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🇧🇷 Brazil

Caldo de mandiocaBrazilian cassava soup

A Brazilian purée soup of boiled, blended cassava, thickened by the cassava itself, usually with calabresa sausage, bacon or shredded beef.

Caldo de mandioca (Brazilian cassava soup)

Origin and history

Cassava was domesticated by Indigenous peoples of South America, probably in the south-western Amazon, thousands of years before the Portuguese arrived, and it remains a staple across Brazil under regional names: mandioca, aipim and macaxeira. Its puréed caldo, enriched with dried beef or sausage, is an everyday winter dish and a fixture of botecos in Minas Gerais and Goiás, where it is served as a starter or a light supper.

Make it at home

Makes
6 servings
Total time
2 h 30 min
Hands-on
45 min

Ingredients

Units
  • 400 g14 oz carne seca (Brazilian salted dried beef) or charque, cut in large chunks
  • 1 kg2.2 lb sweet cassava (mandioca, aipim or macaxeira), peeled, cut in chunks; frozen peeled cassava works
  • 2 l8 1/2 cups water, for the cassava, plus more as needed
  • 100 g3.5 oz smoked bacon (bacon or toucinho defumado), diced; optional
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • black pepper, freshly ground
  • salt, only if needed, after tasting
  • 1 bunch cheiro-verde (flat-leaf parsley and chives, chopped), or cilantro (coentro), as in the North-East

Method

  1. 1. Rinse the carne seca, cover it with cold water and soak it in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, changing the water three or four times.

  2. 2. Drain, cover with fresh water in a pot and boil for 30 minutes; drain, cover with fresh water again and cook for 40 to 60 minutes more (or 30 minutes in a pressure cooker), until the meat pulls apart easily.

  3. 3. Drain the beef, let it cool a little and shred it finely with two forks, discarding any hard fat.

  4. 4. Meanwhile put the cassava in a pot with the 2 l (8 1/2 cups) of water, unsalted, and boil for 30 to 40 minutes, until the pieces split open and are completely soft.

  5. 5. Pull out and discard the tough fibrous cord that runs down the middle of each piece.

  6. 6. Blend the cassava with its cooking water, in batches, until smooth and creamy; it should pour like a thick cream.

  7. 7. In a large pot, fry the bacon, if using, in the oil over medium heat until it releases its fat and starts to brown.

  8. 8. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until soft and golden, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

  9. 9. Add the shredded beef and stir for 2 to 3 minutes so it takes on the flavour of the onion and garlic.

  10. 10. Pour in the cassava purée, stir well and bring to a gentle boil, stirring often because it catches easily on the bottom.

  11. 11. Simmer for 10 minutes, adding boiling water a little at a time until the caldo is thick but still drinkable from a cup.

  12. 12. Taste: the beef usually brings enough salt. Season with plenty of black pepper.

  13. 13. Turn off the heat, scatter the chopped herbs on top and serve very hot in bowls or cups.

Notes

  • Total time: 2 h 30 min, plus overnight soaking.
  • Sweet cassava only: use the 'mansa' (sweet) cassava sold for cooking, called mandioca in São Paulo and the South, aipim in Rio and parts of the North-East, macaxeira in the North and North-East. The bitter 'brava' type is toxic unless processed and is used for flour.
  • Calabresa version: one of the most common forms, especially as caldo de aipim. Replace the carne seca with 2 calabresa sausages (about 400 g / 14 oz), diced and browned with the bacon before the onion. It needs no soaking, so the whole caldo takes about 1 hour.
  • Other meats: shredded beef chuck braised with onion and tomato, minced meat, or a mix of charque and smoked sausage are all used. The constant is cassava puréed into its own cooking water, with no flour or cream.
  • Thickness: more water gives a thin caldinho served in small cups at bars; less gives a thick soup for supper. It thickens as it stands, so thin leftovers with hot water when reheating.
  • Serving: it is winter food and bar food in Minas Gerais and Goiás, often with toasted bread or garlic toasts and, as one Minas restaurateur suggests, a small glass of cachaça.
  • Substitutions: frozen cassava cooks faster and blends just as smoothly. Without carne seca, use well-rinsed salt beef or a smoked sausage. The flavour is less deep but the texture is the same.

Adapted from Família Mineira (São Paulo), Caldo de mandioca com carne seca, via Puxe uma Cadeira, Receiteria, Caldo de aipim com calabresa e carne, and TudoGostoso, Caldo de aipim.

At the festivals

Served at 10 festivals in Brazil and Portugal.

Earlier editions

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