After an incredibly hectic day (I finished packing my house and moved to my new place, followed by workout and work), I was looking forward to have a nice dinner with my fellow comilones. It was Pancho's turn to cook and it was a total surprise what he was going to do!
We arrived and our chef du jour was in kitchen cutting limbs and washing beans, reading carefully instructions given to him by a brazilian friend: he has chosen Feijoada :)
For those who do not know what it is: Feijoada is a stew of beans with beef and pork meats, which is a typical Portuguese dish, also typical in Brazil, Angola and other former Portuguese colonies. In Brazil, feijoada is considered the national dish, which is served usually for lunch on wednesdays or saturdays, because it is pretty heavy to digest it, in tropical heat. Due to the fact that Buenos Aires was really cold that day, it was a great choice for dinner.
During my first trip to Rio de Janeiro, my carioca friends told me the story of Feijoada: it was a "luxury" dish of African slaves on Brazilian colonial farms (engenhos), as it was prepared with relatively cheap ingredients (beans, rice, collard greens, farofa and oranges) and leftovers from salted pork and meat production. Over time, it first became a popular dish among lower classes, and finally the "national dish" of Brazil, offered even by the finest restaurants.
While boys were in the kitchen helping Pancho; Delfo, Louisa, Pepu and I were chatting, and drinking wine, listening to music and an hour or so later, our host arrived with yummy comfort food, while Chico Buarque's famous song with the same name almost made me feel in Rio! Some had couple of servings, of course "gas" jokes were in order, our wine glasses were never empty and the cozy home of my dear friend (and a talented artist/architect)Pancho tingled with laughs all night long.
As I was leaving that night, a slight saudade sank in, I almost did not want to leave Buenos Aires this winter :(
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