Meat Pot

INGREDIENTS

• 1 kg of shoulder heart or beef brisket
• Cumin to taste
• 2 onions, cut into strips
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ bunch of parsley and ½ bunch of scallions, finely chopped 
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 shallow dish of sliced bacon
• 3 shots of cachaça
• 3 ripe plantains
• 2 teacups of extra-fine manioc flour
• Salt to taste

For the dough

• ½ a teacup of extra-fine manioc flour
• ½ teacup of all-purpose flour

PREPARATION

Cut the beef into broad strips and season with salt, cumin, onions, garlic, scallions, parsley, bay, and 1/4 of the bacon. Marinate overnight. The following day, line the bottom of a clay pot with the remaining bacon. Add the beef, all seasonings, and 2 shots of cachaça. Cover with water and seal the pot; mix the ingredients for the dough with a teacup of water, until smooth, and spread between the pot and its lid, so it is well sealed. Cook over medium heat for 6 hours, or until the beef is totally shredded. Cook the plantain in water with the remaining shot of cachaça. Serve it whole or sliced, along with a pirão (a type of mush) made from the manioc flour and the broth resulting from the cooking of the beef.

IN DETAIL
Slow cooking and low heat are the staples of this signature dish from the Serra do Mar, near the cities of Antonina and Morretes in Paraná. In the past, the cooking ritual could take up to 24 hours and was enjoyed during feasts leading up to the carnival. A symbol of Paraná’s culinary tradition, the dish’s name refers to the practice of sealing (“barrear”) the lid of the pot with a dough made with manioc flour, preventing steam from escaping.