Feijão Tropeiro

The Feijao tropeiro is a classic Brazilian dish introduced by tropeiros, troops of cattlemen, in the 17th century. Thus, the early records of  feijao tropeiro date back to the 17th century. It got its name from the word tropeiro, a Portuguese word that roughly translates to cattlemen troops.

A tropeiro’s job is to explore various uncharted parts of a specific country or nation while searching for riches and colonizing uncivilized land.

They usually operate in groups and drive herds of horses and cattle.

One of the biggest problems they faced was meal preparation.

Each voyage would last days, and every day they’d spend upward of 12 hours traversing unfamiliar paths far away from any type of village.

It would only make sense to eat large meals to keep their energy levels up.

However, food storage was a huge issue. Not many food insulations and refrigeration options were available yet, so they had to rely on dry foods such as grains and beans.

On top of that, most groups of troperios didn’t have room in their carts to carry cooking supplies.

Given all these conditions, the Brazilian explorers felt that a feijao tropeiro would be the ideal staple for them

Tropeiros loved it for its simplicity. Modern variations have become complex, but the original recipe was a simple meal that consisted of dried meat cuts, cassava flour, and beans.