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 substantial boiled dinner combining various meats, including beef, pork and sausage, along with cabbage, potato and other vegetables, all cooked together in one large pot, documented across Portugal as one of the country’s most traditional and hearty dishes, with regional variations found across different parts of the country. Its combination of many different meats and vegetables cooked together reflects a broader European boiled dinner tradition found in various forms across the continent, adapted in Portugal with the country’s own specific sausage varieties, including morcela blood sausage and chouriço, alongside its characteristic vegetable combination. Cozido à portuguesa remains a substantial, traditional dish particularly associated with Sunday family meals and significant gatherings across Portugal.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cozido à portuguesa?
Cozido à portuguesa is a main from Portugal: boiled dinner of meats, sausages, cabbage, potatoes. A substantial boiled dinner combining various meats, including beef, pork and sausage, along with cabbage, potato and other vegetables, all cooked together in one large pot, documented across Portugal as one of the country’s most traditional and hearty dishes, with regional variations found across different parts of the country. Its combination of many different meats and vegetables cooked together reflects a broader European boiled dinner tradition found in various forms across the continent, adapted in Portugal with the country’s own specific sausage varieties, including morcela blood sausage and chouriço, alongside its characteristic vegetable combination. Cozido à portuguesa remains a substantial, traditional dish particularly associated with Sunday family meals and significant gatherings across Portugal.
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.
