Sopa do Espírito Santo (a maneira minha)
Soup of the Holy Spirt
by Jeremiah Duarte Bills
This is the traditional dish you will be served at a Festa do Espírito Santo (Holy Ghost Festival). This soup is one of my earliest food memories and represents so much of my connection to my heritage. It has an incredible history tied to Portuguese queen Isabela and is often offered to the community for free. Just looking at the ingredients and spices assembled you can see the flavors of the Portuguese discoveries. The rich spices combined with beef, leftover bread and fresh mint is to taste history.
This is my version inspired by my memories, my grandmother and my great uncle Louie who helps prepare sopas (pronounced "sopash") every year at the festa in Lincoln, California. The flavors and ingredients may be different than other festas and while the soul of the dish is the same, it differs slightly from versions I've eaten in the Azores. Creating a soup is magic. A list of ingredients will not guarantee success but the guidance of your taste will. My uncle Louie stressed the importance of learning to taste this soup. I practiced on my grandmother Duarte who was very vocal when I didn't get it right. That was part of her love language. In the end my tastes and probably the holy ghost helped me balance the recipe. It's the last dish I cooked and fed to my grandmother. A memory I'll never forget.
Grandma stressed the importance of lots of broth to soak the bread and meat. She cared more about the broth and bread than the meat! Don't be afraid to add more water. Lots of good broth comes from lots of good meat and bones. It's difficult to do this with a small recipe so feel free to double the recipe once you have a feel for it. If you can use grass fed beef and bones. You will have the richest most beautifully flavored broth. The mint might sound strange but brings the whole soup together in a surprising and magical way. As a kid I would collect wild mint with my grandpa Eddie while my grandma was finishing the soup. Some people remove the mint before eating but I love to eat some with each bite. The soup components are traditionally served separately so each person can choose how much bread, meat, vegetables and broth they would like. Everyone has their own preferences down to how soaked they prefer their bread!
Seves 8 to 10
About 5 lbs meat (different roasts, chuck and rump or round) cut into large pieces.
Salt
3 small soup bones
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3 whole cloves
1 tbsp allspice berries
1 tbsp whole black pepper
1 tsp nutmeg shards (I save the shards left over from grating fresh nutmeg)
2 large yellow onions, roughly sliced
1 head of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 cup of white wine
15 oz of tomato puree or sauce
4 tbsp ketchup
4 large bay leaves
3 cinnamon sticks
Cabbage, roughly chopped
Couves (Portuguese kale) or you may also use other types of kale or collard greens, roughly chopped
Fresh mint
Day old European style bread cut into thick slices
Soup of the Holy Spirt
by Jeremiah Duarte Bills
This is the traditional dish you will be served at a Festa do Espírito Santo (Holy Ghost Festival). This soup is one of my earliest food memories and represents so much of my connection to my heritage. It has an incredible history tied to Portuguese queen Isabela and is often offered to the community for free. Just looking at the ingredients and spices assembled you can see the flavors of the Portuguese discoveries. The rich spices combined with beef, leftover bread and fresh mint is to taste history.
This is my version inspired by my memories, my grandmother and my great uncle Louie who helps prepare sopas (pronounced "sopash") every year at the festa in Lincoln, California. The flavors and ingredients may be different than other festas and while the soul of the dish is the same, it differs slightly from versions I've eaten in the Azores. Creating a soup is magic. A list of ingredients will not guarantee success but the guidance of your taste will. My uncle Louie stressed the importance of learning to taste this soup. I practiced on my grandmother Duarte who was very vocal when I didn't get it right. That was part of her love language. In the end my tastes and probably the holy ghost helped me balance the recipe. It's the last dish I cooked and fed to my grandmother. A memory I'll never forget.
Grandma stressed the importance of lots of broth to soak the bread and meat. She cared more about the broth and bread than the meat! Don't be afraid to add more water. Lots of good broth comes from lots of good meat and bones. It's difficult to do this with a small recipe so feel free to double the recipe once you have a feel for it. If you can use grass fed beef and bones. You will have the richest most beautifully flavored broth. The mint might sound strange but brings the whole soup together in a surprising and magical way. As a kid I would collect wild mint with my grandpa Eddie while my grandma was finishing the soup. Some people remove the mint before eating but I love to eat some with each bite. The soup components are traditionally served separately so each person can choose how much bread, meat, vegetables and broth they would like. Everyone has their own preferences down to how soaked they prefer their bread!
Seves 8 to 10
About 5 lbs meat (different roasts, chuck and rump or round) cut into large pieces.
Salt
3 small soup bones
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3 whole cloves
1 tbsp allspice berries
1 tbsp whole black pepper
1 tsp nutmeg shards (I save the shards left over from grating fresh nutmeg)
2 large yellow onions, roughly sliced
1 head of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 cup of white wine
15 oz of tomato puree or sauce
4 tbsp ketchup
4 large bay leaves
3 cinnamon sticks
Cabbage, roughly chopped
Couves (Portuguese kale) or you may also use other types of kale or collard greens, roughly chopped
Fresh mint
Day old European style bread cut into thick slices
- Salt the meat.
- Sear on high heat in vegetable oil in a large dutch oven.
- Add bones and enough water to almost cover. Bring to a boil, skimming off any impurities.
- Place all of the whole spices in a cheesecloth bundle or a tea ball infuser. Add to the soup.
- Add everything else.
- Reduce heat and simmer until the meat is tender adding water as necessary so that the meet is always almost covered. This can take 3 to 6 hours depending on the size of the meat, the size of your pan and the heat.
- Once the meat is extremely tender refrigerate overnight
- The next day skim off any unwanted fat.
- Warm through with a couple mint sprigs.
- Remove the meat and keep warm. Strain the broth. Return to the pan. If necessary add more water and or salt to taste. Adjust any seasonings as you wish.
- Use a small of the soup and some water to cook the cabbage and or kale until tender. I do this in a covered medium sauce pa so the vegetables soften in their own juices as well.
- When ready to serve, cut slices of the day old bread roughly an inch thick and place in a deep serving dish. Place sprigs of mint over the bread. Ladle some of the broth to soften the bread. Keep warm.
- Serve with a slice bread and mint on plate or shallow bowl topped with meat and more broth as desired. Add kale and cabbage and enjoy. Bom apetite!