Ingredients

3 lb. lean beef or lean pork or a mixture of both
1-1/2 lb. calf meat
1/2 lb. chicken
1/2 lb. turkey
1/2 lb. rabbit
1-1/2 lb. day old wheat bread
1/4 lb. ham (optional)
4 garlic cloves
4 tsp. olive oil
2 oz. pork drippings
paprika, salt and piripiri to taste
10 feet tripe casing

Cooking Instructions

Boil the meats together long enough to make the bones separate from the meat by themselves. Reserve the resulting broth and set meats aside. In a large bowl place the thinly sliced bread and add the reserved broth. Cover with a towel and, as soon as the bread is soft enough, mash it with an wooden spoon. Add the mashed garlic and ground piripiri, paprika and a little salt. Add the meats cut in very little pieces. Mix thoroughly. When everything is completely mixed add the olive oil and the pork drippings, hot. Fill the casing using a suitable funnel. Tie each ‘alheira’ so that it’s about 8-inch long, with the filling concentrated in the middle section, leaving the ends almost empty. Smoke for 2 or 3 hours a day, for a week. Tie both ends together before selling or using the ‘alheira’ should be U shaped. A typical way of serving ‘alheiras’ is frying them in hot oil, and presenting them with fried eggs and potato chips.

My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (Psalms 42:3)