Puchero is a type of stew originally from Spain, prepared in Yucatán, Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Perú, south of Brazil, the Philippines, and Spain, specifically the

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Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

and the Canary Islands. The Spanish word "''puchero''" originally meant an earthenware pot, before being extended to mean any vessel, and then the dish cooked in it. The dish is essentially equivalent to the ''

cocido () or ''cozido'' () is a traditional stew eaten as a main dish in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and other Hispanophone and Lusophone countries. Etymology In Spanish, ''cocido'' is the past participle of the verb ''cocer'' ("to boil"), so it literal ...

'' of Spain but lacking colorants (such as paprika), using local ingredients which vary from one region to another. In Spain

chickpeas The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are hi ...

are widely used. Puchero, cocido, and the

sancocho Sancocho (from the Spanish verb ''sancochar'', "to parboil") is a traditional soup in several Latin American cuisines. Variations represent popular national dishes in Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Ecuador, Panama, Puerto Rico, Tri ...

eaten in Colombia, Ecuador, República Dominicana, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, are essentially similar dishes.

Andalusian puchero

In Andalusia, ''puchero'' was originally a peasant soup. The basic ingredients of the broth are meat (

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

, veal,

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

), bacon, cured bones (such as those of the

jamón serrano ''Jamón'' (, pl. ''jamones'') is a kind of dry-cured ham produced in Spain. It is one of the most globally recognized food items of Spanish cuisine. It is also regularly a component of tapas. Most ''jamón'' is commonly called '' jamón serran ...

), and vegetables (

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es,

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...

, chard, leek, carrots, and

turnip The turnip or white turnip ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The word ''turnip'' is a compound of ''turn'' as in turned/rounded on a lathe and ...

s). It can be drunk straight in mugs as a

consommé In cooking, a consommé is a type of clear soup made from richly flavoured stock or broth that has been clarified, a process that uses egg whites to remove fat and sediment. Consommé has three English pronunciations: traditionally in the UK, th ...

known as ''caldo de puchero'', which can be seasoned with fresh

spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...

leaves or

sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

. Alternatively, it can be prepared as a soup after adding

cured ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...

boiled egg Boiled eggs are eggs, typically from a chicken, cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while soft-boiled eggs may leave the yolk, ...

, and

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, In ...

s or bread. The meats, called ''

pringá Pringá is a Spanish dish popular in Andalusia. It consists of roast beef or pork, cured sausages such as chorizo and morcilla, and beef or pork fat slow-cooked for many hours until the meat falls apart easily. Pieces of crusty bread are used to ...

'', are usually served separately as a main dish, and the remnants used for subsequent dishes as croquettes or ''

ropa vieja Ropa vieja (; "old clothes") is a dish with regional variations in Latin America, the Philippines, and Spain. It normally includes some form of stewed beef and tomatoes with a sofrito base.

''.

Río de la Plata puchero

Puchero is eaten in the parts of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay that border the Río de la Plata. The dish is prepared in the same way as in Spain, though its ingredients differ according to the very different local produce. In the parts of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay surrounding the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

of the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

, puchero is primarily beef-based—beef was plentiful and cheap—and chickpeas are less commonly used than in the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

. The broth and the solid ingredients are often consumed separately. The cuts of meat used are particularly important: if possible, ''

ossobuco ''Ossobuco'' or ''osso buco'' (; lmo, òss bus, label=Milanese or ''òs büüs'' ) is a specialty of Lombard cuisine of cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine, and broth. It is often garnished with ''gremolata'' and traditio ...

''; otherwise beef cuts with marrow or poultry (used in ''puchero de gallina'') can be substituted. Other ingredients used may include potatoes,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...

s, and

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

. Typical local produce used includes sweet potatoes, sweet corn, carrots, bacon, local chorizo (a sausage quite different from Spanish cured chorizo made with paprika),

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless and fatty cut of meat from the belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in Hispanic, Chinese, Danish, Norwegian, Korean, Thai and Filipino cuisine. Regional dishes France In Alsatian ...

, cabbage, and

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

. Puchero is traditionally served during the colder months. It is not considered fine dining, and can be found on menus in family and regional restaurants throughout Argentina, but not at most more expensive restaurants.

Philippine puchero

Philippine cuisine Filipino cuisine ( fil, lutong Pilipino/pagkaing Pilipino) is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that compose Fi ...

, puchero (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Pochero''; Tagalog: ''putsero'') is a dish composed of beef chunks stewed with ''saba'' bananas (or plantains). The dish may also include potatoes or sweet potatoes, '' chorizos de Bilbao'', ''

bok choy Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi (British English) or pok choi (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') is a type of Chinese cabbage, used as food. ''Chinensis'' varieties do not form heads and have ...

'', leeks, chickpeas, cabbage and tomato sauce. Other versions replace beef with chicken or pork.

Yucatec puchero

The Yucatec puchero varies by cook and region. The most complete version is called puchero de tres carnes—"with three meats", pork, beef and chicken. Other ingredients may include a piece of plantain in skin, onion, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash (''calabaza''), turnips or parsnips, white cabbage (''repollo'') and typically a type of pasta soup (noodles, ''fideos'') and rice to increase the heartiness and especially if only one or two meats are used. The soup like the 98% of Yucatec soups-stews are broth consommés, not at all thick or heavy. It is flavored with saffron, allspice and black pepper. The dish is served with all ingredients in the bowl and a side of fresh additions. Typically or traditionally, a side plate is provided so that the person can put the meat to the side while eating the soup. The garnish consists of freshly chopped or diced

habanero chili The habanero (; ) is a hot variety of chili. Unripe habaneros are green, and they color as they mature. The most common color variants are orange and red, but the fruit may also be white, brown, yellow, green, or purple. Typically, a ripe hab ...

, onion, radish and cilantro. Avocados when in season. See Steffan Igor Ayora Diaz book on the anthropology of Yucatán food Ayora-Diaz, Steffan Igor (2012) Foodscapes, Foodfields and Identities in Yucatán. Amsterdam: CEDLA, New York: Berghahn

References

{{reflist Andalusian cuisine Canary Islands cuisine Argentine cuisine Colombian cuisine Philippine stews Uruguayan cuisine Spanish soups and stews Chickpea dishes

Andalusian puchero

Río de la Plata puchero

Philippine puchero

Yucatec puchero

See also

References