Partridge in Évora-Style Dry Soup

In partridge dry soup, stewed meat with carrot, onion, and cabbage alternates with thin slices of bread. The dish goes into the oven only at the end, to brown the final layer. It is a dish eaten with a spoon and fork, quite different from partridge soup.

A dry soup from Malagueira

The Alentejo Gastronomic Charter keeps this recipe in the archive section concerning Malagueira, in Évora. The name may be surprising: instead of broth served in a bowl, the preparation combines a partridge and vegetable stew with layers of bread spread with garlic and drizzled with olive oil. The oven gives it its final crust.

Serves: 4 people
Total time: about 1 hour and 45 minutes

Ingredients for 4 people

• 2 cleaned partridges, cut into pieces
• 125 g slab bacon, such as Paia Toucinho Extra – Black Pork
• 2 medium onions
• 5 garlic cloves
• 3 medium carrots
• 1 small green cabbage
• 1 clove
• 200 ml Alentejo white wine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil for the sauté, plus 3 tablespoons for the bread
• 8 to 10 thin slices of Alentejo bread
• Salt, as needed
• Hot water, if necessary

Preparation

1. Start with the stew. Chop the onions and 4 garlic cloves. Cut the bacon into small cubes. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a wide pot; add the onion, garlic, clove, and bacon and cook over medium heat until the onion softens.
2. Add the partridge and carrot. Pour in the white wine. Cut the carrots into thin rounds, add them to the pot with the partridge pieces, and season with a little salt. Cover and stew over low heat for about 1 hour, turning the meat occasionally. If the bottom dries out, add small splashes of hot water. The partridge should be completely cooked and the meat should come away easily from the bones.
3. Prepare the cabbage. While the partridge is stewing, wash the cabbage and cut it into strips. Boil it for 5 to 8 minutes in salted water, until it begins to soften. Drain it and add it to the stew during the final few minutes so it absorbs the flavor.
4. Debone and assemble. Remove the partridge, let it cool enough to handle, and remove all the bones and cartilage. Rub the thin slices of bread with the remaining garlic clove and drizzle them with the reserved olive oil. In a deep ovenproof dish, make a layer of bread; on top, distribute the partridge, carrot, onion, and cabbage with some of the sauce. Repeat the layers and finish with bread.
5. Brown in the oven. Preheat the oven to 190 °C. Drizzle the top with a little of the remaining olive oil and bake the dry soup for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the top bread is golden brown. Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Tips for the layers

Reserve some of the stew sauce to moisten the inner layers; the bread should be neither soggy nor dry. Slice the bread thinly and remove all the partridge bones carefully before assembling the dish. Taste before adding salt, as the bacon already seasons the stew.

Wine pairing

Serve with Foral de Évora Tinto 2020 – DOC Alentejo–Évora, from the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation.

Advance preparation and storage

You can stew and debone the partridge before assembling the layers; keep it covered in the refrigerator with the sauce. Assemble and brown the dish shortly before serving. Cool leftovers quickly and store them in the refrigerator; reheat them thoroughly.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it called dry soup?

Because the bread absorbs the stew sauce and the dish finishes in the oven, in layers, instead of being served as a broth-based soup.

Is it the same recipe as rich partridge soup?

No. Almodôvar soup is creamy and made in a pot; this recipe collected in Évora includes cabbage and bread in layers browned in the oven.

Bring Alentejo to your table

Make the stew with Paia Toucinho Extra Black Pork and serve it with Foral de Évora Tinto 2020. For another way to cook partridge, see our rich red partridge soup.

Source

Alentejo Gastronomic Brotherhood, The Alentejo Gastronomic Charter (2013), p. 488. Partridge dry soup recipe from the Brotherhood’s archive, identified with Malagueira, Évora.

Recipe collected in Alentejo and adapted by Herdade do Estacal for the “À Mesa com o Alentejo” blog. The source describes a stew made with two partridges, cabbage cooked separately, layers of bread with garlic and olive oil, and a final stage in the oven. This version uses olive oil instead of lard for the sauté and adds practical quantities and timings.

Illustrative image generated for this article.