Caldo Verde

Caldo verde is Portugal's kale and potato soup — a thin, deep-green broth thickened with mashed potato, threaded with paper-fine kale and finished with a slice of chouriço and a drizzle of olive oil.

What it really is

Potatoes are boiled until soft, then mashed straight back into their own cooking water so the liquid thickens into a broth rather than staying a stock. Couve galega — a loose-leafed Portuguese kale — is shredded into hair-thin ribbons and stirred in for the last few minutes, just long enough to wilt and turn the broth bright green. A few slices of chouriço simmer in the pot, and a thread of olive oil is poured over each bowl at the table.

The dish is named for its colour, not its ingredients. Caldo verde means "green broth," and the fineness of the kale cut is what earns the name — sliced thick, it reads as a different soup.

How it is served

• Hot, in a wide bowl, with a round of chouriço floating on top and a final drizzle of olive oil.
• With a slice of broa, Portugal's dense cornbread, alongside.
• Traditionally the first course at Portuguese weddings and festas, though it is eaten as a light meal at home.

How to write it on the menu

• Say the kale is shredded fine — couve galega cut into thin ribbons is what makes the soup, not a rough-chopped cabbage.
• Name the chouriço; the broth itself carries no meat until it goes in.
• Leaving out the chouriço makes it vegan.

The ingredients, allergens and dietary notes listed here describe a typical recipe. They are not a binding declaration for any particular restaurant: recipes, portion sizes and the products used can differ.