Opinion – Recipes from Marcão: Learn how to make a delicious farofa to celebrate 200 years of Independence

No food is as Brazilian as farofa. Rice with beans exists in several countries. Pão de queijo has a Paraguayan cousin, the chipa. Even the feijoada, if you look closely, looks like dishes from Europe.

But the farofa is 100% Brazilian. It appears in every corner of our map. Foreigners just don’t understand it. They think it’s too strange for us to eat a crunchy, semi-dry flour with an almost sandy texture. Bad luck for them.

That’s why I chose a farofa for the recipe for the week in which Brazil completes 200 years as an independent country.

The farofa admits an infinity of variations. It has moist farofa, crispy farofa, corn farofa, cassava farofa, bread farofa, egg farofa, bananas, olives, dried fruits and whatever you want.

Let’s go with a very basic farofinha and, therefore, versatile. Toasted onion crumb. Just four ingredients, counting the salt.

It goes well with barbecue, it goes well with feijoada, it improves any PF, it works very well —I swear I did the test— to replace the grated cheese on top of the macaroni.

This farofa in the photo I prepared with a flocked manioc flour, from Goiás, which I bought at a stall next to a bus stop in Brasília. Absolutely crunchy.

I know that in other corners it will not be easy to find the same flour, but there are plenty of substitutes. Flocked flour, also called biju, is found in many supermarkets. And you can also use corn flour in flakes, the main thing here is the texture.

To optimize this texture, the flour goes over an onion that has been sautéed very slowly, on the lowest possible heat, until it turns dark brown, almost black. Almost all the water in the onion evaporates, that’s the idea. You just need to watch the pan well, because the onion becomes bitter if it is overcooked.

To balance dryness, you need to pay attention to the amount of fat. I prefer to use lard, but you can make it with oil too.

Because it is a very dry farofa, it preserves for several weeks in the fridge. Double or triple the recipe if you want, you can’t go wrong.

Crispy onion crumble

Yield: 2 servings

Difficulty: easy

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons lard or oil

1 large onion, sliced

2 cups flaked cassava or corn flour

salt to taste

PREPARATION

1. Over very low heat, melt the lard. Add the onion and sauté until browned, stirring constantly.
2. Add the flour, mix well, adjust the salt and turn off the heat. Eat hot or at room temperature.