The Nitty-gritty on Buchada

In preparation for Flavors of Brazil's upcoming encounter with the traditional dish of Ceara, buchada, (see previous post) I've been doing some online research into the dish - looking at photos, recipes, and articles. It's not been exactly what I'd call enticing. However, I'm determined to carry on....

First, there's the issue of the visual aspects of this dish as it sits on the plate. There seems to be many styles of buchada, but they all have in common this greyish football-shaped stomach perched in the middle of the plate or platter. Sometimes, there's sauce, sometimes not. Sometimes the stomach has been pre-opened, sometimes not. Here is a random sampling from the internet: (click each photo to enlarge)

But that's not the end of it.  Looking at a number of recipes, I found the typical list of ingredients less than appetizing. Here's one list, also from the internet:

1.   Internal organs of 1 kid (fortunately, they mean baby goat     here): stomach, tripes, liver, lungs and kidneys
2.   4 large limes
3.   salt and pepper to taste
4.   3 cloves of garlic, crushed
5.   4 chopped onions
5.   1 bunch cilantro
6.   2 bay leaves
7.   1 stem mint
8.   1 cup vinigar
9.   2 Tbsp. olive oit
10. 1/2 lb. bacon, chopped
11. coagulated kid's blood
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I'm actually quite OK with ingredients number 2 through 10. It's just 1 and 11 that I'll have to deal with before I take my first mouthful of the true buchada of Ceara.

To be continued...