Farofa de banana-da-terra is toasted cassava flour cooked with fried plantain. The fat is bottled Brazilian butter (manteiga de garrafa). The fruit is plantain (banana-da-terra), not a dessert banana. It goes with sun-dried salted beef (carne de sol) and fresh garlic pork sausage (linguiça).
At a glance
- No bacon in the base recipe. No raisins.
- Use plantain (banana-da-terra). Regular bananas (nanica or prata) belong in cartola, not here.
- Manteiga de garrafa is the fat. If the Brazilian bottle is gone, melted salted butter works.
- Farinha de mandioca is dry cassava flour. It is not tapioca starch.
- Region: Nordeste
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What to buy
In a US store the fruit is labeled plantain. Buy them yellow with some black spots, still firm. Green plantains fry dry, like a chip. Soft black ones collapse in the pan. Three large plantains serve about six as a side.
Farinha de mandioca is at a Brazilian or Latin market, or online. Ask for farinha de mandioca, not tapioca starch and not corn flour. Bottled Brazilian butter (manteiga de garrafa) is in the same aisle when the shop stocks the Northeast pantry. If the shelf only has salted butter, that is the fallback. Kit notes: What to buy.
- Low: Yoki farinha de mandioca — real cassava flour, not tapioca starch.
- Usual mid: Amafil farinha de mandioca — the usual mid when the Brazilian market has it.
- High: Amafil or Yoki farinha de mandioca torrada from a Brazilian grocer, plus a bottle of manteiga de garrafa if they stock it.
Ingredients (about 6 sides)
- 3 firm-ripe plantains (banana-da-terra), about 1 1/2 lb (700 g)
- 4 tablespoons (60 ml) manteiga de garrafa, or melted salted butter
- 3 cups (300 g) farinha de mandioca
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon (1 colher de chá) fine salt, then taste
- A handful of cheiro-verde (parsley and green onion), chopped
Method
- Peel the plantains. Cut into 1/2-inch (1 cm) rounds, or into medium slices. They should stay in one piece in the pan.
- Warm the manteiga de garrafa in a wide skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion until soft and lightly gold. Add the garlic and cook briefly, just until fragrant.
- Add the plantain. Fry until both sides are lightly gold, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn gently so the slices stay in one piece. If a slice breaks, leave it in the pan.
- Lower the heat. Sprinkle the farinha in a handful at a time, stirring so it takes the fat and toasts. This takes about 5 minutes. The flour should look sandy and gold, not white and raw, and not wet like dough.
- Salt, taste, and fold in the cheiro-verde off the heat. Serve warm.
How you know it is done
The farinha is sandy gold and has taken the butter. The plantain pieces are gold at the edge and still hold their shape. If the flour tastes raw, keep stirring on low. If it smells scorched, the heat was too high.
When it goes on the table
Make it while the meat rests, or just before the first slice. Serve hot. It dries if it sits. Rewarm on low with a spoon of manteiga de garrafa if it was made earlier. A closed pot on high heat dries it out.
At a northeastern churrasco this bowl sits next to carne de sol, linguiça, and Maria Isabel. Vinagrete still belongs on the meat. Fried plantain on its own, without farinha, is a different plate: banana-da-terra.
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