Serve Brazil’s national dish, feijoada, with some finely sliced spring greens, onion and garlic gently fried for 5 minutes or so, as well as boiled rice and some slices of orange. Gizane Campos, The Edible Atlas (Canongate) Serves 8-10 1kg dried black beans 400g sun-dried beef, cut into pieces, or 400g smoked pork ribs 400g smoked bacon, cut into chunks 8 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, finely chopped 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped 300g large smoked sausages, cut into big chunks (Portuguese sausage is best, but chorizo will do) 300g small Portuguese spicy sausage or n’duja (regular sausages will suffice here if neither spicy versions can be found) 400g salted pork ribs (or any other cut of pork on the bone from the butcher) 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper 5 bay leaves 1 orange, peeled, whole 1 shot of cachaça (optional, but recommended) 1 orange to serve, peeled and segmented 1 In separate bowls, soak the beans, the sun-dried beef or smoked pork ribs (whichever you are using) and thesmoked bacon overnight in cold water. Change the water in the morning and continue soaking to get rid of excess fat and salt. 2 Drain the beans and put them in a very large saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then simmer for 30 minutes until tender. 3 Rinse the soaked sun-dried beef (or smoked pork ribs) and smoked bacon well, add to the beans and cook for a further 30 minutes. 4 Meanwhile, heat a very large, heavy saucepan and pour in the olive oil, so it entirely covers the bottom of the pan. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened. Add the sausages, salted pork ribs, black pepper and bay leaves. Pour in the cooked beans and meat and top up with water to cover them. Place the peeled orange in the centre of the pot. Let the stew simmer for 1½–2 hours or more, topping up with water as necessary, until the meat falls off the bone. Just before serving, fish out the bay leaves, add a shot of cachaça and serve with the orange segments.
