Porrusalda Vasca

Porrusalda is Basque, porru means leek and salda means broth, so the name is almost the recipe: leeks, potatoes, olive oil, water, and in many houses a little bacalao. It is not a thick chowder and it is not a garlic-heavy potaje. It is cocina de cuchara, spoon food, pale, clean, and steady, built on the sweetness of leeks.

The step that decides it is the potato. Don't cut neat cubes all the way through. Push the knife in, then crack the piece apart, chascar la patata, so the broken edges shed starch into the broth. That is what gives porrusalda body without flour or cream. Keep the leeks low and pale while they soften; brown them and the soup loses its quiet.

If you have good desalted bacalao, add it at the end and let it flake softly in the heat. If you don't, leave it out and you still have a real porrusalda, or use fresh cod for a milder pot and salt the broth yourself. No hace falta haber pisado España. You need good leeks, potatoes that will break, and the patience not to rush the first fifteen minutes. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.