Catchupa recipe

Cape Verde's national stew of whole hominy corn and beans cooked for hours with roots, greens and pork until the kernels split and go creamy.

16 hours and 30 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 400 g dried hominy corn
• 200 g dried kidney beans
• 100 g butter beans
• 300 g cassava
• 300 g sweet potato
• 500 g cabbage
• 300 g pork belly
• 150 g chorizo
• 1 onion
• 3 clove garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tbsp olive oil

How to make Catchupa

1. Soak 400 g dried hominy corn, 100 g kidney beans and 100 g butter beans in separate bowls overnight. Whole hominy kernels, never cornmeal, are what makes this cachupa.
2. Drain them, cover with 3 L cold water, boil hard for 10 minutes (kidney beans must reach a full boil to be safe), then simmer 2 to 3 hours, topping up with hot water, until the kernels split open and the broth turns creamy.
3. Meanwhile brown 150 g diced pork belly and 150 g sliced chorizo in 3 tbsp olive oil, then soften 1 chopped onion and 3 minced garlic cloves in the fat.
4. Tip the meat and its fat into the pot with 1 bay leaf and salt, and simmer 45 minutes more.
5. Add 300 g cassava and 300 g sweet potato in large chunks and cook 20 minutes.
6. Add 500 g shredded cabbage and cook 15 minutes, until the stew is thick enough to hold a spoon upright.
7. Rest it off the heat 15 minutes. Cachupa is better the next day, and that is how most households eat it.
8. Fry the leftovers with onion the next morning and serve that cachupa guisada with a fried egg and sausage.

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