Escudella i Carn d'Olla

Escudella i carn d'olla is Catalan, and at Christmas it becomes the great boiled dinner of the house: broth first, usually with galets, then the carn d'olla, the meats, chickpeas, vegetables, botifarra, and the pilota, that big seasoned meatball that makes the table go quiet for a moment. This is not just any cocido with a Catalan name. The botifarra, the pilota, the galets, and the two-course serving are what make it this dish and not a neighbour's.

The method that decides it is the broth. Bring the meats and bones up slowly, skim with patience, then keep the pot at a gentle tremble. Boil it hard and the caldo turns cloudy and tired. Treat it gently and you get a broth with body, clean enough for the pasta and strong enough to carry the whole meal.

If you're far from Catalonia, no hace falta haber pisado Espana. Use a mild fresh pork sausage where botifarra blanca should be, and a good Spanish morcilla or plain blood sausage where botifarra negra should be. It won't have quite the same Catalan seasoning, but it will still be honest if you keep the chorizo out of it. Chorizo belongs to other pots, not this one.

Make the pilota firm, flour it lightly, and let it poach in the broth until it holds together. Cook the galets in strained caldo just before serving, so they don't drink the pot dry while you look away. Siempre sale, si lo sigues, it turns out if you follow it. My Margin says only this: skim early, salt late.