A year ago at this time, my husband and I were walking El Camino de Santiago. (It is hard to believe that a year has passed already.) For months after we returned, I walked the Camino every night in my dreams. I was so sad when those dreams ended. I wanted to keep alive the lessons I learned, the beauty I saw, and all my experiences, but life isn’t like that. Day turned into night and turned again into day and the past was past.
My feet no longer were kept on that ancient trail by my dreams, so I travel back there through my pictures, my memories and through my food. When I make Caldo Gallego I remember the first time I ever tasted it. We were served this soup in Fonfría del Camino at the end of the day after we left Villa Franca, climbed O’Cebreiro and continued walking for 24 km. We were more than tired; we were done.
We stayed in the Albergue A Reboleira where we were served dinner in a communal dining area with our fellow peregrinos (pilgrims). This festive place soon made us forget our aches and pains and all the suffering we had experienced just a short time before.
In this picture, you see my husband as he reacts to some colorful conversion with some newly met friends. In front of him is an empty bowl of Caldo Gallego, the large serving bowl we served ourselves from in front of it.
I never will forget the wonderful aroma or hearty, healthy taste of this simple soup; it has become a favorite in my house. Whenever I make it, I once again walk the Camino, see the weary yet happy faces, and hear the stories that are shared over and over between a long list of pilgrims who meet again and again on this ancient trail.
I hope this soup will warm your heart as it has mine and will fill your stomach with its wholesome goodness.
Ingredients (Serves 6)
1 1/2 cups dried white beans
1 ham knuckle, or 1 ham bone, or 1 ham hock, or 1lb. pork bones
1 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp paprika (preferably Spanish)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb potatoes, peeled and diced
1 bunch turnip greens, rinsed and coarsely chopped
2 spanish chorizos (6.5 oz total), cut into pieces
Instructions
Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
Rinse beans then add them back to the pot with the pork.
Cover with 8 1/2 cups of water and season them with the salt, pepper and paprika.
Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer 1 hour covered. (Skim off foam)
Remove the pork bones from the broth and add the potatoes, turnips, and chorizo.
If you like, pull the meat off the bones and add back to the pot.
Return the pot to a simmer and cook for 30 more minutes.
¡Enjoy!
Caldo Gallego (Galician Broth)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dried white beans
- 1 ham knuckle or 1 ham bone, or 1 ham hock, or 1lb. pork bones
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika preferably Spanish
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 lb potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 bunch turnip greens rinsed and coarsely chopped
- 2 spanish chorizos 6.5 oz total, cut into pieces
Instructions
- Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
- Rinse beans then add them back to the pot with the pork.
- Cover with 8 1/2 cups of water and season them with the salt, pepper and paprika.
- Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer 1 hour covered. (Skim off foam)
- Remove the pork bones from the broth and add the potatoes, turnips, and chorizo.
- If you like, pull the meat of the bones and add back to the pot.
- Return the pot to a simmer and cook for 30 more minutes.
I love food! I read cookbooks like they were novels. I get giddy in a farmer’s market. I find a chicken in a pot surrounded by carrots, onion, and celery a thing of beauty. My favorite sound is Mmmmmmmm!
Me encanta tu historia, tu presentation , colorido y sobretodo todo ese caldo Gallegos tan requisimo !!!!
Muchas gracias, Isabel! besos
Hi Tammy, Galicia is in the Northwest of Spain not the Northeast. The Northeast is where Barcelona would be.
I don’t know how many times I’ve read this post but it has been many and I’ve never caught that. You are so right. Thanks for pointing that out to me. 😀
This looks delicious and just what you need after a day walking the Camino! I love the simple goodness of Spanish soups.
Simple and good is the best way to describe most Spanish cooking. I’m so glad you commented because I visited your blog, and I’m so glad I did! I have fallen head over heels for Spanish food, and I can see I’m not alone in this! I know I will be dropping by often to see what your cooking. 🙂
You´re the first person I know who cooks real spanish food!!..CONGRATULATIONS, I love you liked it in here…I love Galicia too, we went there for our vacations last year.
Love and thanks for your story.
Marialuisa
That means so much to me coming from you!!! Yes, I’m an unabashed lover of Spain! I want everyone to know about this wonderful cuisine. In my opinion there is none better in the world.
