Recipe: Picandinho de Porco (minced pork)

the appetizer:

Brazil's culinary influences include not only Amerindian and Portuguese foods, but the cooking styles of immigrants from many other parts of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Each of the country's five geographic regions offer cuisines that are distinctly different yet recognizably Brazilian.

Brazil

Picandinho de Porco
(minced pork)

Serves 6

1 tablespoon butter or bacon fat
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2 pounds pork, finely chopped
1/2 pound smoked chourico sausage*
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt
Black pepper
2 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 malagueta pepper, chopped (optional)**

sauté onion in butter or bacon fat until softened. Add tomatoes and stir over medium heat until thickened. Add the pork and the sausage, after removing the casing. Mix well, breaking the sausage into small pieces. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the meat is done. Stir in lemon juice and malagueta pepper, salt and black pepper to taste. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with egg slices and parsley.

*Called chorizo in Mexico. Smoked andouille or kielbasa sausage can be substituted.

**In the US, malagueta peppers are available bottled, not fresh. They are chilis and should be handled carefully because they contain oils that can irritate or burn the skin or eyes.

From Eat Smart In Brazil. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Ginkgo Press.