Farofa

This weekend, I made a full feijoada dinner. This is apparently a big deal kind of thing in Brazil, where it's got all kinds of fixins.

One of those fixins is farofa, or pan-roasted cassava flour. I had this for the first time with a friend at the excellent Muqueca restaurant in Cambridge. At the time, my reaction could basically be summarized as 'wtf'? What are you supposed to do with a pile of roasted flour?

The answer: If you try mix it in with a soupy bean stew, it takes on the consistency of Thanksgiving stuffing, but with all that great savory flavor. Don't miss it.

Note: In all of the following recipes, I make copious use of salt pork. Savegnor's (on Kirkland St, near Dali restaurant) makes their own "lean" salt pork, which is basically salt-cured bacon. Whole Foods sells a Niemann Ranch variety, which is much fattier. If you're interested in cutting down on cholesterol a bit, you could go with equal amounts olive oil.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 oz salt pork, minced
• 500g (about 3 cups) cassava flour (also called yucca flour or manioc)
• 1 large Spanish onion, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. sugar
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a deep skillet, heat the salt pork over a medium flame until it begins to cast off some grease.
2. Add the onion and sugar; sauté with the salt pork, stirring frequently, until the onions turn translucent.
3. Add the parsley and continue to sauté until the onions turn golden.
4. Add the cassava flour a little at a time, turning constantly. Make sure none sticks to the bottom of the pan.
5. Keep turning the mixture in the pan until the cassava begins to turn golden beige. The mixture is extremely hot in the pan; use caution if tasting!
   

Keep dry until serving.