Classic Cassava Farofa
This is the backbone of the Brazilian table. It sits between a condiment and a starch, offering a grit that highlights the textures of everything else on the plate.
Watch the pan, not the clock.
Cassava flour goes from golden to burnt in a matter of seconds. Keep your spoon moving and your eyes on the pan the entire time.
- Heavy-bottomed skillet
- Wooden spoon
- Small knife
What goes in.
- 2 cupscoarse cassava flour (farinha de mandioca)
- 3 tbspunsalted butter
- 1/2 cupbacon, finely diced
- 1/2yellow onion, minced
- 2 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1 tspsalt
Achieving the golden crunch
Add the flour only after the fat has rendered and the aromatics are softened. Keep the heat at medium and stir constantly until the flour feels sandy and smells like toasted nuts.
The method.
Render the bacon
Place the diced bacon in a cold skillet and bring to medium heat. Cook until the fat has rendered and the edges turn crisp.
Aromatics
Add the butter to the bacon fat. Once melted, stir in the onion. Cook until the onion is translucent and just beginning to brown at the edges.
Garlic
Add the garlic and salt. Stir for 30 seconds until the aroma fills the kitchen, but stop before it browns.
Toast the flour
Pour in the cassava flour. Stir vigorously to coat every grain in the fat. Continue toasting, stirring non-stop, for about 5 to 7 minutes until the color deepens to a warm gold.
Finish
Remove from the heat immediately. Transfer to a bowl so the residual heat of the pan does not continue the cooking process.
Other turns to take.
Egg Farofa
Add two beaten eggs into the pan after the aromatics but before the flour, scrambling them until cooked through.
Sweet and Savory
Fold in a handful of golden raisins or chopped dried apricots once the flour is toasted.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Use coarse-grain flour for a better, more distinct crunch.
If you accidentally burn a small portion, remove from heat immediately and stir in a half-teaspoon of cold butter to temper the harshness.
Taste as you go; cassava flour varies in salt absorption.
The ones that keep coming up.
Can I use almond flour instead?
No. The texture and protein content are entirely different; you need the starchiness of cassava to achieve the proper result.
How do I store leftovers?
Keep it in an airtight container at room temperature. It stays crisp for several days.
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