Açorda Alentejana

Alentejo Bread Soup with Garlic, Coriander and Poached Egg

Garlic, coriander and coarse salt are pounded to a green paste, loosened with olive oil, and hot water is poured over. That is the broth. It goes over slices of stale bread with a poached egg on top. The whole thing is on the table in under half an hour and costs almost nothing.

Açorda is the bread soup of the Alentejo, the wheat-growing plain south of the Tagus.

The two recipes read handle it differently. One softens the garlic in oil, makes a broth, poaches the eggs and sometimes salt cod in it, and ladles it over bread. The other pounds garlic and salt, works in the bread and adds only enough water to make something closer to a porridge. This version follows the first for the liquid and the second for the paste.

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 tsp coarse sea salt
  • A large bunch of coriander (about 30 g), leaves and tender stalks
  • 60 ml olive oil (4 tbsp)
  • 1 litre water
  • 4 eggs
  • 300 g day-old country bread, cut into 4 thick slices

Method

  1. Make the paste Pound the garlic with the coarse salt in a mortar until smooth. Add the coriander a handful at a time and pound to a rough green paste. Stir in the olive oil. Scrape the paste into a large warm serving bowl or divide it between four deep bowls.
  2. Poach the eggs Bring the water to a bare simmer in a wide pan. Crack in the eggs one at a time and poach for 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still soft. Lift them out with a slotted spoon.
  3. Make the broth Bring the poaching water to a full boil and pour it over the paste. Stir and taste: it should be well salted and strongly scented with garlic. Add more salt if needed.
  4. Serve Put a slice of bread into each bowl of broth, set an egg on top and serve at once, while the bread is still soaking up the liquid.

Food safety

The yolks are soft. Use British Lion-marked eggs, which UK food safety advice considers safe to eat runny, including for pregnant women, young children and older people.

The bread should be properly stale. Dry fresh slices in a low oven for 15 minutes if need be.

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