Chef Isabel
Berza Gaditana
Berza gaditana is Cádiz spoon food: chickpeas and white beans with the green the season gives, plus chorizo, morcilla, and pork, simmered until the broth turns thick and honest.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Olleta de Músic (Alcoi Festival Olla)
Created by
Olleta de músic is Alcoi's Valencian festival olla: white beans and cardoons simmered with pork trotter, botifarra de ceba, blanquet, saffron, and a little rice for a long Moros i Cristians day.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Celebration
Comfort Food
One Pot
35 min
Active Time
3 hr 30 min cook•4 hr 5 min total
Yield6 to 8 servings
Olleta de músic is Valencian, from Alcoi in the inland mountains of Alicante, and it belongs to the Moros i Cristians table before it belongs anywhere else. White beans, penques, the cardoon stalks, pork trotter, botifarra de ceba, blanquet, saffron, and a small handful of rice at the end. That is what makes it Alcoi's olla, not just another pot of beans.
The method that decides it is the slow tremble. The trotter has to give its gelatin to the broth while the beans stay whole, and that only happens if the pot never boils hard. Cook the onion low until dark gold first, because that little sofregit, the slow onion base, gives sweetness underneath all the pork. Then let the olla move lazily, just enough for one bubble to break now and then. Rush it and you get split beans, tough skins, and a thinner broth. Nobody came to a fiesta for that.
If you're far from Alcoi, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use morcilla de cebolla for the botifarra de ceba if you must, and a fresh white longaniza for the blanquet; the stew will lose a little of blanquet's warm spice, but it keeps its shape. For cardoons, jarred cardo is better than pretending celery is the same thing. If all you have is thick chard stems, use them and know they are greener and milder.
Add the rice only when you're ready to eat, and add the sausages near the end so they don't split and muddy the pot. My Margin has one word beside this recipe: quieto, still. Leave it alone more than you think. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Olleta de músic belongs to Alcoi, in l'Alcoià, an inland Valencian comarca where the Moros i Cristians festivities for Sant Jordi fill the streets with bands, filaes, and long meals. The name points to the musicians, because this olla was cooked in quantity to feed band members and festeros through a day that asked for strength. Its larder is inland Valencian rather than coastal: dried beans, penques, pork from the matanza, botifarra de ceba, blanquet, saffron, and a little rice to finish the spoonful.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried white beans
Quantity
400g
soaked overnight
pork trotter
Quantity
1 (about 700g)
split lengthwise
pork ribs
Quantity
350g
cut into 5cm pieces
pork belly or panceta
Quantity
150g
in one piece
cardoons (penques)
Quantity
450g cleaned
strings removed, cut into 6cm pieces
lemon
Quantity
1
for acidulated water
white turnips
Quantity
250g
peeled and cut into chunks
botifarra de ceba (onion blood sausage)
Quantity
2 links (about 220g total)
blanquet (Valencian white pork sausage)
Quantity
2 links (about 180g total)
short-grain Valencian rice
Quantity
100g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
large onion
Quantity
1 (about 180g)
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
finely chopped
saffron threads
Quantity
0.1g
lightly crushed
bay leaf
Quantity
1
cold water
Quantity
2.5L, plus hot water as needed
fine sea salt
Quantity
8g, plus more to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried white beanssoaked overnight | 400g |
| pork trottersplit lengthwise | 1 (about 700g) |
| pork ribscut into 5cm pieces | 350g |
| pork belly or pancetain one piece | 150g |
| cardoons (penques)strings removed, cut into 6cm pieces | 450g cleaned |
| lemonfor acidulated water | 1 |
| white turnipspeeled and cut into chunks | 250g |
| botifarra de ceba (onion blood sausage) | 2 links (about 220g total) |
| blanquet (Valencian white pork sausage) | 2 links (about 180g total) |
| short-grain Valencian rice | 100g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| large onionfinely chopped | 1 (about 180g) |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 2 |
| saffron threadslightly crushed | 0.1g |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| cold water | 2.5L, plus hot water as needed |
| fine sea salt | 8g, plus more to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •6 to 7L heavy olla or Dutch oven
- •Skimming spoon
- •Small knife for stringing cardoons
- •Large bowl for soaking beans
Instructions
- 1
Soak the beans
The night before, cover the beans with at least 8cm cold water and leave them for 12 hours. Drain them before cooking. Pésalo, no lo adivines: old beans and a shallow soak are the two things that make this pot take all afternoon and still taste chalky.
- 2
Prepare the cardoons
Pull the strings from the cardoon stalks with a small knife, cut the stalks into 6cm pieces, and drop them into a bowl of cold water squeezed with the lemon. Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, add the cardoons, and cook 15 minutes, then drain. This takes away the harsh edge without stealing their clean, thistle-like bitterness.
