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Brazilian
Feijoada and common accompanying dishes. |
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Feijoada is a stew of beans with beef and pork
meats, which is a typical Portuguese dish, also typical in Brazil,
Angola and other former Portuguese colonies.
The name comes from feijão, Portuguese for "beans". |
In Brazil, feijoada is considered the national dish, which
was brought to South America by the Portuguese, based in ancient Feijoada
recipes from the Portuguese regions of Beira, Estremadura and Trás-os-Montes.
The Brazilian feijoada is prepared with black turtle beans, with a variety of
salted pork and beef products such as salted pork trimmings (ears, tail, feet),
bacon, smoked pork ribs, at least two types of smoked sausage and jerked beef
(loin and tongue).
This stew is best prepared over slow fire in a thick clay pot. The final dish
has the beans and meat pieces barely covered by a dark purplish-brown broth. The
taste is strong, moderately salty but not spicy, dominated by the flavors of
black bean and meat stew.
In Brazil, feijoada is traditionally served with rice, and accompanied by
chopped refried collard greens (couve mineira), lightly roasted coarse cassava
flour (farofa) and a peeled and sliced orange. Other common side dishes are
boiled or deep-fried cassava, deep-fried bananas, and pork rinds (torresmo). A
pot of hot pepper sauce is often provided on the side. The meal is often washed
down with cachaça, caipirinha or beer.
The basic ingredients of Portuguese feijoada are beans and
fresh pork or beef meat. In northwest Portugal (chiefly Minho and Douro Litoral)
it is usually made with white beans; in the northeast (Trás-os-Montes) it is
generally prepared with red (kidney) beans, and includes other vegetables such
as tomatoes, carrots and cabbage. The stew is best prepared over low heat in a
thick clay pot.
Portuguese feijoada is usually served with rice and assorted sausages such as
chouriço de carne, morcela (a blood sausage), farinheira and others, which may
or may not be cooked in the stew.
