Saturday feijoada carioca
The monumental dish of Brazil: black beans simmered with an assortment of salted and smoked pork, served with rice, shredded collard greens, farofa, and orange slices. A festive meal that brings people together and lasts.
The monumental dish of Brazil: black beans simmered with an assortment of salted and smoked pork, served with rice, shredded collard greens, farofa, and orange slices. A festive meal that brings people together and lasts.
I was quickly told that Saturday is not up for discussion: it's feijoada. The pot has been simmering since morning, and the smell of smoked meats fills the whole house. My neighbors insisted I try the orange alongside — at first I was surprised, this sour fruit next to such a rich dish, but they were right: it lightens everything. We eat slowly, we talk, and we forget that outside it's forty degrees.
- •Dried black beans — a large pot (base)
- •Salted and smoked pork (ribs, tail, ear, paio, sausage) — an assortment (heart of the dish)
- •Smoked bacon — a piece (fat and smoke)
- •Onion, garlic, bay leaf — as needed (aromatics)
- •Orange — several (fresh accompaniment)
- •Collard greens (couve) — one (vegetable)
- •Cassava flour — for farofa (accompaniment)
Saturday feijoada carioca
The monumental dish of Brazil: black beans simmered with an assortment of salted and smoked pork, served with rice, shredded collard greens, farofa, and orange slices. A festive meal that brings people together and lasts.
Why this dish? Living in academic Rio, Hertha Meyer could not ignore the great social ritual of Saturday: feijoada, the black bean and meat stew shared with family or colleagues, slowly, all afternoon.
I was quickly told that Saturday is not up for discussion: it's feijoada. The pot has been simmering since morning, and the smell of smoked meats fills the whole house. My neighbors insisted I try the orange alongside — at first I was surprised, this sour fruit next to such a rich dish, but they were right: it lightens everything. We eat slowly, we talk, and we forget that outside it's forty degrees.
Ingredients (period version)
- Dried black beans — a large pot (base)
- Salted and smoked pork (ribs, tail, ear, paio, sausage) — an assortment (heart of the dish)
- Smoked bacon — a piece (fat and smoke)
- Onion, garlic, bay leaf — as needed (aromatics)
- Orange — several (fresh accompaniment)
- Collard greens (couve) — one (vegetable)
- Cassava flour — for farofa (accompaniment)
Ingredients
- Dried black beans — 500 g (base)
- Smoked pork ribs — 400 g (meat)
- Smoked sausage like paio or mild chorizo — 300 g (meat)
- Smoked bacon — 150 g (smoked fat)
- Pork shank or shoulder — 400 g (meat)
- Onion — 2 (aromatic)
- Garlic — 4 cloves (aromatic)
- Bay leaf — 2 (flavor)
- Curly collard greens (couve) — 1 (vegetable)
- Orange — 3 (fresh accompaniment)
- Cassava flour — 150 g (farofa)
- White rice — 300 g (accompaniment)
Method
- Soak beans and salted meats separately overnight (change the meat water to desalt).
- Cook beans with bay leaf for 1 hour. Add cut meats and continue for 1 to 1½ hours on low heat until everything is tender and the broth is thick.
- Prepare a refogado of onion and garlic, stir in a mashed ladle of beans to bind the sauce.
- Make farofa: toast cassava flour in a pan with a little fat and onion.
- Shred collard greens very thinly and sauté quickly with garlic.
- Serve feijoada with white rice, collard greens, farofa, and orange wedges.
How it was made : Feijoada as we know it was codified in the 19th–20th centuries as a Sunday urban dish, especially in Rio. The very slow cooking in a clay or cast-iron pot melted the salted meats and gave the broth its depth. Orange slices aid digestion of this very rich dish.
The contemporary twist : Serve in individual small cocottes with crispy fried collard greens as garnish, for a modern bistro presentation.
Hertha Meyer · Charactorium
