Cozido à Portuguesa

Cozido à Portuguesa is a boiled dinner of beef, pork, sausages and vegetables simmered together in one pot. It is the dish that turns Sunday lunch into a two-course event, with the broth it produces often served first as a soup before the meats and vegetables follow.

What it really is

Several cuts of pork and beef go into a large pot alongside cured sausages and sometimes blood sausage, simmering for hours until every piece is fully tender. Cabbage, carrot, potato and turnip cook in the same broth, added at different points so the firmer vegetables have time to soften without the quicker-cooking ones turning to mush, and the whole pot yields both a rich broth and a hearty platter from the one simmer.

The broth is often its own course, not a byproduct. Many households serve the cooking liquid first, sometimes with rice or pasta added to it, treating cozido as genuinely two dishes born from a single pot rather than a stew eaten in one sitting.

How it is served

• The broth first, often with rice stirred through, followed by the meats and vegetables on a large platter.
• With coarse salt and sometimes a drizzle of vinegar at the table.
• As a substantial, shared Sunday meal, rarely a quick weekday dish.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the sulphites the cured sausages may carry.
• List which meats and sausages are included, since the exact combination varies by household and region.
• Say if the broth is served as a separate course, since that's a genuine part of how cozido is traditionally eaten.