açorda

{{Infobox food

| name = Açorda

| image = Acorda09 (cropped).jpg

| image_upright=1.2

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| caption = Açorda

| alternate_name =

| type = Bread soup

| course = Main course

| country = {{POR}}

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| national_cuisine = Portuguese

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| main_ingredient = Bread, eggs, garlic, cilantro

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| serving_size = 100 g

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Açorda is a traditional Portuguese dish composed of cubed or sliced stale bread with garlic, coriander, and poached eggs. It is a type of bread soup, although some variants have a consistency closer to that of a porridge.

The version served in Alentejo, açorda à Alentejana, is a classic of the region's cuisine.

History

One of the first designations of the term açorda is found in 16th-century playwright Gil Vicente's Farsa dos Almocreves: "Tendes uma voz tão gorda/ que parece alifante/ depois de farto de açorda".{{cite web |title=Açordas |url=http://www.virgiliogomes.com/index.php/cronicas/47-acordas |access-date=23 May 2021 |website=www.virgiliogomes.com}} (Roughly: You have such a big voice/ that it sounds like an elephant/ after too much bread soup.)

The dish's origins are as a poverty food, intended to prevent waste by using leftover bread, that evolved into a classic of Portuguese and particularly Alentejan cuisine.{{cite web |last1=Rei |first1=António |title=A Açorda. Uma sopa de pão, da Alta Idade Média à atualidade |url=https://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/20916/1/acorda.pdf |access-date=23 May 2021 |publisher=NOVA University Lisbon}}{{Cite web |title=Açorda à Alentejana {{!}} Traditional Bread Soup From Beja District {{!}} TasteAtlas |url=https://www.tasteatlas.com/acorda-a-alentejana |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=TasteAtlas}}{{Cite web |last=Kronenthal |first=Melissa |date=2012-01-14 |title=Portuguese soup transforms stale to steamy good |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/portuguese-soup-transforms-stale-to-steamy-good/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Bruno |first=Cátia |date=2017-10-03 |title=A Comfort Food From a Time of Hunger |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/acorda-portuguese-comfort-food-from-a-time-of-hunger.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}{{Cite news |last=Howe |first=Marvine |date=1989-01-15 |title=FARE OF THE COUNTRY; The Hearty Breads Of Portugal's Hearths |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/15/travel/fare-of-the-country-the-hearty-breads-of-portugal-s-hearths.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Ingredients and variants

File:Açorda à Alentejana edited (cropped).jpg

File:A orda de Marisco (cropped).jpg]]

The dish is traditionally made with pao Alentejano.

Throughout Portugal there are multiple variants of garlic and cilantro bread soup; the most notable originated in Alentejo, where an açorda, also called açorda Alentejana or açorda à alentejana, has the consistency of a soup and is widely served in homes and restaurants throughout the region.{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Anderson (cookbook author) |date=2013-10-21 |title=The Food I Dream Of |url=https://www.saveur.com/article/travels/the-food-of-alentejo-portugal/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Saveur |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Rocha |first=Ana |date=2022-10-21 |title=Açorda Alentejana, Prato presente em qualquer mesa da região! |url=https://www.radiocampanario.com/acorda-alentejana-prato-presente-em-qualquer-mesa-da-regiao/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Rádio Campanário |language=pt-PT}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://cnnportugal.iol.pt/videos/tem-raizes-no-alentejo-e-faz-parte-do-cartaz-de-boas-vindas-da-regiao-conheca-a-acorda-a-alentejana/65ad2b770cf200ca9367dd72 |title=Tem raízes no Alentejo e faz parte do cartaz de boas-vindas da região. Conheça a açorda à alentejana |language=pt |access-date=2024-05-19 |via=cnnportugal.iol.pt}} According to Travel Magazine, it is "arguably Alentejo's signature dish".{{Cite web |last=Chakraborty |first=Sneha |date=2021-02-15 |title=Top 10 things to see and do in Alentejo, Portugal |url=https://www.thetravelmagazine.net/top-10-things-to-see-and-do-in-alentejo-portugal/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=The Travel Magazine |language=en-GB}} According to Publico it is an icon of Alentejan cuisine.{{Cite web |last=Lusa |first=Fugas |date=2024-01-04 |title=Mourão aquece Janeiro com mais açorda alentejana |url=https://www.publico.pt/2024/01/04/fugas/noticia/mourao-aquece-janeiro-acorda-alentejana-2075648 |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=PÚBLICO |language=pt}} Açorda à Alentejana was one of the finalist candidates for the {{ill|7 Wonders of Portuguese Gastronomy|pt|Sete maravilhas da gastronomia}}.{{cite web |title=Apresentação |url=http://www.7maravilhas.sapo.pt/maravilhas-da-gastronomia/apresentacao |access-date=10 September 2011 |publisher=Maravilhas da Gastronomia}}{{cite web |title=7 Maravilhas da Gastronomia |url=http://www.online24.pt/7-maravilhas-da-gastronomia |access-date=10 September 2011 |publisher=Online 24}}{{cite web |title=Portugueses podem escolher as 7 Maravilhas da Gastronomia |url=http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1846719 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618192942/http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1846719 |archive-date=2015-06-18 |publisher=DN Portugal}}

