Feijoada

Step 1: The day before, desalt the 14 oz carne seca (Brazilian salt-dried beef), 14 oz salted pork ribs and 10 ½ oz salted pig's ear, trotter or tail: put them in separate bowls of cold water in the fridge and change the water 3–4 times over 24 hours. Common mistake: skipping or rushing this. The feijoada ends up far too salty and there is no way to fix it later.

Step 2: Drain the salted meats, put them in a large pot of fresh water and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse. This takes out more salt and the scum.

Step 3: Drain and rinse the soaked 1 ⅔ lb dried black beans. Put them in your largest heavy pot (at least 8 litres) with the 16 ¾ cups water, 4 bay leaves, the carne seca, ribs and extras. Bring to the boil over a high heat and skim off the grey foam.

Step 4: Lower the heat and simmer, half covered, for 1 hour, stirring now and then so nothing sticks. Top up with boiling water if the beans start to show above the liquid.

Step 5: Add the piece of 7 oz smoked bacon and the 9 oz paio or other smoked pork loin sausage and simmer for 40 minutes more, until the beans are soft and the meats are getting tender.

Step 6: Meanwhile, heat the 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the 10 ½ oz smoked pork sausage (linguiça calabresa) for 5–6 minutes until browned. Lift it out, leaving the fat behind.

Step 7: In the same pan, fry the 2 onions over a medium heat for 8 minutes until soft and golden, then add the 6 cloves garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

Step 8: Add 2 ladlefuls of cooked beans with a little broth to the frying pan and mash them into the onion with a fork or potato masher. Scrape the mixture back into the pot and stir.

Step 9: Add the browned sausage and ½ tsp black pepper and simmer for 30 minutes more, stirring often, until the broth is thick and dark and the meats are tender enough to pull apart with a fork. The beans should be creamy, some just starting to break.

Step 10: Taste, and only now add 1 tsp salt if it needs it. Lift out the bacon, slice it and return it to the pot. Fish out the bay leaves.

Step 11: Rest the feijoada for 10 minutes off the heat. Serve with cooked white rice, couve à mineira (garlicky shredded greens), farofa (toasted manioc meal) and 3 oranges. In Rio it's often drunk with a caipirinha, which contains cachaça; for an alcohol-free glass, muddle lime and sugar with ice and top up with soda water.

Step 12: To make ahead, cool within 2 hours, refrigerate and keep for up to 3 days, or freeze. Reheat gently with a splash of water, stirring, until piping hot all the way through.