Many people say that frijoles casserole –along with the Redeeming Christ, samba and caipirinha– are icons of the South American nation. It’s all about a black beans stew cooked with abundant and varied salt, smoked and fresh meats (pork cutlets, lean and salted pork meat, smoked tenderloin, sausages and different types of stuffed meats), which is considered the national dish.

Apart from their specialties, just a few Brazilian restaurants don’t put the popular frijoles casserole on their Wednesdays and Saturdays menus. In fact, as part of the country’s tradition, the banquet is reserved for those days, and it is said to have been created in Rio de Janeiro. The variety and diversity of Brazilian gastronomy is pretty well known, an outstanding cuisine with particular characteristics stemming from each of Brazil’s five regions, due to the originality and sophistication of its stews made of fish, shellfish and soups. Local touristic authorities have announced that they will be using cuisine as an additional attraction for the 600,000 tourists expected to attend the 2014 Soccer World Cup, an event that’s supposed to be a party of flavors, with frijoles casserole playing one of the leading roles due to its world acclaim. It’s said that the grand secret of this frijoles casserole consists of leaving the beans to soak for 24 hours in advance and applying the same process to corned meats. That water is discarded and some more water is poured. From this moment, beans and meats cooked together. After having boiled, it is set on a low burn for approximately two hours until the consommé thickens. Some fried tomatoes and onion sauce are added along with garlic and it will be ready to be served a few minutes later. The meats and sausages are usually taken out of the stew and served apart. White rice is usually served too.