If using jarred cardoons, drain and rinse them well. Skip the parboil and add them in the last 25 minutes of the bean simmer, or they will fall apart. - 3
Clean the pork
Put the pork trotter, ribs, and panceta in the olla or heavy pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse the meat, and rinse the pot. This is not to wash away flavor; it clears the grey scum so the final broth tastes clean.
- 4
Cook the sofregit
Return the pot to the stove and add the olive oil and onion with a pinch of the measured salt. Cook low and slow for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is dark gold, soft, and sweet. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. That slow onion base is the quiet sweetness under the pork; hurry it and the olla tastes boiled instead of built.
- 5
Start the olla
Add the drained beans, blanched pork, bay leaf, and 2.5L cold water. Bring it up slowly, skim anything that rises, then lower the heat until the surface barely trembles. Cook 1 hour 30 minutes with the lid slightly ajar. From here, a hard boil is the enemy: it splits the beans and clouds the broth before the trotter has given its gelatin.
If the level drops below the beans, add hot water, not cold, unless the pot is boiling too hard. The beans should stay covered by about 2cm. - 6
Add vegetables
Stir in the parboiled cardoons and the turnips. Crush the saffron with a spoonful of hot broth and add it to the pot. Keep the same low tremble for another 60 to 90 minutes, until the beans are creamy inside, the turnips are tender, and the trotter meat gives when pressed with a spoon.
- 7
Finish with rice
Taste the broth and add the remaining salt only now, because the sausages bring their own seasoning. Stir in the rice, then lay the botifarra de ceba and blanquet on top of the stew without piercing them. Simmer gently for 16 to 18 minutes, moving the pot by its handles instead of stirring hard. This is not the moment for a busy spoon; blood sausage splits if bullied.
Rice keeps drinking after the fire is off. If you are cooking ahead, stop before this step and add the rice and sausages only when you are ready to serve. - 8
Rest and serve
Turn off the heat and rest the olla for 10 minutes. Lift out the sausages, pork belly, ribs, and trotter; slice the botifarra and blanquet thickly, cut the panceta, and pull the trotter meat from the bones if you like. Return the meat to the pot and serve deep spoonfuls with beans, penques, rice, and a piece of each sausage in every bowl. Tal como se hace allí, generous and plain.
Chef Tips
- •Botifarra de ceba is not chorizo. If you cannot find it, use morcilla de cebolla, onion blood sausage. A smoky chorizo takes over the pot and turns it into something else.
- •For blanquet, look for the pale Valencian pork sausage. If you are far from a Spanish shop, a fresh white longaniza or mild fresh pork sausage is the honest substitute; the flavor will be less warmly spiced, but the stew will still sit in the right place.
- •Fresh cardoons are best when the market has them firm and pale, but jarred cardo is a good practical answer. Thick chard stems work in a hard place; add them for the last 20 minutes and expect a greener, milder spoonful.
- •Add the rice at the end and serve the olla soon after. Rice left overnight in the pot drinks the broth and turns the stew heavy. Good for leftovers, yes, but not the festival bowl.
- •A sturdy Alicante or Valencian Monastrell stands up to the trotter and blood sausage. Bread matters more than wine, though; put enough on the table for the broth.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the beans 12 hours ahead in plenty of cold water.
- •Clean and parboil the cardoons up to 1 day ahead; keep them covered in the refrigerator.
- •The stew can be cooked through the bean, pork, cardoon, and turnip stage 1 day ahead. Reheat gently, then add the rice, botifarra de ceba, and blanquet just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 650g)
Calories
840 calories
Total Fat
50 g
Saturated Fat
16 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
34 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
1230 mg
Total Carbohydrates
57 g
Dietary Fiber
11 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
41 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Pucheros, Ollas y Escudellas del Levante, Sur e Islas
Browse the full collection
Chef Isabel
Brou Menorquí (Menorcan Cocido Broth)
Brou menorquí is Menorca's Wednesday cocido, a quiet two-turn pot: pale broth with small pasta first, then chickpeas, potatoes, cabbage, and meats cooked low enough to stay clear.
Chef Isabel
Cocido con Pelotas Murciano
Cocido con pelotas is Murcia and the Vega Baja at Christmas: chickpeas and winter meats in a clear broth, with big mint-scented meatballs that decide the whole pot.
Chef Isabel
Cocido Extremeño
Cocido extremeño is Extremadura in a pot: chickpeas, gallina, ibérico tocino, chorizo and morcilla, with almost no vegetable. The clean broth is the point, so simmer low and add the sausages late.