The Joy of Farofa
One of the nicest things about cross-cultural relationships is that your partner can introduce you to all kinds of interesting new things. Since meeting Mrs Eat Rio I have expanded my knowledge and taste in music, films, books and, of course, food (to name a few). And it has been a two way exchange. Expanding your own horizons is great of course, but isn’t it also kind of thrilling to introduce someone to classics like Withnail and I or Rhubarb crumble and custard?
Rhubarb crumble with custard. Image and recipe here
If we’re talking food introductions, custard has probably been the item that Mrs Eat Rio liked best. For my part I would be hard pressed to pick something to beat the everyday joys of farofa.
A crunchy, fluffy mound of goodness, just waiting to be sprinkled over something saucy.
Farofa comes in many different forms, but at its simplest it is toasted mandioca (manioc/yuca/cassava) flour that is then flavoured and often fried with butter or oil and other ingredients. At first I was not convinced. The first farofa I tried was course, crunchy and very dry. Without knowing what to do with the stuff, I loaded up a fork and popped it in my mouth. Big mistake! Imagine a (very) mild version of the cinnamon challenge – it took me a good couple of gulps of beer to swallow it down!
Lessons in Farofa
Later on I learnt two things about farofa. Firstly, not all farofa is dry – some are soft, buttery and seriously indulgent.
Probably my favourite variety, this is farofa de ovo (egg farofa). Image source
The second thing I learnt is that the drier, crunchier farofas should be sprinkled over moist food such as beans, moqueca or picadinho (a meaty stew) – in fact anything with some sauce. Not even seasoned farofa professionals would eat the dry varieties on their own.
Casquinha de Siri – crab meat, garlic, peppers, dendê (palm oil) and coconut milk. And of course, farofa! The deep yellow colour comes from dendê (palm oil) which also gives it a distinctive flavour of the Nordeste (North-east Brazil).
Uniquely Brazilian?
One of the things I find most interesting about farofa is that, as far as I can tell, it appears to be unique to Brazil. Maybe some of you can correct me here, but I can’t think of any other country that sprinkles something similar over their food. Isn’t it strange that something so popular in Brazil has not developed in parallel anywhere else?
And it certainly is popular here! Making your own farofa is quick and simple, but some prefer the convenience of buying it ready-made.
Farofa Pronta! I haven’t tried this stuff, but I guess it does the job if you don’t have the time/will to make it properly.
Personally I prefer to stick to the good old traditional, home-made varieties. And how about this for home-made?
Farofa de tanajura – these huge ants are collected in rural areas and make a tasty treat when fried up and added to farofa.
And this being Brazil, farofa comes in sweet varieties too! I’ve seen quite a few menus offering desserts that come with farofa doce, such as crumbled up cookies or nuts. How about this genre-bending farofa to finish? Sweet bacon and cookie farofa sprinkled over ice-cream. Yes!
Bacon caramelised with muscovado sugar, crunched up cookies and caramel sauce. I would definitely eat this! Image and recipe here
I love Farofa too although I think it is pushed into second on my list of Brazilian food discoveries by catupiry. Which reminds me, I really need to write my own post about it!
Mmmm, catupiry is seriously good stuff. Goes very well in a Marmite and cheese sandwich :) Each one probably adds another mm of cholesterol to my arteries though…
I love farofa! I felt instantly happier just to read the title of the post :) I love catupiry, too! And now I am feeling really hungry!
It’s so good isn’t it? When so many people love it, it seems weird that it hasn’t spread to other countries, don’t you think?
Loove farofa, but this is the kind of thing I have been avoinding lately. It takes too much butter !
When hubby had it for the first time in his life mentioned it was “just like sand”. Now, during our barbecues he will have a couple of spoons – but he is not going to run for it. I remember when Nigella was in Brazil and had some farofa she commented it was “crocante’ and she would think about different ways of employing it such as “on the top of some (oven) tomatoes”. I guess she consider it a crumble ???
Ah, good point Ana! My mum puts breadcrumbs (as well as garlic, herbs, olive oil) on top of tomatoes when roasting them in the oven. I think it’s a bit of a 70s classic actually. I guess that is the kind of thing Nigella was thinking of.
