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Barreado
Barreado: Paraná beef slow-cooked for hours in a sealed clay pot, eaten with cassava flour and banana
BrazilianMorretes and Antonina, the little colonial towns at the foot of Paraná's Serra do Mar, are famous for barreado: beef layered with smoked bacon, onion, garlic, cumin and bay in a clay pot, sealed with a paste of cassava flour and water, and cooked for many hours until it falls into soft, dark strands in a rich broth. It was a Carnival dish, left on the fire so revellers could eat without cooking, and today the restaurants along the Rio Nhundiaquara serve it every day. This recipe contains pork, in the bacon that gives the broth its smokiness. At the table you put cassava flour on your plate, ladle over hot broth and stir it into a soft pirão, then add the meat and slices of banana. The common mistake is opening the pot to check, which lets the steam out and toughens the meat; trust the seal and the oven. A heavy cast-iron casserole works if you have no clay pot. Chef's tip: use two cuts, a lean one and a gelatinous one like shin, for broth with real body.
- Total time
- 510 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the barreado
For the seal
To serve
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Mix 2 ⅝ lb beef chuck and 1 ¾ lb beef shin with 2 ½ tsp salt, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 8 cloves garlic and 2 tbsp white wine vinegar in a bowl. Cover and leave in the fridge for 1 hour, or overnight.
60 minStep 2: Heat the oven to 275°F (250°F fan). Line the bottom of a clay pot or heavy casserole with 7 oz smoked bacon, then layer the beef with 3 onions and 4 bay leaves, finishing with onion.
Step 3: Pour in 2 cups water; it should come about halfway up the meat.
Step 4: Mix 5 ½ oz farinha de mandioca and ¾ cup hot water into a thick, sticky paste. Put the lid on the pot and press the paste all round the join to seal it completely.
Step 5: Bake for 8 hours without opening, until the seal is hard and dry. The meat will be falling apart.
480 minStep 6: Crack off the seal with a knife and discard it. Stir the beef with a wooden spoon until it breaks into strands in the broth, and check the salt.
Step 7: To serve, put 3–4 tbsp of 14 oz farinha de mandioca on each plate, ladle over a little very hot broth and stir into a soft pirão, then add the meat, slices of 6 bananas and 2 oranges.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 660 kcal
- Protein
- 60 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 23 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does barreado take?
- About 510 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 480 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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