Maria Isabel Rice

• 600 g desalted carne de sol, diced 
• 3 tablespoons clarified butter 
• 1 large onion, chopped 
• 1 garlic clove, chopped 
• ½ red bell pepper, skinned and chopped 
• 1 de-cheiro pepper, chopped
• ½ teaspoon colorau
• 1 teaspoon babassu oil
• 2 cups beef stock (p. 289)
• 6 cups long-grain rice, cooked 
• ¼ bunch cilantro, chopped 
• Salt to taste

Stir-fry carne de sol with clarified butter. Add the onion, garlic, bell pepper and de-cheiro pepper; sauté until brown. Add colorau, babassu oil and beef ragout. Add cooked rice, combine and salt to taste. Sprinkle cilantro.

In detail: Legend has it that this dish was popular among poor families from Piauí backlands, so women could eat meat, an ingredient almost exclusive of male tropeiros. Maria and Isabel would have been the daughters of the anonymous cook that created the recipe. In a Historical Fiction book called “O Escravo e o Senhor da Parnahiba”, author Enéas Barros found the origins of this dish studying the life of Simplício Dias da Silva, a powerful farmer from São João da Parnaiba village, in the beginnings of 19th century. Maria Isabel would have been his wife.