Sopa de Picadillo Andaluza

Sopa de picadillo is Andaluz, and it belongs to the puchero pot: a clear, steady caldo served with fine fideos, diced jamón, chopped hard-boiled egg, a little chicken, and mint. It looks modest. It isn't. On Christmas Eve in many Andalusian houses, this is the first bowl that tells everyone the meal has begun.

The method that decides it is the broth. You don't boil it hard and cloud it, and you don't rush the bones and meat into giving what only time gives. Start the meats and chickpeas in cold water, skim well, then let the pot murmur gently until the caldo tastes rounded and clean. That is the dish. The picadillo, the chopped bits, are there to honour the broth, not hide a weak one.

If you're far from Andalucía, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use a good ham bone if you can find one, or a piece of unsmoked cured ham with chicken and beef bones; it won't have the exact perfume of jamón serrano, but it will still give you a proper household caldo. Fine angel-hair noodles can stand in for fideos finos. Add the mint at the end, not at the beginning, or it turns tired and bitter.

My Margin beside this soup says only this: strain twice, salt once. It sounds fussy until the first spoonful. Clear broth, tender noodles, egg, jamón, and that small green lift of hierbabuena. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.