Carne de Sol
Carne De Sol
Dry, salted beef. It doesn’t sound that appetizing – why would I want to eat beef that has been over-salted and left to sit in an only slightly refrigerated butcher shop window? Because it’s delicious. Carne de sol, different, but similar to carne seca and charque, is a food born out of necessity. In this case, lack of refrigeration. While extremely common here in the Northeast, in Minas Gerais, carne de sol was a bar novelty, a salty, fatty accompaniment to an ice cold beer, usually served with fried mandioca (minas) / aipim (bahia). Now, however, carne de sol is a staple in my refrigerator: it lasts long, it can be cooked in minutes and does not require long stretches of marination. So, on a lazy day like today instead of scampering around the kitchen trying to prepare lunch before my husband gets home from work, I waft into the kitchen, heat up yesterdays rice and beans, chop up a salad, fry the boiled aipim from last night and whip up some carne de sol.
Porção de mandioca com carne de sol
How To Make Carne De Sol
The beauty of these meats is that you don’t need seasoning, persay.
500g carne de sol chopped to your liking (strips, cubes, slices…i like strips)
1/2 large onion, chopped in rings
1/2 green pepper, in rings
1/2 large tomato, in rings
In a skillet, heat about two tablespoons of oil and drop in the meat. Once browned on both sides, add the vegetables and dry until transluscent.
Carne de Sol is commonly shredded (“desfiada”)
