooden spoon to roughly mash the beans, creating a thick sauce.
Add the salt and pepper and return the mixture to the big pot.
Mix and simmer for a further 15 minutes.