Shared with neighbouring Pico, molha is one of the best-known dishes of Faial's cooking. There are many versions: the meat is usually bone-in beef, but some cooks use pork.
In this version the meat cooks slowly on a bed of onions with lard, butter and red chilli paste, in a sauce of vinho de cheiro, the islands' aromatic red wine. Potatoes go in at the end and cook in the sauce, turning orange. Traditionally it is made in a clay pot.
Method
Season the meat with salt, the chopped garlic and the chilli paste, rubbing it in well.
Put the lard and butter in the bottom of a clay or cast-iron pot and cover the base with the onion rings.
Arrange the meat on top, add the bay leaf and parsley and let it fry gently over medium heat for a few minutes, turning the meat once.
Add the tomato paste and pour in the wine. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 1½ hours, until the meat is tender and the sauce has reduced.
Add the potatoes, turn them in the sauce and cook for another 25–30 minutes, until soft and orange.
The potatoes soak up a lot of sauce, so add a little boiling water if it starts to dry out. Taste and adjust the salt.
Remove the parsley and serve hot, straight from the pot.
Tips
- Vinho de cheiro is an Azorean red made from American hybrid grapes such as Isabella. If you can't find it, use a young, fruity red; some cooks also add a little white wine.
- For the pork version, use meat with some fat and bone and cook it for about 45 minutes before adding the potatoes.
- Red chilli paste (massa de malagueta) can be replaced with fresh chilli pounded with salt, or with piri-piri to taste.
- No clay pot? A cast-iron casserole works well. In a pressure cooker the meat softens faster; open it before adding the potatoes and finish without pressure.
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