Brazilian feijoada

Method

1. The day before, desalt the carne seca: cut it into 4 cm cubes, rinse and cover with cold water in a bowl; keep in the fridge for 24 hours, changing the water every 3 to 4 hours while you are awake. Cut the pork ribs between the bones, season with 1 teaspoon of salt and keep covered in the fridge.
2. On the day, rinse the dried black beans, discard any that float and soak them in 1.5 litres of water for just 30 minutes (any longer and they lose colour and break up). Meanwhile, put the drained carne seca and the ribs in a pot with 2 litres of water, boil for 10 minutes and discard this water.
3. Finely chop 2 onions and 4 garlic cloves. In a 6-litre pot over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the diced bacon for 4 minutes; add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook for about 8 minutes until golden. Add the garlic, cumin and bay leaves and stir for 1 minute.
4. Drain the beans, add them to the pot with 3 litres of water and bring to the boil over high heat. Add the carne seca and ribs, lower the heat and simmer half-covered for 1½ hours, stirring now and then and adding hot water if the beans become exposed.
5. Cut the pork loin into 3 cm cubes and the calabresa sausage into 1 cm diagonal slices, add them to the pot and simmer for 1 more hour, stirring gently, until the meats are tender, some beans are breaking up and the broth is thick and dark. Mash a ladleful of beans against the side to thicken, and only then taste for salt. (Pressure cooker: in step 4 use 2 litres of water and cook 30 minutes once hissing; then add the loin and calabresa and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.)
6. Make fluffy white rice: boil 750 ml of water in a kettle. In a medium pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over low heat and soften ½ onion, finely chopped, with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes; add 300 g of long-grain rice and stir for 1 minute until every grain is coated. Pour in the boiling water, add 1 teaspoon of salt, stir once and cook uncovered over medium heat until the water drops to the level of the rice (about 7 minutes). Lower the heat, half-cover and cook 8 minutes more until dry; turn off the heat, keep covered for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.
7. Make the farofa: in a frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook ½ finely chopped onion with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes. Add the cassava flour and stir for 5 to 8 minutes until lightly golden and smelling of hazelnut. Season with salt and black pepper.
8. Make couve à mineira: strip the thick stalks from 8 collard green leaves, roll them up like a cigar and cut into 2 mm ribbons (or use 250 g of pre-shredded couve galega). In a large frying pan over high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil, fry 1 chopped garlic clove for 30 seconds, add the greens and a pinch of salt and toss for 1 to 2 minutes, just until wilted and bright green.
9. Peel the oranges with a knife, removing the white pith too, and cut them into rounds or segments.
10. Serve the feijoada bubbling hot in its pot, with the rice, collard greens, farofa and orange on the side so everyone builds their own plate.