Cachupa Rica (Cape Verdean Stew)

Cachupa is Cape Verde’s national dish, and cachupa rica is its Sunday best: hominy corn and beans slow-simmered with pork, chicken, chouriço and a garden of vegetables until everything becomes one deep, generous stew.

The “rica” (rich) in the name refers to the parade of meats — this is celebration cachupa, made for feasts and family gatherings. Its humbler weekday sibling, cachupa pobre, is also on the site.

Portugal and Cape Verde share centuries of kitchen history, and dishes like this one live in both worlds — including in the Cape Verdean communities of New England, where cachupa pots still feed whole extended families. Patience is the main ingredient; the pot does the rest.

Cachupa Rica Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus overnight soaking) · Cook time: about 2½ hours · Total: about 3 hours · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~445 per serving

Ingredients

• 1½ cups hominy corn, soaked overnight
• 1½ cups dried beans (kidney, lima or pinto), soaked overnight
• 1 pound pork shoulder, chopped
• 1 pound chicken thighs, bone-in
• 1 pound smoked sausage (chouriço or linguiça), sliced
• 8 oz bacon or salt pork, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium tomato, chopped (or 1 cup canned)
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• 1 cup diced pumpkin or butternut squash
• 1 cup chopped kale or cabbage
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 6 to 8 cups water
• Salt and black pepper
• Olive oil, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Fry the bacon in a big pot until crispy; remove and set aside.
2. Sear the pork and chicken in the same fat until browned; remove.
3. Soften the onion and garlic in the pot, 3 to 4 minutes, then add the tomato, paprika and cumin for 2 to 3 minutes more.
4. Add the soaked hominy, beans, bay leaf and water. Boil, then cover and simmer 1 to 2 hours, until corn and beans soften.
5. Return the meats and add the sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, carrots, kale and sausage.
6. Simmer 30 to 40 minutes more, until everything is tender.
7. Season, drizzle with olive oil if you like, and serve in deep bowls with bread or rice.

Recipe Notes

• Hominy corn (posho/canjica corn) lives at Latin and African markets.
• The next-day refogado of leftovers — cachupa refogada, fried with an egg on top — is arguably better than the original. Plan for leftovers.
• Every Cape Verdean family’s pot is different; the corn, beans and patience are the only constants.