Portuguese Bread Soup with Jumbo Shrimp by Elisabeth Luard

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Portuguese Bread Soup with Jumbo Shrimp

Post | David Leite on 05.10.05No Comment

Açorda de Mariscos
by Elisabeth Luard
from The Food of Spain and Portugal
(Kyle Books, 2005)
Serves 4 as a main dish, 6 to 8 as an appetizer

Lisbon’s açorda is made with fresh seafood — usually prawns (large shrimp) — and a risotto-like texture is preferred. Although city folk prefer the elegance of white bread, cornbread makes a particularly good seafood açorda: the sweetness of the crumb works well with crustaceans.

convert Ingredients
1 pound (about 1/2 loaf) dried-out broa or any sturdy farmhouse bread
2 large onions or leeks
2/3 cup olive oil
4 pounds ripe tomatoes
1 whole head garlic, separated into cloves and skinned
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound raw jumbo shrimp, shelled or not, as you please
4 ounces chouriço, roughly sliced (optional)
1 tablespoon anchovy paste or 2 to 3 canned anchovy fillets, crushed (optional)

For finishing
A small pat of butter (optional)
Plenty of chopped fresh cilantro

Method
1. Tear the bread into bite-sized pieces. Let it soak in a bowl of salted water for a couple of hours, then squeeze dry, using your hands.

2. Meanwhile, finely slice the onions or leeks and fry gently in half the olive oil until soft and golden — 30 minutes is not too long. Chop the tomatoes and let them cook down to half their volume in a roomy stewpot with the rest of the olive oil and the garlic.

3. Crush the peppercorns and coriander seeds in a mortar and add them to the tomatoes, along with the oregano. When the tomatoes are well cooked down, push through a strainer, return to the pan, and stir in the soaked, squeezed-out bread and 4 cups of fresh water. Let it bubble up and cook gently for another 20 minutes, then stir in the contents of the frying pan along with the jumbo shrimp, the sliced chouriço, if using, and an optional dash of anchovies to bring up the fishy flavor.

4. Cook for another 20 minutes, until the bread is perfectly amalgamated with the broth. Stir in a pat of butter and finish with a liberal scattering of fresh chopped cilantro.