Bolo do tijolo is a flat cornmeal bread cooked on a clay tile (tijolo) or in a heavy pan. On Flores it was made in the old days to stand in for bread when there was none in the house, and it went with any meal.
The cornmeal is scalded in boiling water and then bound with a little wheat flour. Each round cooks for just a few minutes on each side.
Method
Bring the salted water to the boil. Add all the cornmeal at once and stir well with a wooden spoon until it thickens.
Take off the heat and leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
Work in the wheat flour a little at a time, kneading until the dough is smooth and even.
Dust the worktop with cornmeal, roll the dough into small balls and flatten them into rounds about half a centimetre thick.
Heat the tile or a heavy frying pan well and cook the rounds for about 4 minutes on each side, until spotted with gold.
Serve warm, in place of bread.
Tips
- Without a clay tile, use a heavy cast-iron or non-stick frying pan, very hot and with no fat.
- Use fine cornmeal of the kind used for Portuguese broa. If the dough sticks to your hands, dust them with cornmeal.
- Serve warm with soup, cured sausages or cheese. If it cools, warm it again in the pan.
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