And you’re right about the butter – I had no idea until I tried making farofa for myself. It just soaks up butter/oil like a sponge! Naughty (…but nice!) :D
It is a classic, I know ! Also on mussels around here ! I make it with courgettes in the oven. I fry diced bacon with onions and then add garlic. Some finely chopped fresh herbs parsley, green onions…) bread crumbs and those pine nuts (that one uses for green pesto). *** Btw, the pine nuts are SO “^%$#@+ expensive in NL, grrr !!! *** Cut the courgette in halves, seed it out and fill with this mix. Pop them in the oven for a while and… presto ! Not so sure it would work with manioc flour instead of bread crumbs though… Let’s try !
Yum! That sounds good! I totally sympathise with the price of pine nuts by the way – a tiny sachet costs around R$20 here. Now I make pesto with cashews – ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ as they say :)
“Ah, good point Ana! My mum puts breadcrumbs (as well as garlic, herbs, olive oil) on top of tomatoes when roasting them in the oven.”
For some time now I have been contemplating an attempt at farofa pizza (yes, call me genius). This crumb over tomato thing seems like a good idea in that direction, yet I want farofa to be a main topping and not just an add on. Perhaps a calzone kind of creature with robust exterior farofa casing hosting a tomato stuffing along with an egg is a possibility. Any suggestions?
Btw I much prefer the Brazilian version of cross culinary swaps:
Foreign wife . . . . “Here, try this darling – it is from my homeland”
Brazilian husband . . . . “Here, make this darling – it is from my homeland”
Feminists: send your letters to Tom.
“Here, make this darling…” Ha ha ha! :D I’m happy to say that Mrs Eat Rio and I are mostly following the opposite pattern of behaviour. So far my culinary projects have taken in pão de queijo, coxinha, moqueca, bobo de camarão na moranga and of course, the churrasco!
I’d probably be up for that farofa topped pizza – are you thinking it would form a kind of crust under which would be cheese and tomatoes and all those other good things? Could be a winner!
Gritty, darling.
Francamente.
“Pizza com farofa”.
Viajou na maionese, pirou na batatinha.
Ana, you have shot down my farofa pizza concept without even giving it a second thought. I think it is wrong to condemn someone else’s idea like that. As a matter of fact such behavior is as objectionable as plagiarism. I don´t care though because you may think I´m a dreamer for considering farofa pizza, but I am not the only one that considers farofa pizza. And perhaps Ana one day you will join us in considering farofa pizza, and the world will live as one (much like the ingredients enclosed in my farofa pizza casing: tomato sauce and one egg).
I tried farofa in a Bahian restaurant in Madrid – it worked ten times better in a stew.
So when are you bringing out your Farofa-Marmite recipe?
Marmite farofa!! You’re a genius! :D Mrs Eat Rio will be delighted…
Marmite farofa: now where did I put my gun again . . .
Hi Tom. I know you enjoyed Spanish cuisine when you here. Check out this blog http://www.madridchow.com
Cheers Chris
Drool! That’s a really nice blog. I have been absolutely bowled over by Spanish food since my first introduction. I would get very fat (but happy) if I ever moved there :)
I’m not sure I like the idea of bacon with ice cream. That’s a bit too Heston Blumenthal for me, although I do like the peculiarly Brazilian idea of popcorn with bacon.
If I may go off at a tangent, did you get that rhubarb in Rio? If so where?
Likewise, is there anywhere to buy decent bacon? In Rio supermarkets, it seems that it is all labelled simply as ‘bacon’ with the only choice being fatias or cubos, or different brands. It’s OK, but not wonderful and not really intended for a bacon & eggs breakfast.
I’d love some nice back rashers, preferably organic, and preferably with the rind on (I know that last is almost impossible to find in the UK too these days, but I miss a nice piece of crisp bacon rind), smoked or unsmoked. There are times when I’d kill for a good bacon roll, with HP sauce (that is available, but not common).
Popcorn with bacon really works! I have to be really strict with myself because I pass about 4 carts selling the stuff every night on my way home… :-/
Afraid that rhubarb photo isn’t mine – it’s a River Cottage photo and recipe (the link is under the photo if you ever find some rhubarb and want to shell out the R$20 for a vanilla pod!). I haven’t seen rhubarb here myself, but i’ve heard they do get it (possibly more common up in the cooler realms of Teresopolis/Petropolis/etc.)
As for bacon, I hardly ever eat it anymore, so when I go back to England it is a special treat and my mum always makes sure the fridge is stocked up! :D I did buy some ‘Perdigao’ bacon once from Zona Sul a few years back and as far as I remember it was at least passable (something like this). Sadly I think the chances of finding some apple-fed Old Spot back bacon are slim…