Margarita's International Recipes

A Cape Verde Menu

Cachupa Rica Cachupa is Cape Verde's national dish, a rich stew of legumes, grains, meats and starchy vegetables. It's related to the French cassoulet and the Brazilian feijoada and combines influences from many parts of the world. At its simplest, a cachupa is a humble bean stew - at its best, a cachupa rica contains multitudes of ingredients, carefully and slowly cooked. I'm a big meat eater and was making a weekday dinner out of the dish so I cut down on the ingredients, emphasized meat over starches/vegetables, and simplified the dish. My version omits hominy simply because I forgot to add it. The results were pretty satisfying, all the leftovers were eaten and enjoyed. Cachupa Rica 3/4 cup dried kidney beans 2 onions, chopped - divided 2 bay leaves 2 tsp. garlic powder 4 Tbsp. olive oil - divided salt 3/4 lb beef, cubed 1/2 lb bacon, diced 13 oz linguica, thickly sliced 2 tsp. paprika 2 potatoes, peeled & cut into 1" cubes 1 cassava, peeled & cut into 1" cubes Directions Place beans, 1 onion, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 Tbsp. olive oil and a pinch of salt in a stock pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside. Heat 3 Tbsp. olive oil in another large lidded pot, over medium heat. Add the beef, bacon, linguica, 1 chopped onion, 1 bay leaf and paprika. Add salt to taste. Mix well, cover, reduce heat to low and stew for 3 hours. Check periodically and add a bit of water if it's too dry. After the end of those 3 hours, bring the pot with the beans back to a boil. Add the meat mixture and mix. Cook until the beans are almost tender. Then add the potatoes and cassava and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender. Adapted from a recipe at Leite's Culinaria Cape Verde Recipes | Margarita's International Recipes | E-mail