My favourite Brazilian food
As my good friend the Bearded Wanderer put it, I was a bit of a tease recently: I mentioned on Facebook that I’d just discovered my new favourite Brazilian dish but then instead of saying what it was, I just signed off with “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow”.
Well, tomorrow was yesterday and I didn’t tell you about it. Sorry about that. Let’s just say that the small matter of cooking Christmas Eve dinner for 10 got in the way. So, without any further ado, let me pick up the story…
We stayed up very late on Saturday, saying goodbye to a friend who had been staying with us for a few days. We got through plenty of cerveja and a few too many caipirinhas, so we had a slow start to Sunday. Around mid-afternoon, we headed to a nearby supermarket to pick up some essentials for the hangover-fuelled, sofa-based movie-marathon we had planned for the rest of the day. Our route to the supermarket just happened to take us through Praça São Salvador, a rather nice square situated between the neighbourhoods of Laranjeiras and Flamengo.
Praça São Salvador is well known for great live music. When we wandered past on Sunday, Carlos Evanney, a well known artist who covers the great Roberto Carlos, was playing. It was one almighty sing-along!
As the hangover kicked in, we decided to postpone the the trip to the supermarket and stopped at a little market stall where a woman was selling soup and a variety of stews. We shared a delicious pumpkin soup and I downed a can of guaraná. I instantly felt better. Then we saw it…
Rabada com Agrião
Mrs Eat Rio had mentioned Rabada com Agrião several times in the past, but I had never actually seen or tried it. Rabada (sounds like hab-AH-da) is what we call oxtail in English; Agrião (sounds like ah-gree-OW) is what we call watercress. To me, these two ingredients sounded like rather strange companions and I was further intrigued to hear that this is a real classic dish served up in Rio’s most humble bars, commonly known as Pé Sujos.
We were both really pleased to see this classic on the menu and so we promptly ordered, but the lady told us we’d have to wait – she had run out of agrião and she wouldn’t let us have the rabada without it! Well, a little anticipation never hurt – we waited and watched as the she stirred various other pots and pans that she had bubbling away.
Eventually a helper arrived with a bag full of watercress and our wait was over. The agrião went straight into the pot with the rabada stew. The lady grabbed a disposable dish and spooned in some creamy, golden sludge. This was something called Angu (sounds like ong-GOO) which is like a good, sloppy polenta. After the angu, she spooned in large spoonfuls of thick, dark, rich-looking stew. The pieces of oxtail had been cooked in a pressure cooker and then slowly stewed with garlic, onions and various other great flavours – the meat was so tender it was falling off the bone. The watercress had been in the pot just long enough so that it had started to wilt.
Although I was still a little hungover (and a lot hungry!), I managed to snap a photo before Mrs Eat Rio gave me that look which says “Enough with the photos – let’s eat!”
In goes the long-awaited watercress!
As my photos taken at the market didn’t really do this dish justice, I’m going to leave you something that looks rather more appetising.
Rich, tender and seriously satisfying. The combination of oxtail and watercress goes fantastically well and the thick angu makes a great creamy base.
I think this is one of those classic, country dishes – rich, unpretentious, economical and above all else, delicious! It might not have the notoriety of picanha or even coxinha, but in my opinion rabada com agrião deserves a place on everyone’s list of favourite Brazilian foods.
Comida verdadeira e dá sustança !
Ha ha! É verdade! Depois comi, foi difícil mover! :) Melhor para dezembro na Europa – quando é 40ºC (como está agora no Rio), prefiro um picole!
Oh, Brazil and its cultural diversity! Being from São Paulo I never heard of the term “pé sujo” and much less of that intriguing and delicious looking typical Carioca dish, rabada com agrião. I really wouldn’t care to eat that at 40C ;)
Well, it was worth the tease and the wait, Mr. Eatrio. Thank you for discovering this Carioca culinary jewel for someone not so much acquainted with Rio like me.
