Farofa, Brazil’s Secret Side Dish
I looked at the package my sister brought from her trip to Brazil, it looked like a flour and the first thing I asked was, “Why did you bring a flour from Brazil?” soon after, she mixed it with some butter and it looked like sand, to be honest. As she didn’t tell me anything about it, I just tasted it and it tasted like corn, chips, potatos and heaven. I was so curious about this thing and soon after I learnt all about this amazing flour-like side dish.
Farofa is like a flour, but a bit different. It is made from corn flour and from the roots of Mandioca, which is a vegetable like a potato and grows in Tropical America. Farofa is usually cooked with butter, salt and for choice, with onions. You mix it for a few minutes until it looks a bit darker and crunchy. It is usually served with meat as a side dish and you put a spoon of Farofa on the meat and when you eat it you go to heaven. I think it tastes a bit like meat with corn chips but as soon as you eat it, you want to eat everything with it. It gives the food such a delightful taste that it takes you to the Brazil’s long beaches, so funny how a dish can represent the soul and the taste of the place that it belongs to. A different taste I never experienced before.
