Sarapatel

Ingredients

Offal

• 500 gpork liver
• 500 gpork heart
• 300 gpork kidney
• 300 gpork belly
• 200 gpig’s tongue, optional

Blood

• 300 mlfresh pig’s blood

To clean

• juice of 4 limes
• coarse salt
• vinegar

Marinade

• 200 mlwhite wine vinegar
• 8 clovesgarlic
• 2 tbspsweet paprika
• 1 tbspground cumin
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tbspblack pepper
• salt

Pot

• 3onions, chopped
• 4tomatoes
• 3 tbspoil or lard
• 4malagueta or bird’s eye chillies
• 2 tbspchopped coriander
• juice of 2 limes

To serve

• white rice
• farofa
• pirão

Directions

1. Keep it refrigerated throughout and use it within a day or two of collection. Never let it stand at room temperature at any point. Wash all the offal thoroughly, rubbing it with lime juice and coarse salt, then rinse.
2. Repeat with vinegar and rinse again, and do the whole cycle three or four times. Keep going until the water runs clear and it smells clean. Trim away any tubes, membranes and hard parts rather than hoping they will cook down. Kidneys need particular attention: split them, cut out the white core, and soak them in vinegared water for an hour.
3. Cool the offal and cut it into small even dice, about 1 cm. Dice it small and evenly, because sarapatel should be a thick chunky stew rather than a pot of large pieces of liver.
4. Marinate the diced offal overnight in vinegar, garlic, paprika, cumin, bay, pepper and salt. The vinegar marinade is the Goan inheritance and it does two things: it seasons deeply and it acts as a preservative, which is why the dish keeps well.
5. Add the tomatoes and chillies and cook down to a thick base. Cook it over a medium heat for 20 minutes, then add water to cover and simmer. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours until everything is completely tender. Cook it long. Heart and tongue in particular are dense and need hours, and undercooked offal is unpleasant.
6. Strain the blood through a sieve to catch any clots. Strain it and mean it, because a clot becomes a hard dark lump in the finished stew. Take the pot off the heat and let it stop bubbling. Add it off the heat and stir without stopping. Return it to the lowest possible heat and cook gently for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring. Never let it boil after the blood goes in, for the same reason.
7. Finish with lime juice and chopped coriander. Taste and season, and expect it to be sharply vinegary, rich and hot. Rest it off the heat, and it is genuinely better the next day and the day after. Serve it with white rice and farofa, which soak up the sauce.

Technique

• Goan sorpotel is the direct ancestor and is made the same way with more chilli and less blood.
• The vinegar means it keeps for several days and improves throughout.
• It is a dish people either love or refuse entirely, with little in between.

Substitutions

• A version made with no blood, which is common and is a different and milder dish.
• Goat offal in place of pork, which is used in some regions.

Variations

• Made with goat, as sarapatel de bode.
• Without blood, which many households now prefer.
• Sorpotel, the Goan version.

History

Carried by the Portuguese from Goa and adopted across Pernambuco and Bahia; the blood is stirred in at the end to thicken it.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sarapatel?

Sarapatel is a main from Brazil: pork or goat offal and blood stewed with lime and chilli. Carried by the Portuguese from Goa and adopted across Pernambuco and Bahia; the blood is stirred in at the end to thicken it.

How long does Sarapatel take to make?

Sarapatel takes 1 hr plus overnight marinating of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Sarapatel?

Yes, within limits. A version made with no blood, which is common and is a different and milder dish. Goat offal in place of pork, which is used in some regions.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sarapatel?

Keep it refrigerated throughout and use it within a day or two of collection. Never let it stand at room temperature at any point. Wash all the offal thoroughly, rubbing it with lime juice and coarse salt, then rinse.