Celebrating the Olympics #5

From Meg's Kitchen

Feijoada

This is truly the national dish of Brazil.  Black beans were offered as a choice every day at Escola Americana (American School) along with mystery meat...  It is not a fancy dish but it is delicious, and smells divine (I have a pot on as I write this and I am literally drooling!)

One of South America's well known composers, Heitor Villa-Lobos, composed a four part fugue honoring a feijoada completa served to him at the home of the Brazilian Consul General in New York sometime probably between 1900 and 1950.  The parts of his fugue are titled "Farina" (farofa), "Meat", "Rice", and "Black Beans". Wow!  How many pieces of music do you know of that were inspired by food?

Remember how I told you that typical feijoada is made with numerous cuts of meat (typically beef and pork) and most cuts are not commonly found in our stew pots.  Upon returning from Brazil my mother once invited a strapping young man with whom she worked - we will call him Geoff - for dinner along with a couple with whom my father worked.  Geoff was helping Mom in the kitchen.  He had heard the 27 cuts of meat stories and since the black beans make every piece of meat turn black the meats were unrecognizable.  So every time Mom pulled a piece of meat out of the pot Geoff would say "what's that?"  Answering after pulling out a link of sausage Mom answered "pig's penis" and just at that moment the wife of my Dad's friend walked into the kitchen.  Mom never had a chance to tell Geoff that she was joking.  Apparently he did not eat much that evening  and just pushed his food around on his plate (unusual because he was over 6 feet tall and was known for his hollow leg!).

1 cup of beans feeds about 3 people.  This recipe is meant to serve 8 to 10 people so adjust your measurements accordingly.

3 cups dried black beans - soak covered in water for 8 hours or overnight (do not over soak because the beans begin to sprout and cause flatulence) Or you can do the short soak - bring beans covered with water to a boil and set aside off heat for 1 hour.

~1/4 lb salt pork cut into bite-size pieces 

1 large onion, chopped

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 heaping tsp oregano

2 links of Spanish chorizo (do not use Mexican chorizo!) or some other smoked sausage (kielbasa works well but only use one)

1 or 2 hot Italian sausage

~1 lb beef (chuck or tongue but if you use tongue you have to peel it first, it is a delicious, low fat meat)

1 or 2 smoked ham hocks

2 TBSP tomato paste (I use the stuff in the tube because it is really concentrated and stores well in the fridge)

3 bay leaves (don't forget to remove these before serving)

2 oranges (such as navel oranges because they are seedless)

After your beans have soaked, saute the salt pork pieces in a Dutch oven pot over medium high heat until the fat is rendered.  Add the chopped onion and saute until soft.  Add the minced garlic and saute until it smells divine but do not brown.  Add oregano and give it a quick stir.  The meats are added next and gently allowed to firm up (no need to sear because they are going to be stewed to tender and the beans color everything).  Add the soaked black beans.  Add 5 to 6 cups water to the pot.  Enough water to just cover the bean and meat mixture.  The bay leaves and tomato paste are stirred in next.  Bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to low, cover and allow the feijoada to simmer gently for about 2 hours.  Stir occasionally.  

After about 2 hours, remove the lid and let the juices reduce down for about another hour.  If there is still too much liquid (you want a fairly thick "gravy" you can do one of three things - crank up the heat and boil away the excess moisture, or mash some of the beans to make a thickening paste, or (more diabolical) wait to serve the feijoada until the next day which actually makes the feijoada more delicious because all the flavors happily marry.

Serving - pull the meats out of the pot and cut into small servings (guests will want to sample more than one piece of meat).  Pull out the bits of meat on the ham hocks and toss the bones, skin and connective tissue.  Arrange meats on a plate surrounded by orange slices.  If you have a large enough platter, add a pile of rice and covy on the side.  The beans and "gravy" are best served in a bowl. And don't forget to instruct your guests about the farofa!

By the way, feijoada can be made in a pressure cooker much faster but I don't think that the flavors blend as well.