Baião de Dois

A hearty Northeastern one-pot of rice and black-eyed peas cooked together with bacon, dried beef and crumbly curd cheese. Rich, savoury and homey, it is the soul food of Ceara and the broader Brazilian sertao.

Baião de dois — 'baião for two' — is the soul food of Brazil's northeast, named for the pairing of its two essentials: rice and black-eyed peas, cooked together with curd cheese and dried beef. It carries the name of the region's signature dance.

Each forkful is creamy rice studded with soft, earthy peas and salty hits of bacon and dried beef. The softened curd cheese laces it with tangy richness while coriander lifts the whole pot. Filling and deeply savoury.

Toasting the rice in seasoned bacon fat coats each grain so it cooks separate yet absorbs the smoky, beefy stock, while the curd cheese, a grilling cheese that softens rather than fully melts, lends a creamy richness.

Variations

with carne de sol instead of dried beef, with sausage, vegetarian with extra cheese, soupier version

On the Palate

Where Baião de Dois sits in the Brazilian flavor cloud

Cook to learn

Toast the raw rice in the seasoned bacon fat before adding liquid — coating each grain in fat is what keeps them separate and fluffy while they drink up the smoky, beefy stock.

Techniques

Sauteing Simmering

Ingredients

Serves 4

How it's made

8 steps · 20 min

1
40 min
Soak black-eyed peas, then simmer until tender but still holding shape, reserving the cooking liquid.
2
6 min
Render diced bacon in a pot until the fat is released and the bits crisp.
Watch out
Render the bacon slowly until the fat runs clear and the bits turn crisp and golden — that fat is your cooking base.
3
5 min
Add cubed dried beef and brown it in the bacon fat.
4
4 min
Saute chopped onion and garlic in the same pot until fragrant.
5
3 min
Stir in raw rice and toast it briefly in the seasoned fat.
Watch out
The rice is toasted enough when the grains look glassy at the edges and smell nutty; don't let them brown.
6
2 min
Add the cooked peas and enough reserved liquid to cook the rice.
7
20 min
Simmer covered until the rice is tender and the liquid absorbed.
Watch out
Keep the lid on and the heat low until the liquid is fully absorbed and the grains are tender but distinct — resist stirring.
8
3 min
Fold in crumbled curd cheese and chopped coriander just before serving.