Latest News: World Cup 2014: Try Brazilian cuisine at home...

The 2014 World Cup starts soon, so keep your eyes peeled for loads of recipes, foodie facts, and restaurant highlights over the next four weeks!

We're kicking things off with a collection of traditional Brazilian recipes for you to try whipping up at home. Tried one of these? Tweet us a picture of your dishes at @GourmetSociety!

And if you're not quite ready to try Brazilian cuisine at home, click here to see a round up of some of our favourite Brazilian restaurants, offering discounts to each and every Gourmet Society member!

CAIPIRINHA - serves one

The caipirinha is Brazil’s national drink.Use a big and pungent cachaca to produce a refreshing caipirinha, with a long finish.

Ingredients:
60ml cachaça
1 lime
20ml sugar syrup
1 lime wheel
1 sugar cube

Method:
Cut the lime into pieces and muddle inside a small tumbler. Pour the cachaça and sugar syrup over the lime and add ice. Stir the contents with a spoon or swizzle stick and top up with more ice. Place a medium-sized straw in the glass and garnish with a lime wheel and sugar cube. This way your guest can utilise the garnish to sweeten up the drink.

FEIJOADA - serves 8-10

Serve Brazil's national dish, feijoada, with some finely sliced spring greens, onion and garlic gently fried for 5 minutes or so, as well as boiled rice and some slices of orange.

Ingredients:
1kg dried black beans
400g sun-dried beef, cut into pieces, or 400g smoked pork ribs
400g smoked bacon, cut into chunks
8 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300g large smoked sausages, cut into big chunks (Portuguese sausage is best, but chorizo will do)
300g small Portuguese spicy sausage or n'duja (regular sausages will suffice here if neither spicy versions can be found)
400g salted pork ribs (or any other cut of pork on the bone from the butcher)
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
5 bay leaves
1 orange, peeled, whole
1 shot of cachaça (optional, but recommended)
1 orange to serve, peeled and segmented

Method:
1. In separate bowls, soak the beans, the sun-dried beef or smoked pork ribs (whichever you are using) and the smoked bacon overnight in cold water. Change the water in the morning and continue soaking to get rid of excess fat and salt.

2. Drain the beans and put them in a very large saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then simmer for 30 minutes until tender.

3. Rinse the soaked sun-dried beef (or smoked pork ribs) and smoked bacon well, add to the beans and cook for a further 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, heat a very large, heavy saucepan and pour in the olive oil, so it entirely covers the bottom of the pan. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened. Add the sausages, salted pork ribs, black pepper and bay leaves. Pour in the cooked beans and meat and top up with water to cover them. Place the peeled orange in the centre of the pot. Let the stew simmer for 1½–2 hours or more, topping up with water as necessary, until the meat falls off the bone. Just before serving, fish out the bay leaves, add a shot of cachaça and serve with the orange segments.

PUDIM - serves four

A classic condensed milk flan. Serve with tropical fruits such as pineapple and mango.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp caster sugar
400g tin condensed milk
400ml whole milk
2 eggs
1 tspb vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Put the sugar over a medium heat, then stir until melted and dark golden. Pour into one small bundt tin, or divide between 4 large ramekins.

2. Put the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl then whisk at high speed, until foam forms on top of the mixture, then pour into the bundt tin or ramekins and cover tightly with foil.

3. Place the tin or ramekins in a large roasting tin, then pour in boiling water until it reaches a third of the way up. Bake for around 40 minutes, checking after 30 to see if it is cooked. Remove from the oven, let cool, then chill for at least 3 hours.

4. To remove the flan from the bundt tin, cover with a big plate then let stand for an hour. After this time, turn it upside down then sharply tap the base; it should then unmould, but if it doesn't, run a knife around the edges to loosen it.

Credits: http://www.foodiesnetwork.tv, http://www.lugarzinho.com, http://www.foodnetwork.com, http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jun/07/10-best-brazilian-recipes, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/10873134/Brazilian-cachaca-cocktails-for-the-World-Cup.html

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