Cocido Maragato

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy pot, 8 to 10 liters
• •Second pot for cabbage and potatoes
• •Skimming spoon
• •Large warm serving platter
• •Fine strainer

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the chickpeas

   The night before, cover the chickpeas with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak at least 12 hours. If the lacón or cured pork is very salty, soak it separately in cold water too, changing the water once. Pésalo, no lo adivines: chickpeas that soak fully cook evenly, and this dish has no patience for chalky centers.

2. 2

   Start the broth

   Put the beef, chicken, lacón, pork rib, panceta, ham bone, marrow bones, carrot, leek, onion, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a large heavy pot. Cover with 4 liters cold water and bring it up slowly. Skim the grey foam as it rises, then lower the heat until the surface barely trembles.

   Do not salt hard at the start. The cured pork and bones give salt to the broth as they cook, and you can correct it later.
3. 3

   Add chickpeas

   Drain the soaked chickpeas and add them to the pot once the broth is hot. Keep the simmer gentle for about 2 hours, until the chickpeas are tender but still whole and the meats yield when pierced. This low tremble is the step that decides the dish: boil it hard and the broth goes cloudy, the chickpeas split, and the meats turn dry before they soften.

4. 4

   Cook sausages

   Add the chorizos for the last 35 minutes of cooking. Add the morcilla for the last 15 to 20 minutes only, so it warms through without bursting. If the pot looks crowded, cook the morcilla in a small ladleful of broth in a separate pan. Nobody gives a medal for exploded morcilla.

5. 5

   Cook cabbage

   Lift 1 liter of broth into a second pot and cook the cabbage and potatoes in it until tender, about 25 minutes. In a small pan, warm the olive oil with the sliced garlic until the garlic is pale gold, then pull it off the heat and stir in the pimentón. Spoon this ajada, the garlic and pimentón oil, over the drained cabbage and potatoes. Taste for salt.

6. 6

   Make fideo soup

   Strain about 1.5 liters of broth into a clean pot. Bring it to a steady boil, taste for salt, and add the fideos. Cook until tender, usually 5 to 7 minutes, depending on the noodle. Keep the soup loose; it is the last vuelco, not a noodle stew.

7. 7

   Serve meat first

   Lift out the meats and slice them into generous pieces: beef, chicken, lacón, rib, panceta, chorizo, and morcilla. Serve them first on a warm platter, with a little broth spooned over so they glisten. Then serve the chickpeas with the cabbage and potatoes. Last comes the fideo soup. That is Cocido Maragato, tal como se hace allí. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

Chef Tips

• •The chickpea matters. Use a good dried chickpea with thin skin, pedrosillano or castellano if you can find it. If all you have is a reliable dried kabuli chickpea, use it, but soak it fully and expect a slightly larger, softer bite.
• •For the meats, aim for the Leon table: beef, hen or chicken, cured pork, panceta, chorizo, morcilla, and bones for broth. If you cannot find chorizo de León, use a Spanish cooking chorizo, not a fresh Mexican chorizo. They are different things and behave differently in the pot.
• •Morcilla de León is ideal, but morcilla de cebolla, onion blood sausage, is a good substitute. Add it late. If it bursts, the broth darkens and tastes heavier, still edible, but not as clean.
• •Canned chickpeas are a last-resort shortcut here. If you must use them, cook the meats and broth first, then add 3 drained 400g cans of chickpeas for the final 20 minutes. You save time, yes, but the chickpeas will not drink the broth in the same way.
• •Serve in the Maragato order: meats, then chickpeas with cabbage, then soup. If you serve the soup first, you have made a fine cocido, but not this one.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the chickpeas and any very salty cured pork the night before, 12 to 16 hours.
• •The broth and meats can be cooked one day ahead. Chill them together, lift off excess fat if you like, then reheat gently before cooking the cabbage, potatoes, and fideos.
• •Do not cook the fideos ahead. They swell and thicken the soup as they sit, so make that last, just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 950g)