Origins

Feijão tropeiro and side dishes

The dish has its origins in the 17th century. Its name comes from the tropeiros – merchants who sold horses, mules, and food between the south and southeast regions of Brazil.^[3][4] As they were always on the backs of horses and mules, they needed a dish that was light and easy to transport with them, so they created feijão tropeiro, which was made initially of beans, manioc flour, and dried meat.^[5][6]

The dish is also called feijão-de-preguiça ("lazy beans") and, because it is commonly served for lunch, feijão-das-onze ("eleven o'clock beans").^[5]

Evolution

Over time, feijão tropeiro became very popular and evolved. It became a richer dish with the addition of other types of meat such as calabresa sausage, fried pork belly, and bacon. It also included collard greens and a fried egg on top. The dish today is served with white rice, shredded collard greens, corn purée,^[5] and a slice of orange on the side.

Connection with sports

This cuisine is one of the symbols of football culture in the city of Belo Horizonte. At Mineirão stadium, the dish became a tradition on match days.^[8] The dish gained its first popularity in the late 1990s, becoming more popular over the decades with restaurants inside the stadium which started selling and become famous for the dish.^[9][10]