''Caldo verde'' (, Portuguese for "green broth") is a popular

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling soli ...

Portuguese cuisine The oldest known book on Portuguese cuisine, entitled ''Livro de Cozinha da Infanta D. Maria de Portugal'', from the 16th century, describes many popular dishes of meat, fish, poultry and others. ''Culinária Portuguesa'', by António-Maria De O ...

. The basic traditional ingredients for ''caldo verde'' are finely shredded Portuguese cabbage or ''couve-galega'' (essentially a type of

collard green Collard is a group of certain loose-leafed cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', the same species as many common vegetables including cabbage ( Capitata group) and broccoli ( Italica group). Collard is a member of the Viridis group of ''Brassica ...

), (or alternatively other leafy greens such as

kale Kale (), or leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') cultivars grown for their edible leaves, although some are used as ornamentals. Kale plants have green or purple leaves, and the central leaves do not form a hea ...

or mustard greens), potatoes,

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

, black pepper and salt, mainly flavoured with onion and garlic (some regional recipes favour slight variations, like turnip greens or added meat, such as

ham hock __NOTOC__ A ham hock (or hough) or pork knuckle is the joint between the tibia/fibula and the metatarsals of the foot of a pig, where the foot was attached to the hog's leg. It is the portion of the leg that is neither part of the ham proper no ...

, making it similar to Italo-American wedding soup). Traditionally the soup is accompanied by slices of

paio ''Paio'' is a traditional ''embutido'' sausage of Portugal and Brazil. Paio is made of pork loin, seasoned with garlic, salt, and ''Capsicum'' pepper and smoked. It is a hard sausage, usually made in a large diameter, and can be sliced and eat ...

, ''

chouriço Chorizo (, from Spanish ; similar to but distinct from Portuguese ) is a type of pork cured meat originating from the Iberian Peninsula. In Europe, chorizo is a fermented, cured, smoked meat, which may be sliced and eaten without cooking, o ...

'' or '' linguiça'' (boiled whole with the potatoes, then sliced and added to the finished soup when serving) and with Portuguese ''

broa ''Broa'' ( or ) is a type of corn and rye bread traditionally made in Portugal, Galicia, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Brazil, however in those countries it is more closely related to cornbread and its original recipe from Native Ameri ...

'' corn-bread or rye-bread for dipping. In Portugal, the popular soup ''caldo verde'' is typically consumed during Portuguese celebrations, such as

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

s, birthdays and popular celebrations. It is sometimes consumed before a main course meal or as a late supper. This soup is served in a ''tigela'', a traditional earthenware bowl.

History

''Caldo verde'' originated from the

Minho Province Minho () was a former province in Portugal, established in 1936 and dissolved in 1976. It consisted of 23 municipalities, with its capital in the city of Braga. Today, the area would include the districts of Braga and Viana do Castelo. Minho h ...

in northern Portugal. Today, it is a traditional national favourite that has spread across the nation and abroad, especially to places where a large community of Portuguese migrants have settled such as

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. References to the soup appear in many novels by Camilo Castelo Branco.

References

{{Portuguese cuisine Portuguese soups Brazilian soups Vegetable dishes Macanese cuisine Brassica oleracea dishes Potato dishes

History

See also

References