Portuguese · Alentejo · soup

Sopa de Cação à Alentejana

Sopa de Cação à Alentejana reads sourness 5.2, allium 4.8 and richness 4.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Portuguese · Alentejo soup, about 58 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sourness 5.2 · Allium 4.8 · Richness 4.5 · Herbaceous 4.1 · Salinity 3.6 · Heat 2.5 · Marine & Briny 2.0 · Umami 1.7 · Floral 1.6 · Warm Spice 1.4 · Sweetness 1.3 · Bitterness 1.2 · Earthy 1.2 · Nutty 1.1 · Fruity 0.7

What's in it (11)

Time & effort: about 58 min (28 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 41.1 kcal, 1.3 g protein, 0.6 g fat, 7.5 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. The Alentejo is landlocked in feeling if not in fact, and its fish dish is made with cação — dogfish, a small shark that travels well salted or fresh from the coast. What makes this soup Alentejano is the coentrada: a raw pounded paste of coriander and garlic stirred in at the end, in a quantity that would alarm most cooks. Two large bunches for four people is correct.
  2. Put the fish in a bowl with the vinegar and 2 of the garlic cloves, crushed, and leave 30 minutes. This is the vinagre that gives the broth its characteristic sharpness; it goes in at the start, not the end.
  3. Pound the coriander with the remaining garlic and a teaspoon of the salt in a mortar until you have a bright green wet paste, about 5 minutes. A mortar gives a different result from a blender here — you want it bruised, not chopped.
  4. Warm the olive oil in a wide pot over low heat, stir in the flour and cook 3 minutes to a pale blond roux, stirring so it does not colour. This light thickening is what stops the soup being a broth.
  5. Add the water, bay and the whole piri-piri, whisking to keep it smooth, and bring to a boil for 10 minutes.
  6. Lift the fish from the vinegar and slide it in with the vinegar itself. Poach 8 minutes at a bare simmer, until the flesh comes away from the central cartilage. Cação has no bones to speak of, only that soft spine, which is part of why it suits a soup.
  7. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the coriander paste — off the heat, so the coriander stays raw and green; boiled, it goes grey and flat. Season with the remaining salt. Lay a thick slice of day-old bread in each deep bowl and ladle the fish and broth over it. Wait a minute before eating, so the bread softens.

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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.