Cozido à Portuguesa: boiled and very tasty

Cozido at Celeiro da Alameda, Lisbon. Photo by Filipe Gill

If Bacalhau is the iconic fish of Portuguese gastronomy, Cozido is its meat brother. Cozido sounds and looks unattractive. After all, it is a mixture of boiled ingredients served together. A very simple affair.

Some people might mistake it for the Spanish Cocido or the French Pot-au-Feu, but it is quite different in many ways, both in the ingredients it uses, the way it is cooked, and the way it is served.

Like many other dishes from our Gastronomic Culture, this is an acquired taste. It grows on you and it gets better the more you know about it. But once you get to the higher stage, you will look forward to those cold winter days where you will have a good excuse to enjoy Cozido with friends and wine, two very important parts of the experience.

Cozido is part of the Portuguese Cucina Povera because it started as a meal for special occasions in the countryside. It is peasant food, made with ingredients sourced in the village, including pork and sausages, made with the pigs raised in the household.

What is Cozido?

Keep in mind that there are some variations, but generally, this dish is composed of four types of ingredients: meat, mostly pork; vegetables; pulses, mainly beans and one cereal: rice. The only cooking method used is boiling in water. Sounds weird but tastes very good indeed.

Vegetables. Carrots, turnip, onions, and cabbage are the basis. Mint gives it a nice, fresh aroma. Potatoes can be used. All cooked in the meat stock.

Meat. pig’s ears, trotters, pork belly, and ribs. Even if you don’t eat some of these challenging parts, they are fundamental for flavour. Other meats used, are chicken and beef. Beef is used in a modern version; because households always had pigs and chickens, but not cows.

Pulses. White beans are cooked separately in the meat stock. Unlike the Cocido Madrileño, this dish does not use chickpeas.

Rice. Cooked in the meat and vegetable stock.

If you want to try Cozido, start in a restaurant or with Portuguese friends that know how to make it properly. I would say that the main secrets about a good Cozido are: good ingredients and a good sense of timing in the cooking. There are many ingredients with different cooking times and the whole show must come together at the same time. And hot! This is a Winter dish; so cold or lukewarm is not acceptable.

Wine. a good, earthy, robust red wine is the best companion for this meal.

Recommended music: Águas de Março, Elis Regina & Tom Jobim

Brazilian Portuguese is another dimension of Portuguese. We love Brazilian music – particularly Bossa Nova – and know it is one of Humankind’s most remarkable achievements.

But when it comes to Cozido, the Portuguese version is way better! Abraço para o Brasil.