Spanish · Castile · soup

Sopa de Ajo Castellana

Sopa de Ajo Castellana reads salinity 4.9, umami 4.2 and allium 4.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Spanish · Castile soup, about 35 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 4.9 · Umami 4.2 · Allium 4.1 · Richness 3.4 · Smoke 3.3 · Funk & Ferment 1.9 · Warm Spice 1.9 · Earthy 1.7 · Bitterness 1.2 · Sweetness 1.0 · Herbaceous 1.0 · Nutty 0.7 · Heat 0.6 · Fruity 0.5

What's in it (9)

Time & effort: about 35 min (34 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 38.2 kcal, 3.2 g protein, 2.4 g fat, 1.2 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (8 steps)

  1. Sopa castellana is peasant food from the meseta and a famous hangover cure — stale bread, garlic, pimentón, water. Made carelessly it is exactly as dull as that list suggests. Made properly, with real ham stock and enough pimentón to turn it brick red, it is one of the best cheap soups in Europe.
  2. Warm the oil in a heavy earthenware or cast-iron pot over medium heat and cook the sliced garlic for 3 minutes until it is pale gold. Watch it constantly; ten cloves burn all at once.
  3. Add the diced jamón and cook 4 minutes until its fat runs and the edges crisp.
  4. Tear or slice the bread thin and add it, turning it in the fat for 3 minutes until every piece is coated and lightly toasted at the edges. Day-old bread is not a suggestion — fresh bread dissolves into paste.
  5. Take the pot off the heat, wait half a minute, then stir in the pimentón and the crumbled guindilla. Off the heat, without exception: two tablespoons of pimentón scorched in hot oil will make the whole pot bitter and there is no fixing it. Pimentón de la Vera is oak-smoked and is not interchangeable with ordinary paprika; the smoke is most of what you are tasting in this soup.
  6. Pour in the stock, return to the heat and simmer 15 minutes, breaking up the bread with a spoon until the soup is thick and rough-textured. Season with salt.
  7. Heat the oven to 220C (430F). Slip the eggs onto the surface of the soup — one per portion if you are using individual cazuelas — cover and poach 4 minutes on the stove, then transfer to the oven for 5 minutes so the whites just set and the yolks stay liquid. Serve at once, and break the yolk into the soup at the table.
  8. Substitutions: chicken stock can stand in for the ham stock.

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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.