black beans are a fundamental element in mexican, brazilian, cuban, guatemalan and dominican cuisine - the largest commercial bean producers today are india, china, indonesia, brazil and the united states. 

also one of feijoada's main components is rice, which is one of the most consumed foods in the world - its harvest is as old as civilization itself, seeing as history of rice production can be traced back to at least 2800 bc china.

couve, green cabbage or collard greens in english, is served alongside feijoada, thinly sliced and steamed in oil with garlic and salt - it can sometimes also be mixed with bacon - it is a mediterranean vegetable by origin and belongs to the brassica family which also includes broccoli, cauliflower and radish.