Farofa

Let's Cook

1. Step 1.

   Heat in a large skillet over medium heat: 4 slices bacon, finely diced

2. Step 2.

   Cook, stirring, until browned and the bacon’s fat has rendered. Add to the skillet and melt: 4 tablespoons butter

3. Step 3.

   Add and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes: ½ onion, finely diced; 3 garlic cloves, minced

4. Step 4.

   Add and stir constantly over the heat for 3 minutes: 1 cup cassava flour; ¼ teaspoon salt; Pinch of black pepper

5. Step 5.

   Remove from the heat and stir in: 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

6. Step 6.

   Chestnut flour is ground from raw or roasted dried chestnuts. It is an ancient staple of both Europe and North American indigenous tribes. The original polenta was made with chestnut flour, and the Cherokee used chestnut flour to make porridge and bread. Chestnut flour tends to clump and so should be sifted. Store chestnut flour in the freezer. Chestnut flour is very starchy and lightly sweet, and it gives baked goods a cakey texture. For more information on chestnuts, see here.

7. Step 7.

   Coconut flour is high in fiber. Perhaps the most notable thing about coconut flour, other than its mild coconut flavor, is that it is extremely absorbent. If substituting coconut flour for some proportion of the all-purpose flour in a recipe, you will need to increase the liquid in the recipe, and the more coconut flour you use, the more liquid you will have to add to compensate.

8. Step 8.

   Corn flour is milled from a particular type of corn called flour corn, which has a thin seed coat and a soft kernel. Use it in baking for added corn flavor, mixing it with other flours. Do not confuse corn flour with masa harina.

9. Step 9.

   For information on cornmeal, see About Cornmeal, Hominy, and Grits. Note that when using cornmeal in baking recipes, because it is grainier than flour, it will add a slightly gritty, crumbly texture. For recipes written to use cornmeal, see our recipes for corn breads, Four-Grain Flapjacks, Cornmeal Pancakes, and Cornmeal Waffles. If a recipe calls for self-rising cornmeal and you want to make your own, add 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt to each 1 cup cornmeal.

10. Step 10.

    Oat flour is soft and starchy and can be an excellent addition to gluten-free baked goods, as it bakes up lighter than many other gluten-free flours without a trace of grittiness. Oat flour works especially well in cookies, cakes, and quick breads. For more information on oats, see here.

11. Step 11.

    Made from whole cooked potatoes that have been dried and ground, potato flour is used chiefly in soups, gravies, breads, and cakes, in combination with other flours, or alone in sponge cakes. Potato flour is different from potato starch. To avoid lumping in cake batters, blend it with the sugar before mixing. In bread recipes, it yields a moist, slow-staling loaf. If using in breads, only add a small proportion of potato flour—about 10 percent of the total amount of flour. To use as a thickener in sauces and gravies, substitute 1 tablespoon potato flour for 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.

12. Step 12.

    A light-yellow flour with a grassy, earthy flavor, quinoa flour is best used with other flours so its flavor doesn’t overpower. For more information about quinoa, see here.

13. Step 13.

    Both nonglutinous (nonwaxy) and glutinous (waxy) rice flours are used extensively across much of Asia. Both of these flours are used in combination with other flours for making gluten-free baked goods. Always buy white rice flour from Asian grocery stores, as some American brands are very gritty and will not yield the best results in baking.

14. Step 14.

    Brown rice flour is grittier than white rice flour but has more flavor and is less gummy. Use it in tandem with white rice flour to get the starchy benefits of the white rice flour and the flavor and heartiness of the brown rice flour. Look for “superfine” brown rice flour.

15. Step 15.

    For more information about rice, see here.

16. Step 16.

    Sorghum flour is gluten-free and ground from the large yellow or white grain of sorghum. Sorghum flour is often used to add flavor and a whole-grain texture in gluten-free baking. It has a subtle flavor somewhat like cornmeal. It is used in combination with other flours in cookies, cakes, and bread, although some bakers report good results when using sorghum flour alone in place of all-purpose flour for pancakes and waffles. For more information about sorghum, see here.

17. Step 17.

    Teff is the smallest grain, and the flour ground from it is very fine, with a deep brown color and malty flavor. Like most of the flours in this section, teff flour is best combined with other flours in baking due to its lack of gluten and distinctive flavor. For more information about teff, see here.