Stew

INGREDIENTS

• 500 g of desalted jerked beef
• 500 g of beef brisket
• 500 g of paio sausage (smoked sausage made from pork loin)
• 500 g of smoked calabresa sausage
• 4 tablespoons of corn oil
• 1 teacup of smoked bacon, cut into cubed
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 peeled and deseeded tomatoes, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 manioc, sliced
• 1 potato, cut into cubes
• 1 sweet potato, cut into cubes
• 1 piece of butternut squash
• ½ bunch of parsley, chopped
• ½ bunch of green onions, chopped
• 1 teacup of fine manioc flour
• Salt and black pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Cut the jerked beef into cubes and cook until almost soft; set it aside. Cut the brisket into cubes and season with salt and black pepper. Cut the paio and calabresa into thick slices. In a large pot, heat the oil and braise the bacon, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and bay leaves. Add the meats, cover with water and cook for 1 hour. Add the manioc and, every 10 minutes, the remaining vegetables, in the following order: potato, sweet potato, and squash. Adjust seasoning and garnish with the herbs. Make a pirão (a type of mush) by mixing the manioc flour with the cooking broth in low heat, stirring constantly until it becomes thicker. Serve with white rice.

IN DETAIL
Many have laid claim to the invention of the cozido: French, Spaniards, Portuguese. “The cozido is precisely the case of an universal dish, the most elementary of them in any land where oxen are not sacred”, Odylo Costa Filho writes. In Brazil – where it first appeared on Rio de Janeiro’s tables on the 19th century and over 100 years ago in the Northeast’s backlands – each region gives the recipe its own twist.