Traditional Baião De Dois
Baião is a traditional folk dance of the Brazilian Ceará region, which was popularized by two musicians, Humberto Teixeira and Luís Gonzaga, in a song called Baião-de-dois (baião for two).
The name of the song attached itself to the dish of the same name, consisting of freshly picked black-eyed peas and rice cooked together, reminiscent of a couple dancing the baião.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS
250g white rice
300g feijão fradinho
30g butter
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 red pepper, chopped into smallish pieces
2 large ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped
6 scallions, roughly chopped
150g bacon, chopped into small chunks
150g linguiça defumada, chopped into thinnish disks
300g carne seca, soaked, cooked and roughly shredded
100g queijo coalho
A good handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
DIRECTIONS ON TRADITIONAL Baião DE DOIS
Cook the black-eye peas until cooked through but not mushy.
Fry the bacon chunks and linguiça in a dry pan for 5 or 10 minutes until they are nicely browned and crisped up. Cook the rice.
Melt the butter In a large saucepan, then fry the onions and garlic over a medium-high heat for a few minutes until softened. Add the red peppers and continue frying for another few minutes.
Once the peppers have started to soften, add in the bacon and linguiça. If you cooked, you can just give everything a good stir and then continue – otherwise turn the heat up and move everything around in the pan until the bacon and linguiça are well browned.
Add the chopped tomatoes and carne seca, stir well and reduce the heat to medium-low. Mix in the spring onions.
Now add a few tablespoons of the cooked rice, mixing it in and adding more and more until it seems like you have the right amount.
Next, do the same with the beans, mixing in a few spoons at a time until you like the look of things.
Finally, add some chunks of queijo coalho (or other cheese), turn the heat up to medium-high, give everything a good stir, put the lid on and turn the heat off.
Wait for the cheese chunks to semi-melt and then serve, topped with a good sprinkling of cilantro.
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