The Vineyard Haven Library Lecture Series will present a free cooking demonstration, Cooking with Bella: Feijoada the American Way, on Wednesday, March 26, at 4 p.m.

This will be the first of a new series of lectures planned for the afternoons.

From a long line of excellent cooks, Bella Felipe will teach participants how to make feijoada. Her grandparents had a coffee shop in Brazil, and now she is the Mocha Mott’s baker and soup maker (she makes feijoada the American way there almost every week).

Reputedly introduced in Brazil by black slaves as early as the 16th century, feijoada — a bean potpourri type dish — is roughly the Brazilian equivalent of American soul food. It is Brazil’s unofficial national dish.

In a real feijoada, or as the Brazilians say, uma feijoada leg¡tima, every part of the pig is thrown into the pan. Feijoada is often made, to the dismay of the traditionalists, with only the noble parts of the pig. This reduces the fat content and makes it visually less offensive to some. Thus, we have the American way of cooking feijoada.

Since feijoada is a generally heavy dish, it is only served at noon. The recommended post-feijoada activity is a nap.

Bella will demonstrate her technique for making feijoada, offering samples of the soup and some of the dishes traditionally served with it.