Gracias y besos,
Tammy
Sorry, the first foreign person…I forgot to write that…lol…sorry
I must admit this is the one of the few recipes I’ve seen in English and written by a non-galician that has not rattled my cage. lol However, I’d recommend omitting the paprika as one of the signs of good caldo gallego is the white colour of its broth; you get enough paprika flavour from the chorizo. If you are interested in my family’s (my dad is Galician and grew up on this) caldo gallego recipe check out my blog. 🙂
I visited your blog and I can’t tell you how happy I am to find out about it. I love Spanish food and want to learn as much about it as I can. I appreciate your suggestion on the soup and will remember it the next time I make it. 😀 I will be visiting your blog often. ps I love the name of your blog!!!
¡¡Muchas gracias!! 🙂 I am happy you found my blog too; the best thing about food is the sharing!
I too walked the Camino in Fall 2016. This is the soup recipe I’ve been looking for! Thank you so much. I’m so excited to have found it!
Gracias
I hope it brings back wonderful memories!
HOLA! I walked the camino back in June (2016) from SJPD to Santiago and the food all along was great! you just made me remember some cool stages, o’ Cebreiro was absolutely a blast but we stayed there, the bar there is just amazing!
buen camino!
Hola, peregrina!!! The food is amazing along the camino and so needed. I’m constantly looking for recipes that take me back to that very special time. 😀
Hello! I was searching for a recipe of Caldo Callego that we enjoyed on our Camino a month ago. So amazing, we got it for the first time in the same nice alberge as you! And actually , I also still dream about the camino . Annika
Oh that makes me so happy! I can remember the day like it was yesterday. Well, I hope you enjoy the recipe and it takes you right back there. Buen Camino!
I had this yesterday for the first time and decided to make it. I put it together from tasting, and it is almost identical to your recipe! I used ham broth instead of the bone because I didn’t have one. Also used canned beans because of time. Chard, kale and spinach greens. So delicious. Thank you! I used chorizo and chorico because I wanted to taste the difference.
Thank you! Your version sounds wonderful!
Tammy, I was touched by your description of your first encounter with this soup and your dreams and memories of the camino. Well said. I feel similar in that I just did the Camino this year and value the memories, photos, stories and food.
A fellow peregrina! Thanks so much for your comment. This is a time I love to revisit and one of the surest ways to conjure up the memories is through food. I think that’s because of the importance of food while walking long distances everyday. Food for fuel on the journey and food as comfort at the end of the day. Buen camino, Kathe!
We love this soup, too! It is true comfort food on a cold winter night! It’s simmering on the stove as we speak!
For the second time,we hiked the Camino last fall but this time we started in Portugal. Incredible experience !
I had turkey stock in the freezer. I used this as a base and then also added kale instead of turnip greens with delicious results!
Oh, that sounds wonderful! My husband’s uncle did the Portugal Camino. I would love to do that one too. I’m glad you are enjoying the soup and thank you for your comment. Buen Camino!
I finished my camino in October. I looked up caldo recipes and found yours, the only one I looked at. How awesome that you were in Fonfria at the same place I first had caldo. I stayed 2 rainy nights at A reboleira. An earned break! Buen Camino!!
I love hearing from fellow peligrinas! I feel I can just imagine what you were feeling and how good the caldo was and what it meant during those grueling days. Buen camino, friend.
Love this recipe..it was delicious..
Your story was very delightful to tead!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
My maternal grandfather Pedro had a small lumber mill in Outes, Galicia, Spain many years ago before he emigrated to Buffalo, New York. His wife Rosa was a talented pastry chef. She made a beautiful hearty Caldo Gallego and strained the vegetables and meat from the soup which she served separately as a clear pale yellow broth. This broth is what I understood to be the Caldo Gallego. The solids were served as a sort of a stew. All was eminently delicious. Many is the time my mother Laura made Caldo Gallego. It was always a big hit with everyone. It must have been good stuff since she lived independently to age 102 with all her faculties intact.
Best regards to everyone,
Victor Torrico
Thank you so much for your comment. I loved hearing of the way your grandmother and your mother prepared Caldo Gallego. That’s what I love about the food of Spain each region, and sometimes regions within regions, has their own version. I will have to try it that way sometime and will look for it the next time I’m in that region of Spain. It sounds amazing and if it helps me live to 102 the better!
Thank you again for sharing this wonderful story.