Cuscuz paulista (cornmeal and sardine mould)

Method

1. Boil the eggs for 10 minutes, cool them under cold water, peel and slice into rounds.
2. Drain the sardines, keeping the oil from the tins. Set 4 whole sardines aside for decorating; take the backbone out of the rest and break them into flakes. Slice the hearts of palm into 1 cm rounds. Slice 1 tomato thinly for decorating; deseed and chop the rest. Chop the onion, garlic, parsley and chives, and slice the olives.
3. Oil a 20–22 cm ring (pudding) mould. Line the bottom and sides with egg, tomato and heart-of-palm slices, the whole sardines and a few olives, packed close: this pattern ends up on top once unmoulded.
4. In a wide pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil with the sardine oil and soften the onion with a pinch of salt for 4 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute and the chopped tomato, and cook for 8 minutes until it breaks down.
5. Add the passata, the peas still frozen, the remaining hearts of palm and olives, the flaked sardines and 500 ml of boiling water. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.
6. Lower to medium-low and add the flocão gradually, stirring all the time, then the cassava flour. Stir for 3 to 5 minutes until the mixture is moist but comes away from the bottom of the pan; if it turns dry and crumbly, add boiling water 50 ml at a time. Turn off the heat and fold in the parsley and chives.
7. Spoon the mixture into the mould without disturbing the pattern and press it down firmly with the back of the spoon. Rest for 30 minutes to set (or cover and chill for 3 hours to serve cold).
8. Run a knife round the edge, turn the mould onto a plate and tap it to release. Serve in slices, warm or cold.