COCIDO

First thing that I need to say is that I can’t translate the name of this dish. With Cocido it happens like with Chorizo, there is no word in the English language equivalent to it.

Literally Cocido means boiled, but something boiled it is definitely not a Cocido.

Second, once I tell you that this dish takes about 4 h to be ready you are going to think that I have lost it completely and that there is no way you are going to spend that amount of time in the kitchen. Don’t you worry, actually it doesn’t work like that.

This is another recipe from my mother, and she passed to me as the traditional way that this dish is cooked in Madrid, where we are from. However I have adapted it, bearing in mind that I currently live in the UK and it is very difficult to come across certain ingredients.

Ingredientes: chickpeas, beef, bone (special for Cocido), fat bacon, chicken, chorizo, black pudding, carrots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and salt. But you can add whatever you fancy for example garlic, peppers, cabbage, green beans … And you can as well take out whatever you don’t like or you can’t find.

Regarding the amount of each ingredient, I always play by ear, as it depends how big the potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, etc are. For example, we are 5 in my home, so I use 500 gr of chickpeas, 1 or 2 potatoes per person, 3-4 carrots, 3-4 tomatoes, 1 onion, as much chorizo as you would like, 750 gr of gamon ...

Here in the UK I only use chorizo and gamon as meat, and black pudding if I can find it.

If you live in Spain in big supermarkets such as Mercadona you can normally find already prepare packages with the required meat and the required veggies in the relevant sections of the market. Which will make your life a lot easier.

If you are using dry chickpeas you need to put them in water the day before. But you can as well use can or bottled already cooked chickpeas.

Chickpeas the day before

Chickpeas after the night submerged in water

In a big pot we add the chickpeas and all the meat that we are going to use, except the chorizo and the black pudding. Then we cover it with water and we leave it to boil. You don’t really have to worry about it for an hour or so I would say.

When meat is boiled it normally releases some kind of white foam that needs to be removed before we add any other ingredient.

When the chickpeas and the meat start to be tender  we add everything else: veggies, chorizo and black pudding. If needed remove some of the water and save it for later.

And then we leave it again to cook for about 3 more hours. The stove needs to be at minimum heat. The water will evaporate continuously, therefore we will have to add water all the time, starting for the water that we saved earlier when we added all the ingredients.

Any water that you add must always be HOT, because if you add cold water can make the chickpeas hard.

If you use can/bottled chickpeas it might be easier as you will be sure that chickpeas are soft. In this case you can cooked the meat as explained, but you will add the chickpeas with the rest of the veggies.

Regarding salt, be careful. If you use gamon you don’t really need to add any, as gamon it a very salty meat. If you are adding salt is best to do it each time that you add an ingredient or some water, but always try it first so you don’t over salt the dish.

Once the dish is ready we separate the stock from the meat and veggies, so will have soup as starter and the rest as main. However you can eat altogether if you like.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, as there are few dishes more traditional and typical Spanish than this one.