RECIPE - Mushy Peas (Purê de ervilhas)

At times it's easy to forget that not everything about Brazilian cuisine is strange or exotic from the European or North American point of view. Granted, a blog like Flavors of Brazil that deals with traditional regional and contemporary Brazilian gastronomy will have to talk about fruits that can only be found in the tropics, species of fish and shellfish that might seem unusual and bizarre in the cold-water world of the northern-hemisphere seas, or cooking techniques inherited from pre-literate Amerindian tribes or from African slaves. However, much of Brazilian cooking is very similar to cooking from the northern half of the world.

This is particularly true of regional recipes from the south of Brazil, where immigration patterns have resulted in large numbers of Brazilians who can claim ancestry from Europe. In Brazil's southern states, you can find Italian dishes, German ones, even recipes that hark back to Eastern Europe.

We were reminded of this recently when we were perusing one of the volumes in Abril Editora's 20-volume series Cozinha Regional Brazileira (Regional Brazilian Cuisine), now unfortunately out of print. The book in question concerned the gastronomy of the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, where there are large communities who can trace their family trees back to Italy or Germany. So seeing recipes for gnocchi (almost unrecognizable in its Portuguese spelling - nhoque) and sauerkraut in the cookbook was no surprise. But when we turned over page 110, there was one of our favorite "awful" dishes from the British Isles - mushy peas (called purê de ervilhas in its Portuguese translation). How this dish which is so widely execrated, but for which many people secretly carry a nostalgic torch, made its way from Oliver Twist-style English orphanages and boarding schools to southern Brazil is something we'll never know, as there has never been large-scale immigration from England to Brazil. But there it was large as life, and reading the recipe brought a nostalgic rush.

For those readers who might not be familiar with mushy peas or who just want to remember eating them as a child, here is the recipe from the Santa Catarina cookbook. Try it - it may turn out that for you mushy peas are one of those things, like creamed corn or rice pudding, that you'll love to eat alone and secretly. It's just too embarrassing to admit you really like the dish!
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RECIPE - Mushy Peas (Purê de ervilhas)
Serves 8

2 lbs (1 kg) dried green split peas
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup crispy-fried bacon cubes (optional) for garnish.
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Place the peas in a large heavy pan. Add enough water to bring the water level to two-fingers height above the level of the peas. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat to a slow boil and cook for 30-40 minutes or until the peas are very tender and beginning to fall apart. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peas to a blender. Add enough water from the pan to allow blender to liquidize the peas, but not so much as to make a soup. It's best to start with a small amount of water, adding more as needed until the peas reach the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Return the peas to a pan, season to taste with salt, and heat thoroughly. Serve immediately as a side dish, topped with bacon cubes if desired.

RECIPE - Cappelleti alla Romanesca

This recipe for cappelleti in a cream-based sauce with ham, mushrooms and peas, was made invented in the 1950s in São Paulo, Brazil - not in Rome as the name would lead you to believe. But whether it was born in the Old World or the New World makes little difference to most Brazilians, who've taken this recipe to their collective hearts. Especially kids - this is a tremendously kid-friendly dish.

It's also a recipe that's very easy to make and requires little time or technical skill. Perfect for a quick supper.

One note - the recipe calls for creme de leite, a type of cream that, though common in Brazil, isn't available in many parts of the world. (click here for information about creme de leite).The dish can be very successfully made with sour cream or crème fraîche , or a mixture of the two.
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RECIPE - Cappelleti alla Romanesca
Serves 5
10 oz (300 gr) fresh, meat- or cheese-filled cappelleti
1 pint (500 ml) creme de leite (see above)
1/4 lb (100 gr) cooked ham, cut into small cubes
1/4 lb (100 gr) fresh white button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 lb (100 gr) fresh or frozen small peas, cooked
butter to taste
salt to taste
fresh-grated parmesan cheese
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In a large pan of boiling water, cook the cappelleti as directed. When cook to the al dente stage, drain, refresh in plenty of running water, then reserve.

Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan melt the butter, then sauté the mushrooms until they are softened. Then add the ham and peas and cook for an additional minute or two. Add the creme de leite, season for salt, then increase the heat to reduce the sauce slightly. When reduced, add the reserved cappelleti and cook, stirring carefully, until the cappelleti are heated through.

Remove from heat, place in a large serving platter, and pass at the table, with grated parmesan in a small bowl at the side.

Salpicão - Brazil's chicken salad

In Brazil, any time you walk along the line of dishes at a buffet, whether it's a wedding reception, a birthday party or even a standard self-service restaurant, one dish you can assume you'll find among the choice of salads and cold dishes is called salpicão. Salpicão is to the Brazilian buffet table what molded-jelly salads were to church basement suppers in the USA and Canada in the 50s and 60s - ubiquitous and omnipresent. It is basically Brazil's version of chicken salad, and as such has multitudinous variations and takes on a central theme - cooked and shredded chicken mixed with some fruits and vegetables, all bound together with mayonnaise.

Like the little girl who had a little curl, it can be said of salpicão that when it is good, it is very, very good, and when it is bad it is horrid. And also potentially dangerous, for any mayonnaise-based salad that isn't properly refrigerated in Brazil's hot climate can turn bad almost instantaneously. I tend to avoid salpicão in commercial establishments for this and other reasons, but have eaten some wonderful versions in home buffets.

Less appetizing and cheaper versions of salpicão tend to load the mixture with a lot of canned corn and canned peas, whereas better ones feature more chicken meat and fresh vegetables and fruits. Although the number of recipes for salpicão is unlimited, there are, however, a few must-haves to make it a true salpicão. First, there has to be fresh fruit in the mix, usually diced apples but sometimes pineapple. Second, some sort of dried fruit much be added. This is usually raisins, but I've also seen chopped dried apricots. And finally, the salad must be topped with packaged commercial shoestring potatoes (sorry!) If you don't have these things, it's not really a salpicão at all.

In the next post Flavors of Brazil, I'll provide a typical recipe for salpicão. If made at home with good ingredients and a light touch on the mayonnaise it can be very good indeed.