All About Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Broth)

Caldo verde (pronounced [ˈkaɫdu ˈveɾðɨ], Portuguese for "green broth") is a popular soup in Portuguese cuisine.

The basic traditional ingredients for caldo verde use collard greens (or alternatively other leafy greens such as kale or mustard greens), potatoes, olive oil, black pepper and salt. Garlic and onion are traditionally added as well. Some recipes add meat, such as ham hock, making it similar to Italo-American wedding soup.

The soup is usually accompanied by slices of paio, chouriço or linguiça (boiled separately with that water being discarded, the sausage added last minute to the soup), and with Portuguese broa corn-bread or rye-bread for dipping. 

In Portugal, caldo verde is typically consumed during Portuguese celebrations, such as weddings, birthdays, and popular celebrations. For example, the St. John festival, in Braga or Porto. It is sometimes consumed before a main course meal or as a late supper. This soup is served in a tigela, a traditional earthenware bowl.

Caldo verde originated from the Minho Province in northern Portugal. Today, it is a traditional national favourite that has spread across the nation and abroad, especially to places where a large community of Portuguese migrants have settled such as Brazil, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. References to the soup appear in many novels by Camilo Castelo Branco.

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