Cocido Madrileño

Name: Cocido Madrileño
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: 400 g dried chickpeas (garbanzos), soaked overnight; 600 g bone-in beef shank (morcillo) or beef cheek; 400 g bone-in chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks); 200 g tocino or bacon, in one piece; 2 morcilla (Spanish blood sausage); 2 chorizo (semi-cured, mild); 1 ham bone or pork knuckle (optional, for depth); 4 medium potatoes, peeled and halved; 3 carrots, peeled and cut in thirds; 0.5 small green cabbage, cut into wedges; 1 onion, whole; 1 head garlic, whole and unpeeled; 1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika; 1 pinch saffron threads; 100 g fine noodles (fideos) or broken vermicelli; 2 tsp sea salt

The national stew of Castile: chickpeas, chorizo, morcilla, chicken and beef slow-cooked together in a single pot and served as three separate courses in the ritual sequence of the vuelco: first the broth with noodles, then the vegetables, then the meats, the dish that sustained the builders of the Escorial

Origin: Madrid, Castile, Spain

From the journey of Chickpea.

Cocido madrileño is the Spanish national stew, not in the sense of being the most popular dish, but in the sense of being the most deeply rooted: the preparation that has fed the people of the Meseta Central for centuries, that appears in Galdós's novels and Hemingway's dispatches and Lhardy's restaurant menu (where it has been served unchanged since 1839). The dish is a development of the olla podrida, the great medieval Castilian pot, which in turn descended from the adafina, the Sabbath stew of Sephardic Jewish cooking in medieval Spain, which was itself a descendant of the Babylonian concept of a slow-cooked Sabbath pot. Garbanzos (chickpeas) are the structural centre of cocido: they are what defines it against a plain meat broth or a bean stew. The ritual of the three courses, called los tres vuelcos, 'the three overturnings', is particular to this dish: first the broth is poured off and served as a clear, noodle-enriched soup; then the vegetables (garbanzos, potato, cabbage, carrot) are brought to the table; then the meats (chicken, beef shank, morcilla, chorizo). The sequence is not optional, it is the defining form of the dish, as fixed as the order of a formal dinner service.

Ingredients

Main

400 g dried chickpeas (garbanzos), soaked overnight

Meats

600 g bone-in beef shank (morcillo) or beef cheek
400 g bone-in chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks)
200 g tocino or bacon, in one piece
2 morcilla (Spanish blood sausage)
2 chorizo (semi-cured, mild)
1 ham bone or pork knuckle (optional, for depth)

Vegetables

4 medium potatoes, peeled and halved
3 carrots, peeled and cut in thirds
0.5 small green cabbage, cut into wedges

Aromatics

1 onion, whole
1 head garlic, whole and unpeeled

Spice

1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika
1 pinch saffron threads

First course

100 g fine noodles (fideos) or broken vermicelli

Seasoning

2 tsp sea salt

Method

Place the soaked, drained chickpeas in a large pot with the beef shank, chicken, tocino, and ham bone if using. Cover with cold water by at least 5cm. Bring slowly to the boil, skimming the grey foam thoroughly as it rises: this step is critical for a clear, clean broth.
Once the foam is removed and the water is clear, add the whole onion, whole head of garlic, saffron, paprika, and salt. Reduce to a low, steady simmer: the surface should tremble, not bubble vigorously. Cook for 90 minutes.
After 90 minutes, add the carrots and potatoes to the pot. In a separate small pan, gently simmer the chorizo and morcilla in water for 20 minutes: adding them to the main pot would colour the broth red with paprika and fat. After 20 minutes, add the chorizo and morcilla to the main pot. Continue cooking for 30 more minutes.
Add the cabbage wedges and cook for a final 15–20 minutes until everything is tender. Taste the broth and adjust salt.
First course: the soup (sopa): ladle 1–1.5 litres of the clear broth into a separate saucepan, bring to the boil, add the fideos noodles and cook for 3–4 minutes. Serve as the first course in soup bowls.
Second course: the vegetables (vuelco de las verduras): arrange the chickpeas, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage on a warmed serving platter. Drizzle with a little of the broth. Serve separately.
Third course: the meats (vuelco de las carnes): slice the beef, chicken, chorizo, and morcilla and arrange on another platter. Serve with a little salsa de tomate frito (quick tomato sauce) on the side if desired.

Notes

Cocido is a dish for a cold day and an unhurried afternoon. It feeds a table of six generously and produces a broth of outstanding quality. Any leftover chickpeas and vegetables can be mashed the following day with olive oil and paprika into ropa vieja ('old clothes') a hash fried in a pan until crisp at the edges, which many consider the finest use of cocido leftovers. The specific quality of Castilian garbanzos (pedrosillano or castellano varieties, smaller and more intense than the large kabuli chickpea of supermarkets) makes a significant difference to the final dish.

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control