Basque · Hegoalde (Spain) · soup

Porrusalda

Porrusalda reads salinity 5.5, umami 4.5 and sweetness 3.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Basque · Hegoalde (Spain) soup, about 25 hr 1 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 5.5 · Umami 4.5 · Sweetness 3.9 · Allium 3.6 · Richness 3.4 · Smoke 3.1 · Marine & Briny 2.5 · Earthy 2.4 · Herbaceous 2.1 · Bitterness 1.7 · Warm Spice 1.7 · Funk & Ferment 1.2 · Fruity 1.1 · Sourness 1.1 · Nutty 0.7 · Citrus 0.6 · Floral 0.5

What's in it (10)

Time & effort: about 25 hr 1 min (1 hr active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 28.5 kcal, 0.9 g protein, 0.1 g fat, 6.4 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Porrusalda means leek broth, and it is the plainest thing in the Basque repertoire — a farmhouse soup, not a restaurant one. It lives or dies on the leeks, so buy more than you think and use only the white and palest green.
  2. Soak the salt cod in cold water in the refrigerator for 24 hours, changing the water three times. Tail pieces and scraps are fine here; drain and tear them into rough flakes. You can leave the cod out entirely for a Lenten version, in which case add a little more salt at the end.
  3. Warm the oil in a heavy pot and sweat the leeks and carrots over low heat for 20 minutes with a pinch of salt. Keep them pale — this is a white soup, and browning the leeks makes it taste of something else. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes.
  4. Crack the potatoes into 4 cm pieces by driving the knife partway in and levering them apart, so the faces tear. The starch from those torn faces is the only thickener in the pot.
  5. Add the water and the bay leaf, bring to a simmer, and cook uncovered for 25 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to crush against the side of the pot with a spoon. Crush two or three of them deliberately to thicken the broth.
  6. Pull the pot off the heat, stir in the pimentón and let it sit for a minute so it colours the broth without scorching. Add the flaked cod, cover, and leave 5 minutes off the heat — that is all the cooking it needs. Season with salt and serve very hot in deep bowls.
  7. Substitutions: light vegetable stock can stand in for the water.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.