Hey Gil – I’m surprised! I didn’t realise the term Pé Sujo wasn’t used in São Paulo! They say that when the waiter wipes your table with that old, grey cloth, the table actually gets dirtier! :) They’re actually not all like that – some of my favourite bars here are Pé Sujos.
On the subject of Rabada com Agrião, I don’t know this for sure, but I read somewhere that it is a Mineiro dish. It is really tasty, but you’re right, it’s not great when it’s this hot!
I live in Recife and i’ve neve heard of the term “pé sujo” either. Rabada is a popular dish in the “Nordeste” too but i’ve never tried it with agrião. I’ll put it on my to-eat list for the next visit to Rio. ;)
Hi Nanda. It’s starting to sound like Pé Sujo is just a Carioca term maybe? I wrote a post about these bars of Rio a long time ago: https://eatrio.net/2011/07/pe-sujo-dirty-foot.html
Let me know if you try it with agrião – I think it’s a great flavour combination :)
Pe Sujo is defenitely not just a Carioca term (though it might have started there). I believe the whole Centro-Oeste calls them bars ‘pe sujo’ as well, and our pe sujos would put any Rio’s pe sujo to the test ;P
Just mouth watering post as usual… I’m here in Aussie land thinking when will I ever eat rabada again, and even more, with agriao!
Ha ha! Remind me of where in Brazil you’re from Amanda? I need to know which Pé Sujos are competing with ‘my’ Pé Sujos here in Rio! :D
I’m sure you could pick up oxtail and watercress down under couldn’t you? I have to say though, I haven’t actually tried that recipe myself – it would probably take a bit of practice before you could make it as well as those old mamas who have been making it all their lives! :)
“The pieces of oxtail had been cooked in a pressure cooker and then slowly stewed with garlic . . .”
Just goes to show that those less expensive and not so noble cuts usually pack alot of flavor. I think the challenge is to get all the connective tissue inside said cuts to melt and form a hearty stew along with the chunks of meat – which are now tender and falling from the bones since the connective tissue once sustaining them is gone. The thing is this usually takes some time to prepare and master, and not everyone has that luxury. Shame.
Btw this is why I refuse to give up on chicken hearts since there must be a way to get the connective tissue inside those little suckers to melt as well; but with the additional challenge of not allowing the meat to dry up due to its meager volume. Someone has to complete mission chicken heart!
Btw given that extracting the flavor for Cow Paw Soup follows the same concept as that used for Rabada I would say that what you are really enjoying as of late is melted connective tissue (or gelatin) and the results it provides in both flavor and texture. And please don’t start calling Rabada “Rábádá” :-)
Ha ha! Rábádá! I’d be laughed out of the açougueiro!
There’s something about the words “connective tissue” that make me want to forget all about meat entirely and go have a cheese sandwich or something equally safe. That said, I have to admit that you’re right – it is the cheap cuts (cooked right) that make the best stews and soups. Strange that I would be thinking of such dishes at this, the hottest time of the year, but perhaps my internal appetite clock is still set to northern hemisphere mode… Both rabada and mocotó would be perfect for a chilly, December evening back in Britain.
Worth the wait! That looks absolutely delicious. I looooove oxtail, and I can imaging the freshness of the watercress would really balance out the gooey, yummy fattiness. Awesome.
It was amazing – totally destroyed my hangover. I’m becoming a big fan of polenta at the moment – they make that angu stuff out of a something they call Fubá which sounds like “Fubar” and always makes me think of this…
And just when you thought the traumatic memories of the crapfest that was Tango and Cash would never resurface . . .
Gritty! As a Police Academy fan, I thought Tango and Cash would be one of your favourites… ;)
C’mon Tom, compare the following dialogue
with the many, many, many ( yes, I am Lassarding) great exchanges that take place in Police Academy. You, being a man that also considers Bowfinger one of the most underrated gems of our time, should know better.
I will give Tango and Cash one thing: Teri Hatcher was smoking hot in that movie plus the couch scene between her and Cash is pretty good (yes, deep down I’m just a romantic).