Feijão tropeiro, also known as feijão caipira,[1] feijão de preguiça and feijão das onze,[2] is a typical dish from Paulista cuisine.[3] It consists of beans mixed with cassava or maize flour, sausage, eggs, bacon or toucinho, seasoned with garlic, onion, parsley and peppercorn, and is sometimes enriched with chicharrón and brassica oleracea. Initially, the most common way of cooking it was in an improvised trempe, as it was prepared on expeditions to the backlands by bandeirantes and later by tropeiros.[4] It would become a traditional dish in the region explored by bandeirantes[5] and tropeiros. As well as São Paulo, today it is also present in the traditional cuisine of Goiás, Minas Gerais,[6][7] Mato Grosso[8] and Paraná.[9]
 | |
| Region or state | Paulistania |
|---|---|
| Associated cuisine | Brazilian cuisine |
| Main ingredients | Beans, sausage, and manioc flour |
History
editOrigins
editThe dish has its origins in the 17th century. Its name comes from the tropeiros – merchants who sold horses, mules, and food between the south and southeast regions of Brazil.[10][11] The typical dish were originally created before tropeiros, during the time of the bandeirantes, a pioneering movement originating in São Paulo, responsible for exploring the South America during Brazil's colonial period.[12]
From the 17th to the 18th century, beans, treated as a staple food, cost six times less than rice in São Paulo, and their low cost and durability helped make them part of the explorers' expeditions. It was cooked with bacon and salt; once ready, it was customary to mix it with corn flour until it formed a paste. This basic recipe ended up being adopted by all the people of the Paulista Plateau, and later spread to other parts of Paulistania, such as Goiás and Minas Gerais.[13]
Due to the needs of the bandeirantes to transport animals to support their mining centers, the tropeiros emerged, becoming responsible for transporting goods on the backs of mules or horses through various regions of Brazil, a factor that became important for the dissemination of the bandeirantes food culture,[14] among them, the mixture of beans and flour, which became popularly known as “feijão tropeiro,” which in English can be translated as "bean tropeiro."
The tropeiros created various meals to be eaten during their long journeys,[15][16] which covered distances of up to 4,000 kilometers. Although they preferred the European food base, the tropeiros, like the bandeirantes, incorporated indigenous food customs, such as charki (type of dehydrated meat), maize flour, meat paçoca and corn flour. When the animals stopped to rest, the tropeiros ate beans with almost no sauce, to prevent them from spoiling easily, mixed with pieces of meat and toucinho.[15]
Evolution
edit
Over time, feijão tropeiro became very popular and evolved. It became a richer dish with the addition of other types of meat such as calabresa sausage, fried pork belly, and bacon. It also included collard greens and a fried egg on top. The dish, in some places, is served with white rice, shredded collard greens, corn purée,[2] and a slice of orange on the side.[17]
Cultural importance
editFeijão tropeiro is one of the best-known dishes in Paulista and Brazilian cuisine,[18] traditional mainly in the interior of São Paulo and in the states of Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Paraná.
Connection with sports
editThe dish is iconic in Minas Gerais,[19] this cuisine is one of the symbols of football culture in the municipality of Belo Horizonte. At Mineirão stadium, the dish became a tradition on match days.[20] The dish gained its first popularity in the late 1990s, becoming more popular over the decades with restaurants inside the stadium which started selling and become famous for the dish.[21][22]
References
edit- ^ TELES, Gilberto Mendonça Teles (1982). Saciologia Goiana. p. 104.
- ^ a b Hamilton, Cherie (2005). Brazil: A Culinary Journey. Hippocrene Books. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-7818-1080-7.
- ^ SETUBAL, Maria Alice (2004). Coleção Terra Paulista: histórias, arte, costumes. São Paulo: Centro de Estudos e Pesquisas em Educação, Cultura e Ação Comunitária.
- ^ DÓRIA, Carlos Alberto. A culinária caipira da Paulistânia: a história e as receitas de um modo antigo de comer. p. 134.
- ^ SIGNORELI, Izabel Cristina Alves. Cozinha goiana: Identidade e Tradição Culinária em Bariani Ortencio. pp. 26–27.
- ^ "Feijão tropeiro | Traditional Meat Dish From Minas Gerais". TasteAtlas. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
- ^ Fajans, Jane (2013-07-18). Brazilian Food: Race, Class and Identity in Regional Cuisines. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-85785-043-0.
- ^ SIGNORELI, Izabel Cristina Alves. Cozinha goiana: Identidade e Tradição Culinária em Bariani Ortencio. p. 26.
- ^ HOFFMANN, Jeani, (). «». . 10 (17) (2011). "Percepção de jovens sobre o conhecimento e preservação das culinária típica do Paraná". Revista Varia Scientia. 10 (17): 106.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Machado Ramos, Jefferson Evandro (22 February 2023). "Tropeiros - quem eram, trabalho, tropeiros no Brasil Colonial". Sua Pesquisa. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
- ^ "Feijão Tropeiro - A História Do Prato Mais Nômade Do Brasil". Food and Road (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ PIRES, Eduardo. "Feijão tropeiro". Giro Marília.
- ^ DÓRIA, Carlos Alberto (134). A culinária caipira da Paulistânia: a história e as receitas de um modo antigo de comer.
- ^ CORRÊA, Ana Alice Silveira. "A cultura caipira: os usos e costumes da tradicional cozinha paulista narrada através de seus ingredientes tradicionais" (PDF). University of São Paulo: 5.
- ^ a b "Que bandeirante, que nada! - Revista de História".
- ^ PRESTES, Lucinda Ferreira. A vila tropeira de Nossa Senhora da Ponte de Sorocaba: aspectos socioeconômicos e arquitetura das classes dominantes (1750-1888).
- ^ Raichlan, Steven. "THE BEANS FROM BRAZIL A CARNIVAL OF FESTIVE DISHES". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ Miranda, Beatriz (15 June 2021). "Where a meal without beans is incomplete". BBC Travel. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- ^ "Troopers' beans are a star attraction at Mineirão". Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ "Conheça a história do tradicional tropeiro do Mineirão". Globo.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 5 September 2015. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
- ^ Young, James (27 June 2014). "Belo Horizonte a delight for food and football". ESPN. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
- ^ Trigueiro, Karla (2019). "O FEIJÃO TROPEIRO DO MINEIRÃO – ASPECTOS CULTURAIS E A APROPRIAÇÃO SIMBÓLICA DO TERRITÓRIO" (PDF). Encontro da Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa Em Geografia. 13.