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A thank you recipe for all pilgrims on this forum: Caldo Gallego

SherlyC

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
CF Sep, 2018
CP May, 2019
Hola lovely pilgrims!

It has been exactly one month since I got back from the Camino (SJPdP - Santiago). It was such an amazing experience mentally and physically. I returned with more strength, energy, lots of gratitude and quite some significant learnings for my life.

This forum and the members here helped me soooo much in my planning stage with nitty-gritty things. Many of you were not hesitant to spend your time and effort to share your thoughts and advice. I thought about how I can thank you all for that.

As my job is running a cooking school and writing food recipes, I decided to share my recipe of Caldo Gallego on this forum. I'm sure you all remember this soup if you've walked through Galicia. My husband's family is from Galicia, so this recipe is quite authentic. It might help you remember the camino, and cope through the upcoming winter.

It's easy to make and takes less than 1 hour in total, except that you'll have to soak some white beans in water overnight.
It is using universal metrics, so pilgrims in the US can use the conversion from here

Here is my recipe. Que aproveche!
https://sherlyskitchen.com/caldo-gallego/


 

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Thank you! I've been looking for a recipe for this soup. On the Camino de Madrid I was served a version that had a substantial portion of shredded meat on top. Pig meat. From all parts of the poor piggy - snout, trotters, ears, innards...
(And I don't eat normally eat meat...)
 
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Tiene buena pinta!! (It looks great!)

This week I've actually been talking with a friend in Santiago about Caldo Gallego. She shared her mother's recipe with me. They are Galicians, and as you might imagine very opinionated on the "right way" to make it. As you said, every household has their own recipe, and in their house, they 'jamás, jamás, jamás' (never, never, never) use chorizo or meat in their Caldo Gallego. "But" she said, "do what you like".

The mother emphasizes that the unto is the key ingredient. How lucky you are to get to take some home with you! It's a solid form of lard (the pork fat that covers the small intestine) that's salted, 'rolled up like a carpet', and lightly smoked during the curing process. We don't have it here in the US, so I thought of cutting the fat off of some natural smoked bacon and using that. Otherwise, my friend said that a teaspoon of regular lard (the soft kind that we see here) would be fine also.

In their recipe they throw in the beans without soaking (adding an extra hour to the process). I have never seen turnip greens ('grelos' in Galicia) here, but collard greens are readily available, so I'll use those when I make mine. They didn't give me any actual measurements, but I told them the size of my pot so was advised to fill it "a little more than halfway full, but not 3/4 full", and to add "one handful" of white beans, 3 medium potatoes (peeled and roughly chopped), and a 'small bunch' of greens. So, thank you for providing some actual measurements! I'll be checking out more of your recipes!
 
I just checked, and I qualify! So I can gladly take your gift of a recipe to try out soon. I will also have a good look at your blog. I will learn a lot I am sure. Thank you!
 
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Oh, thank you! This one is a keeper. It brings back the happiest of memories.... of a hearty bowl of steaming Caldo Gallego on a very wet and chilly afternoon, walking those final miles into Santiago. Looking at your picture takes me right back to that crowded, lively bar, that lunchtime, that day. I never thought about trying to make it myself. But your recipe looks so easy.

The cold weather has already set in here in Pennsylvania, and I see a pot of Caldo Gallego on my stove very soon.
 
Thank you!! I loved the caldo gallego, tortilla patatas, and lentajas. And of course the many pintxos I do not remember the names for.
 
If I may, another ultra easy soup that is fairly frequent in Spain...
Crema de calabacín. That is zucchini or courgette, depending on your origins. Basically, just chop small and cook by steaming or simmering. Add a vegetable stock cube, home made or commercial. Some water of course. I cheat by using some vegetable flavouring from Poland. I have no idea how many bad ingredients are in it, but I don’t care! Zap with a gadget- if you have one, or a masher if you don’t, so it becomes creamy. That’s it. Variations include other veg that might be happy to be used up.
 
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The best part is your number “1” - does that mean 2, 3, 4 are coming?
 
Thank you! I'll never forget the first time experience of eating this wonderful soup. In O Cebreiro, I was near the end of the day's walk in the rainy and cold weather and feeling muy tired. I saw others eat this soup and asked for a bowl myself. It tasted very much like the kind of comfort soup I used to eat in Korea that was made with dried turnip leaves.
 
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Poor little Piggy.....even though I have to admit to Loving this particular Soup.
 
Thank you!
This is comfort food of the highest order!
Great memories of this delightful soup being served in a monster soup tureen..just for me. I ate the whole thing!
Love this!
 
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I am Galician and have eaten lots of Caldo Galego.
Ingredients: vegetables (berza, grelo), potatoes, white beans and unto (or a small piece of ham). Cooked in a way that the vegetables remain almost entire and keep their taste.
My experience in many restaurants (including Galicia) is that the vegetables are scarce and diluted and have pork meat, therefore the general taste is pork meat.
I think they try to hide the vegetable taste because many people don't like it.
That probably explains why many pilgrims complain about the lack of vegetables on the Camino menus.
 
Amazon offers for sale several brands of canned Caldo Gallego..... Anyone ever eaten canned Caldo Gallego?
 
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