Açorda (Portuguese Cilantro Soup)

With as many adaptations as you can handle

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Last week I did something I’ve not done in 4 years.

I harvested wine grapes.

This is the first time I’ve been involved in a Portuguese harvest, my go-to normally being an awesome domaine in Beaujolais, France (Domaine Chapel for those interested in vinous things).

There are big differences between French and Portuguese harvests. Not least, what you get for lunch.

In France, there’s casse-croute which is the mid-morning chow down. This is usually bread, cheese, and wine.

Whereas in Portugal, it’s sopa.

Soup.

As we sat slurping our chilled vegetable soup — made by the winemaker herself — out of metal camping bowlsand munching on bola de carne (Portuguese meat-stuffed bread), one of the pickers told us about his grandpa. It turns out, the Portuguese are obsessed with soup. No meal is complete without it. Our fellow harvester told us his grandpa eats two or even three bowls of soup before every lunch and has done so his whole life.

The other Portuguese people in the group agreed. For them, soup is life.

Good job I love soup.

I love it so much, I thought I’d do a little digging into traditional Portuguese soups.

Caldo Verde is the famous one, but it being a simple affair of cabbage and stock, didn’t feel quite Capsule Pantry-worthy. Others like sopa de pedra —stone soup — is filled with potatoes and beans and felt too wintry for September.

Then I came across Açorda.

Açorda is the staple soup from Portugal’s Alentejo region in the south of the country. Like much of the food here it’s born from necessity and thus in its essence is extremely simple. Traditionally, it’s cilantro, garlic, old bread, olive oil, eggs, and water.

But it turns out it’s also incredibly versatile and can be made as fancy as you like or have the budget for.

There’s Açorda de camarão made with prawns. Açorda de bacalhau made with salt cod. You can add chicken. Bacon. Beans. For those of you who hate cilantro, you can make it with mint or other herbs.

And it’s perfect for the end of summer. The cilantro makes it zippy and fresh whilst the bread bulks it out.

Açorda lives and dies by the quality of its ingredients, so use the best you can. Free range eggs. Quality bread. Decent stock. The best extra virgin olive oil. You’ll notice the difference.

The best way to make this dish pop is to make a pesto-like paste from the cilantro and garlic, which you stir into the stock.

You want the pesto to have some texture. We’re not looking for creaminess you get in classic pestos. Traditionally this texture was achieved by a pestle and mortar but if you’re going electric, use a food processor rather than a blender.

Açorda is a brothy soup. If you like your soups thicker, soak some chunks of bread in water until softened and add to the pesto.

Slightly stale bread is best to use in this recipe. Avoid over processed Wonderbread-style loaves which will fall apart too quickly. Country-style loaves or sourdough is best (words for life).

Açorda

Makes enough for 4 people