It will be a miracle if you visit this country and avoid this dish

The dish

Caldo verde, Portugal

Caldo verde is a popular soup in Portugal.Credit: iStock

Plate up

Here’s a thing you probably didn’t know: Portugal has its own vegetable, a leafy green called couve galega, occasionally translated to “Portuguese kale”. The name is confusing because this vegetable isn’t kale at all, but something more closely related to collard greens, although couve galega is slightly different again to the leafy staple you find in American cooking.

Couve galega is its own vegetable, an absolute necessity in Portuguese cooking and rarely seen outside the country. It’s a vital ingredient in one of Portugal’s best-loved dishes, caldo verde, a hearty green soup made with water or stock, potatoes that break down and thicken the broth, thin-sliced couve galega, hunks of chourico sausage and glugs of olive oil on top. Good for what ails you.

First serve

There’s a clue to the origin of this dish in the name of its essential ingredient – the vegetable couve galega. Galega refers to Galicia in north-western Spanish, and Galicia borders the Minho region of Portugal and shares many of its cultural traits.

So it’s no surprise to find that caldo verde originated in the Minho region, probably in the agricultural areas around the city of Braga. Historians believe this all came together in the mid-15th century when a hearty soup was created from the ingredients that were abundant at the time.

Order there

If you manage to get out of Portugal without being served caldo verde it will be some sort of miracle. Regardless, you should seek it out, and you can do that at Casa de Pasto das Carvalheiras in Braga (Dom Alfonso Henriques 8, Braga).

Order here

In Sydney, head to the Portuguese heartland, Petersham, where Silvas Restaurant (1/82-86 New Canterbury Road) often has caldo verde as soup of the day. In Melbourne, check out Santos Churrascaria in Footscray (3/63 Paisley Street) for classic Portuguese fare.

One more thing

The Minho region of northern Portugal is also the home of another famous product: vinho verde, the crisp white wine that just happens to go perfectly with a steaming bowl of caldo verde.