Caldo Gallego

Galicia's warming winter pote: white beans, potato, and a generous quantity of berza kale slow-simmered with cured pork and unto into a deep, green, sustaining broth, the comfort food of the wet Atlantic northwest

Origin: Galicia, Spain

From the journey of Kale.

Caldo gallego, the 'Galician broth', is the great everyday pote of the cool, wet, green northwest of Spain, a one-pot meal that has warmed Galician farmhouses and village festas through the long Atlantic winters for centuries. It belongs to the same broad family of bean, potato, and greens soups that runs along the whole northwestern seaboard of Iberia, close sibling to the caldo verde just across the Portuguese border, but where caldo verde is a smooth potato purée finished with a fine chiffonade of kale, caldo gallego is a chunky, rustic pote in which everything keeps its shape. White beans, the prized faba, are simmered slowly with cured pork, a ham bone, a piece of lacón (cured pork shoulder), and the unto, the cured pork fat that gives the broth its unmistakable character, until the beans are soft and the liquor rich. To this go floury potatoes and a great quantity of berza, the loose-leafed Galician kale, or its cousin grelos, the turnip tops, simmered until meltingly tender. The kale is no garnish but a defining element, lending the broth its deep green colour and faintly bitter backbone, and a slice of chorizo is often added for colour and spice. Hearty and humble, caldo gallego is the taste of the Galician winter.

Ingredients

  • 300 g dried white beans (faba galega or cannellini), soaked overnight
  • 1 ham bone or smoked pork hock
  • 200 g lacón (cured pork shoulder) or smoked bacon, in one piece
  • 50 g unto (cured pork fat) or pancetta (optional, traditional)
  • 2.5 litres water
  • 500 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
  • 400 g berza (collard kale) or grelos (turnip tops), or curly kale, coarsely shredded
  • 1 cooking chorizo, sliced (optional)
  • salt, to taste

Method

  1. Drain the soaked beans. Put them in a large pot with the ham bone, lacón, unto, and water. Bring slowly to the boil, skim, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, partly covered, for about 1 hour 15 minutes, until the beans are nearly tender.
  2. Lift out the meats, shred or slice them, and return the meat to the pot, discarding the bone. Add the potato chunks and the chorizo, if using, and simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. Add the shredded berza or kale and simmer for a further 20 to 25 minutes, until the kale and potatoes are completely tender and the broth has turned a deep green.
  4. Lightly crush a few of the potatoes against the side of the pot to thicken the broth. Taste and add salt; the cured pork will already have salted it well.
  5. Let the pote rest for a few minutes, then serve in deep bowls with good bread. Like most such dishes, it is even better the next day.

Notes

Berza (a loose-leafed Galician kale or collard) and grelos (turnip tops) are the traditional greens; curly kale or cavolo nero make good substitutes. Faba galega are the prized large white beans of the region, but any good dried white bean works. Unto, the cured and slightly rancid pork fat that gives authentic caldo gallego its distinctive depth, is hard to find outside Galicia; pancetta or a little smoked bacon is a reasonable stand-in. For a meat-free caldo, use a good vegetable stock, a generous glug of olive oil, and smoked paprika for depth.

The Gastrographer

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