Vaca Atolada
A rustic beef rib and cassava stew from Minas Gerais, its name meaning 'stuck cow.' Tradition ties it to Portuguese gold-prospecting pioneers who traveled through the region with cattle and preserved beef in the late 1600s, with cattle getting genuinely stuck in the region's mud during the rainy season, and the stew cooked during those forced halts, originally with dried, salted beef rather than the fresh ribs used today. It's genuinely distinct from the site's existing Carne de Sol and Vaca Frita: those are salt-cured or shredded, pan-crisped preparations, while vaca atolada is a wet, one-pot stew of fresh beef ribs and cassava simmered together until the cassava breaks down and thickens the broth and the ribs fall off the bone.
Meat
Ingredients
- 1.5kg beef short ribs
- 1kg cassava, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp oil
- Cilantro, chopped, to finish
Steps
- Brown the ribs in oil, then remove and set aside.
- Sauté the onion and garlic in the same pot, then add the tomato and bay leaf.
- Return the ribs to the pot with enough water to cover, and simmer 1.5-2 hours until nearly falling apart.
- Add the cassava and continue simmering until the cassava is tender and starts to break down, thickening the broth.
- Finish with cilantro and serve hot.