Spanish Golden Age playwright Calderón de la Barca called this the queen of stews. The recipe has survived for over 500 years and has criss-crossed borders from Old Castile to Mexico, from Cuba to the Philippines and from Argentina to Colombia. The name in Spanish, podrida, means putrid or rotten, and may come from the old Spanish word poderida, which meant powerful. This is a modern version with all the flavour and power of the original.
150 g
150 g
1 stalk
1 sprig
1
1
2 cloves
1
2
1
2
50 g
250 g
2
1
to taste
to taste
to taste
The night before, soak the beans and chickpeas.
Cover the beans and chickpeas in water and place on medium heat. Add the chicken sweetbreads, the beef, half an onion, the two carrots, the stalk of celery with its leaves, the bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the legumes are soft and the beef cooked through.
Put the blood pudding and chorizo in a small saucepan of water. Bring to the boil and boil for 25 minutes to extract some of their fat. Remove the sausages, dry and set aside.
Finely chop half an onion, two cloves garlic, and the green pepper and sauté with the chopped bacon. Add to the main saucepan. Cook for 15 minutes.
15 minutes before serving, add the blood pudding and chorizo to the saucepan.
Sauté the quail until golden brown.
Once everything is ready, serve together in a large bowl or serve the broth separately as a starter.
Gourmand and Cervantes scholar Mariano Pardo de Figueroa, also known as Dr. Thebussem, dedicated much of his efforts to boosting food criticism and raising its literary standard. In his 1888 book, La mesa moderna, he condemned those who, to express their refinement, disparaged Spanish traditional recipes in favour of French cuisine.
See the book