In other regions of Portugal the bread may be boiled in the broth and the dish may have a consistency similar to that of a porridge.{{Cite web |last=Gritzer |first=Daniel |date=16 March 2023 |title=Açorda à Alentejana (Portuguese Garlic and Cilantro Bread Soup) Recipe |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-make-portuguese-garlic-bread-soup-recipe |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Serious Eats |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Serrano |first=Augusta |date=2024-02-04 |title=A Verdadeira Açorda: Uma única versão autêntica alentejana! |url=https://www.radiocampanario.com/a-verdadeira-acorda-uma-unica-versao-autentica-alentejana/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Rádio Campanário |language=pt-PT}}{{Cite web |last=Noone |first=Yasmin |date=27 April 2022 |title=Move over custard tart: Portuguese cuisine is stepping out |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/move-over-custard-tart-portuguese-cuisine-is-stepping-out/n692gi6yg |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=SBS Food |language=en}}

Other variations may include sausage, shrimp or codfish; the codfish version is called açorda de bacalhau. The version with shrimp is called açorda de marisco and is particularly popular in Lisbon.{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Cherie Y. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c0sGAAAACAAJ |title=Cuisines of Portuguese encounters: recipes from Portugal, Madeira/Azores, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola, Mozambique, Goa, Brazil, Malacca, East Timor, and Macao |date=2001 |publisher=Hippocrene Books |isbn=978-0-7818-0831-6 |location=New York}}{{Rp|page=103}} A version is known in Maccanese cuisine.{{Rp|page=104}}

Preparation

The dish is typically assembled from prepared ingredients rather than cooked, although some versions call for cooking the bread, cilantro, and garlic in the broth.

In a typical preparation the eggs are poached in salted water or stock. Garlic, coriander and salt are mashed into a coarse paste with olive oil and vinegar, and the mixture is poured over the bread. The eggs are placed on the bread and the poaching liquid is poured over. The açorda is typically left to steep for a few minutes to soften the bread.{{Cite web |last=Serrano |first=Augusta |date=2021-09-12 |title=Açorda Alentejana, um dos mais belos pratos da gastronomia Alentejana! " De comer e chorar por mais…" |url=https://www.radiocampanario.com/acorda-alentejana-um-dos-mais-belos-pratos-da-gastronomia-alentejana-de-comer-e-chorar-por-mais/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Rádio Campanário |language=pt-PT}}

Some recipes call for coating the bread in the garlic-coriander paste, then folding it into the eggs in their poaching liquid.{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Anderson (cookbook author) |date=21 October 2013 |title=Açorda à Alentejana (Bread and Garlic Soup with Cilantro) |url=https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/acorda-a-alentejana-bread-and-garlic-soup-with-cilantro/ |website=Saveur}}

The final dish usually has a bright green color.

{{Gallery

| title = Preparation

| align = center

| footer =

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| File:Stale bread for Acorda.jpg

| alt1 =

| Stale bread is cubed or sliced

|File:Cilantro and garlic paste.jpg

|alt2 =

|Cilantro and garlic are ground to a paste

|File:Acorda 3.jpg

|alt3 =

|Bread is coated in cilantro-garlic paste and portioned into individual bowls

|File:Acorda.jpg

|alt4 =

|Broth and a poached egg completes the dish

}}

açorda

History

Ingredients and variants

Preparation

References

Further reading