Qingdao galley hosts traditional Brazilian feast

London Chef Lawrence Lingard, a crew member aboard Chinese entry Qingdao, continued his culinary world tour today in Rio de Janeiro today when he invited local chef Carlos into the yacht galley to teach him how to cook traditional Brazilian feijoada. 

“As a chef, travelling round the world, I believe it is important to understand the foods and tastes of the countries we visit. Meeting Carlos today and learning how to make feijoada has been a fantastic learning experience and one I will take around with me on Qingdao.”

“Cheap and fairly straightforward to prepare, feijoada involves many different flavours, textures and tastes, and mostly importantly plenty for our crew, provides plenty of protein and sustenance. Feijoada would make a great dish at sea for all our hungry crew.”

Historically, feijoada started as slave food in colonial Brazil, where they would often be restricted to rice and beans, and perhaps the odd scrap of meat. The dish evolved in popularity and has since become urbanised in restaurants across the country.

Chef Carlos, the Head Chef of local Brazilian catering firm, Cacau Gourmet, prepared the traditional ingredients and guided Lawrence through the dish’s heritage and process. He commented: “I am grateful to have been be invited on board the Qingdao yacht to meet Lawrence and teach him how to make a traditional Brazilian meal. I have never been on a yacht like this before and certainly never cooked in a galley. It was actually bigger than I expected, though I think it would be very challenging to make good food while the boat is in motion.”

After completing the meal, it was dished out to members of the Brazilian Navy who had been invited down to Marina da Gloria to tour the Clipper Race fleet of 70-ft ocean racers.

The ingredients used were calabrese sausage, pork and traditional black beans. These were all soaked overnight together to make the stock. Kale and garlic, rice and manioc flour were used and and slices of fresh orange act as a palate cleanser.

Lawrence, the owner of Simplicity Restaurant in Rotherhithe, London, is the victualler for Qingdao and is responsible for planning all the menus, ingredients and getting supplies in ports of call during the round the world voyage.

Leg 2, Race 3 departs Rio for Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday 12 October at 14:00 local time (18.00 UTC).