Fleur
My favourite meal is:
Portuguese soup/Caldo Verde
Me: What ingredients do you put in the soup?
Mam: Leeks or onions, potatoes, chicken stock, pasta, carrot, green vegetables.
Me: What is the first thing you do?
Mam: Finely chop your onions and fry them gently in a big pot with some
butter. While it is frying, peel 4-5 small potatoes and chop them into small
pieces. Add them to the pot.
After that give them a stir then add the stock. Put a lid on, bring it to the boil
and simmer until the potatoes are cooked. While it’s cooking, peel and chop a
small carrot into fine julienne and finely shred the green vegetables. When the
potatoes are cooked, whizz up the soup.
Finally add the pasta, carrots and green vegetables; stir the soup to stop it stick-
ing to the bottom of the pot and simmer until the pasta is cooked.
Mam:
Me: Do you put in any secret ingredients?
No but it’s always important to use good quality vegetables and stock.
Me: Who taught you this recipe?
Mam: I invented it based on the soup that is often the starter in restaurants
in the north of Portugal where I used to live when I went to college.