Cuba Country Chicken Soup

Cuba free-range chicken soup brings chicken stock with linguiça and pork belly to the table, served over slices of Alentejo bread. In the collection Alentejo Gastronomic Guide, Rita Eugénia Candeias recalls this dish being prepared on feast days, when the same chicken could be used to make several dishes for the family.

Estimated yield: 6 people
Preparation: 10 minutes
Heating and cooking: 60–80 minutes
Deboning and finishing: 15–20 minutes
Approximate total time: 1 hour and 25 minutes to 1 hour and 50 minutes

Ingredients for 6 people

• 1 cleaned free-range chicken, about 1.5–1.8 kg, cut into 8 pieces
• 150 g of whole Alentejo linguiça
• 100 g of pork belly
• 1 medium onion, about 180 g
• 1 bunch of parsley, about 15 g
• About 2.5 l of water, plus up to 500 ml of hot water if needed
• 300 g of Traditional Alentejo Wood-Fired Oven Bread, preferably a day old
• Salt to taste, adjusted at the end

Equipment: pot of about 6 l, slotted spoon, fine-mesh sieve, container for the stock, chopping board, knife and food thermometer.

Preparation

1. Prepare the pot.
   Peel the onion and wash the parsley. Place the chicken, whole onion, parsley, linguiça and pork belly in the pot. Add about 2.5 l of water, or enough to cover the meats without overfilling the pot. Do not add salt at this stage: the linguiça will season the stock.
2. Start the stock.
   Bring to a boil, allowing approximately 15–20 minutes for this heating. Skim off any foam with a slotted spoon. Reduce the heat and partially cover, maintaining a gentle simmer without vigorous bubbling.
3. Cook until the chicken is tender.
   Allow about 45–60 minutes from the start of the gentle simmer, and start checking for doneness at 40 minutes. Turn the pieces halfway through and gradually add hot water if they are no longer covered. If the linguiça or pork belly are ready before the chicken, remove them to a covered container; they will go back into the stock at the end. The chicken should be tender and come easily away from the bones. Check with a clean thermometer for at least 70 °C for 2 minutes in the centre of the thickest part, without touching the bone. Remove any pieces that are already tender and fully cooked; cook the rest longer if needed. A tougher free-range chicken may take longer than the time given.
4. Debone and strain.
   Remove the meats and let them cool just enough to handle. Remove the bones from the chicken and pull it into shreds, carefully removing any small bones and cartilage. Slice the linguiça and cut the pork belly into small pieces. Remove the onion and parsley, then strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into another container. Skim off the excess fat from the surface with a spoon.
5. Combine the meats and stock.
   Return the strained broth to the pot, add the chicken, linguiça and bacon, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, until everything is piping hot. Taste and adjust the salt. If the broth is very concentrated, add a little of the reserved hot water and heat through again.
6. Serve over the bread.
   Cut the bread into thin slices and divide it among the bowls. Divide the meat between them and pour over the piping-hot broth, enough to soak the bread while leaving broth around it. Wait 1–2 minutes for the bread to soften, then serve immediately.

Tips for a well-balanced broth

Keep the broth at a gentle simmer to make it less cloudy. When straining, do not press the onion or parsley through the sieve. Remove excess fat, but leave a little on the surface to preserve the flavour.

Day-old bread holds up better in the broth without falling apart straight away. Cut it thinly and place it in the bowls just before serving.

Wine pairing

Intuição 2024 is a light, fresh white wine with notes of apricot and tropical fruit. Its freshness complements the broth and balances the richness of the linguiça and bacon. Serve at 11–12 °C.

Prepare ahead and store

You can prepare the broth and meat the day before, keeping the bread separate. Divide into small containers to cool quickly and refrigerate within 2 hours at the latest. Use within 48 hours or freeze. Reheat only the amount needed, until the broth is boiling and the meat is piping hot in the centre; add the bread to the bowls after reheating.

Frequently asked questions

How can I prevent the broth from becoming too greasy?

Remove the fat that rises to the surface after straining. If preparing the day before, refrigerate the broth and remove some of the solidified layer of fat before reheating.

The bread fell apart straight away. How can I prevent that?

Use day-old Alentejo bread and do not cook it in the pot. Divide it among bowls and pour over the broth only when serving.

Another broth and poultry recipe

Also try Canja Rica de Perdiz Vermelha de Almodôvar, a preparation with vegetables and a creamier texture.

Source and adaptations

Carta Gastronómica do Alentejo (2013), p. 767, entry 0667. Recipe from Cuba collected in an interview with Rita Eugénia Candeias by Elsa Branco, from Terras Dentro, in 2012.

Recipe collected in Baixo Alentejo, adapted by Herdade do Estacal for the blog «À Mesa com o Alentejo». The chicken, parsley, onion, linguiça, bacon and serving over bread are retained. The additional quantities, weight of the chicken, water, cuts, deboning, straining and cooking on a domestic stove are adaptations; the original account usually refers to cooking over an open fire. Yield and timings are estimates.

Cooking and storage guidance: Food Standards Agency. Illustrative image generated for this article.