Ingredients
Meats
- 500 gbeef shin
- 500 gpork shoulder
- 1pig’s ear
- 200 gsmoked bacon
- 1chicken quarter
Sausages
- 2chouriço
- 2morcela
- 1farinheira
Vegetables
- 6potatoes
- 6carrots
- 1turnip
- ½cabbage
- 200 ggreen beans
Pot
- 4 litreswater
- 1onion
- 2bay leaves
- salt
To serve
- 200 grice
- mustard
- piri-piri
Directions
- Soak the salted meats, the ear and the bacon, in cold water for a few hours, changing it once. Skip this and the whole pot will be too salty to eat.
- Put the beef, pork and ear into a large pot with the 4 litres of water, the onion and the bay leaves, bring to the boil and skim thoroughly.
- Simmer gently for 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Add the chicken quarter and cook for a further 30 minutes.
- Cook the chouriço, morcela and farinheira in a separate pan with a ladleful of the broth, for about 20 minutes.
- Cook the sausages apart from everything else. Their fat and paprika would colour and dominate the entire pot, and a farinheira in particular can burst and thicken the lot.
- Cook the cabbage separately as well, in some of the broth, for the same reason.
- Add the potatoes, carrots and turnip to the main pot for the last 25 minutes, and the green beans for the last 10.
- Cook the rice separately in strained broth, which is how it is served across most of Portugal.
- Arrange it all on a large platter, meats on one side, vegetables on the other, with the sausages sliced across the top, and serve the rice alongside.
- It is a national dish with a version in every region, and the Azorean cozido das Furnas is buried in the volcanic ground at Furnas and cooked for hours by the heat of the earth itself.
Technique
- Cooking the strong items apart is the whole discipline, exactly as in a Spanish cocido. One pot gives you one flavour.
- The broth is a dish in its own right and is often served first with rice or pasta.
- It is a Sunday lunch built for a crowd and it does not scale down gracefully.
Substitutions
- Any smoked pork sausage in place of chouriço.
- Black pudding for morcela, though the spicing differs.
- A ham hock in place of the pig’s ear.
Variations
- Cozido das Furnas, cooked underground in the Azores.
- With white beans added to the pot.
- The leftovers turned into roupa velha the next day.
History
A national boiled dinner with regional versions; the Azorean cozido das Furnas is buried and cooked for hours in volcanic ground at Furnas.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cozido à portuguesa?
Cozido à portuguesa is a main from Portugal: boiled dinner of meats, sausages, cabbage, potatoes. A national boiled dinner with regional versions; the Azorean cozido das Furnas is buried and cooked for hours in volcanic ground at Furnas.
How long does Cozido à portuguesa take to make?
Cozido à portuguesa takes 30 min plus soaking of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Cozido à portuguesa?
Yes, within limits. Any smoked pork sausage in place of chouriço. Black pudding for morcela, though the spicing differs. A ham hock in place of the pig’s ear.
What is the most important thing to get right in Cozido à portuguesa?
Soak the salted meats, the ear and the bacon, in cold water for a few hours, changing it once. Skip this and the whole pot will be too salty to eat.
