Sopa do Espírito Santo (Sopas do Espírito Santo)
Overview
Sopas do Espírito Santo, the Holy Spirit soup, is a festival soup from the Azores islands of Portugal. Large pieces of beef are cooked very slowly in water with cabbage, onion, garlic and spices such as allspice and cinnamon, making a rich, fragrant broth. Thick slices of bread, often the local sweet bread, are laid in deep dishes with sprigs of fresh mint, and the hot broth is ladled over until the bread is soaked through. The boiled beef and cabbage are served on top or on the side. The soup is spiced, meaty and deeply comforting, and recipes vary from island to island.
History
The soup is at the heart of the Holy Spirit festivals held in the Azores between Easter and summer. Families who have made a promise to the Holy Spirit offer a ritual meal of the soup, a meat broth poured over bread with mint, served with the boiled meat, sweet bread and sweet rice. The poor have always been honoured guests, and the meal stands for sharing within the community. Azorean emigrants have carried the festivals and the soup to North America.
Main ingredients
Beef, cabbage, bread, mint, allspice, cinnamon. The soup is built on spiced beef broth and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Beef soups · Cabbage soups · Mint soups · More soups from Portugal
Recipe
Method
- 1
Put the beef in a large pot with the onion, garlic, spices and 4 l water and bring to the boil, skimming.
- 22 h 30 min
Simmer gently for 2 hours 30 minutes.
- 330 min
Add the cabbage and cook for 30 minutes more, then season.
- 4
Lay the bread and mint sprigs in deep dishes.
- 5
Ladle the hot broth over and serve with the beef and cabbage.
- ✓
Serve. About 3h 20m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
