Bistrô da Vila - Morretes (PR)

Barreado is a classic dish of southern Brazil that consists of stewed beef with a variety of spices slowly cooked on a clay pot for at least 12 hours. It is usually served with rice, “pirão”, banana and manioc flour.

Originally, the clay pot was hermetically sealed with a paste made of manioc dough and ash, before being cooked over fire. Hence its name, which literally translates into “covered in mud”. This technique can be compared to a rustic slow cooker, as the seal traps all of the juices inside the pot while the meat stews.

I had an incredible version of Barreado once before in São Paulo, in the great @tordesilhas restaurant. From that point forward, I knew that I would have to adventure myself in search of the dish straight from the source.

So earlier this year I finally headed to the beautiful town of Morretes, taking a scenic car ride from Curitiba and crossing the Atlantic Forest towards the coastline. But I have to confess that it wasn’t as easy as I imagined to find a legitimate version of the dish.

Barreado is served in basically all restaurants in the city center, but in many of those places the cooking method has nothing to do with the original recipe and generally uses pressure cookers - in gas or electric ovens - to speed up the process. Most restaurants are clearly focused on attracting visitors, who in turn seem to be much more worried about a nice picture than the food itself. I even found out that many restaurants have partnerships with travel agencies so that the tour guides lead tourists to such establishments. Reg flags everywhere.

The good news is that I can point you in the right direction: @_bistrodavila serves a fantastic version of the dish. Even if it is not cooked 100% the traditional way, the place is clearly dedicated to keeping the original taste alive, and the final result is extremely good. Falling-apart tender meat, cooked for over 4 hours, with a flavorful broth in which you can really feel the presence of cumin. I highly recommend this restaurant for whoever decides to visit Morretes

(Versão em Português nos comentários)