Tapioca Farofa Special

This Vegan Farofa Especial goes well with Feijoada, a black bean stew. Slightly buttery, quite toasty, and slightly crunchy, the Farofa adds a beautiful element to the meal as a side dish. For this recipe, the traditional method involves grinding the Tapioca root into a coarse flour known as Mandioca or Mandioc flour.

Feijoada and banana farofa are delicious mixes commonly served in Rio de Janeiro. In Brasil, you can customize farofa with any ingredient of choice.

There are many ways to make Farofa, and different types of Tapioca flour can be used. In Brazil, white or roasted mandioca flour is available – the roasted version has a nuttier taste while the untoasted is milder. You can choose according to your preference. Farofa is also sometimes made with maize semolina, and many cultures worldwide use wheat or corn semolina to create a vegetable relish.

Tapioca flour/manioc starch is usually used to make delicious "Pães de Queijo" (Brazilian cheese rolls or balls)! One popular brand is Yoki, which is featured in this recipe. Alternatively, you can use corn or wheat semolina as a substitute for the Brazilian manioc version.

This Easter Farofa recipe is prepared with white mandioc flour and toasted with coconut butter, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds. Look for coarse manioc/yucca flour (Farinha de mandioca) when making this dish. Farofa especial is an easy and fun recipe to create with a variety of colorful vegetables. Read on to learn how to make Farofa!

There’s also a great Banana Farofa recipe available on this site.