The most famous dish in the Cape Verde Archipelago is, without a doubt, the Cachupa. It is a slow-cooked stew of corn, beans, cassava, sweet potato and fish/meat.
The traditional day of the week the dish is served in many households and restaurants is Saturday. It is a real family affair as both men and women take turns in creating it.
There are two types of Cachupa dishes; Cachupa Rica (rich), made with local varieties of meat and the Cachupa Pobre (poor), which contains just vegetables.
Cachupa leftovers are often re-fried, and the resulting dish is called cachupa frita/cachupa guisada/cachupa refogada, meaning fried cachupa. It can be served for breakfast with fried eggs a sausage.
Ingredients
• 3 cups dry corn
• 1 cup dry red beans
• 1/2 cup lima beans
• A large chopped onion
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 500g salted chopped pork
• 250g sliced blood sausage
• 500g tuna or cooked meat
• Chopped cabbage
• Sweet potato cut into chunks
• 1 lb plantain
• 1 cup cubed squash
• bay leaves
• A can of tomato
• 1 lb yam
• A handful of cilantro leaves fresh
• salt & pepper to taste
• olive oil
• 4-6 cups of water
Method of preparation
1. Soak the dry red beans, lima beans and corn overnight. Drain the water, and wash the beans thoroughly. Add the water and bay leaves to the beans and let them cook till they become tender.
2. In a separate pan, saute the sausage slices and let its oil seep out. Add the rest of the meat and fish.
3. When the meats are well sauteed, add the vegetables and saute them together. 4. Add some salt and cover the pan. Let the vegetables and meats cook till tender.
5. Add these to the beans with the can of tomatoes and cook them further for 2-3 hours. Take care that there is enough water to maintain a thick broth-like dish and prevent it from burning.
6. When well cooked, take it off the stove. Add the cilantro just before serving.
7. Serve with plain rice.
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