THE FERREIRA-CASTANHO FAMILY PORTUGESE ‘CALDEEN’

Photo courtesy of the author.

Editor’s Note: Earth & Altar is going to get your Parish Hall ready for Lent with three recipes you can take to all your Lenten suppers, or for personal use if you’re fasting from heavier foods as a way to observe a holy Lent. These are also great for any day, during any liturgical season, when you need something to warm you up after you’ve faced the sometimes icy feeling of prayerful introspection. Check back in during February for two more recipes!

The Ferreira-Castanho Family Portuguese ‘Caldeen’

By Caitlyn Darnell

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 6 servings or 4 if vovó (grandmother) could deem anyone at the table “too skinny” (because never in your life have you eaten enough to please Vo)

Ingredients:

** Please note, these measurements were written by my bisavó (great-grandmother). I have translated them out of Portuguese for this wider audience.

For the Broth

• 1 large carrot
• 1 onion, roughly cut
• Celery (a couple of stalks, roughly cut)
• Garlic ("I don't know, some"; I use 3, smashed or dice)
• Bay leaves ("A few," so 2 or 3)
• Paprika ("half a handful of", probably a couple of good tablespoons)
• Ham or beef soup bones (maybe chicken if you're feeling feisty)

For the Caldeen

• 1 can of Red Kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-2 potatoes, dice around 1"
• Kale ("A few big handfuls," 2-3 cups chopped)
• Cabbage ("A bunch more," 1/2 a cabbage or 2-3 cups chopped)
• Linguiça, 1-2 lbs sliced into 1/4" rounds

If you don't live in Fall River, MA or like, one place in California, then the next best things are: smoked spanish-style sausage, any smoked bland pork sausage, any non-spicy pork sausage in a casing. If you use something other than linguiça, add a bit of extra smoked paprika to the soup and maybe a small splash of dry red wine.

Instructions:

1. Put the soup bones, carrot, onion, garlic, celery, bay leaves, and paprika in an Instant Pot with 2-3 liters of water. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. Then cross yourself, because vovó just rolled over in her grave. She would have never used an Instant Pot. If you want to make vovó happy and escape her wrath, boil the stock for several hours in a stock pot.
2. Once the stock is finished cooking, fish out the bones, bay leaves, onion, and celery with a spoon. These are exhausted and can be thrown away. (Sometimes we would leave the carrot in, but it does disintegrate if it cooks too long. Use discretion.)
3. Add kidney beans, potatoes, cabbage, kale, and linguiça to pot. Cook for another 15-20 minutes on high in the Instant Pot until greens have wilted and cooked, it is hot and fragrant, and the sausage is done. If you are not using an Instant Pot, simmer the devil out of it for about 2 hours. Or until you’re too hangry to stand it any longer.
4. Serve with massa sovada or crusty bread and enjoy!

Please note: This recipe should naturally be gluten free but cannot be made vegetarian. If you remove the sausage, I’m sorry you’ve just made cabbage water. No one’s Lent should be that sad. Just don’t eat it on Fridays. And vovó wouldn’t understand because linguiça is not meat, it’s the foundation for the entire culture. It’s like asking an Italian to omit tomatoes. Like a Cuban without mojo. Like a Southerner without butter. It’s just not possible on this plane of reality.

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The Story Behind the Dish

My mother’s side of the family immigrated to Massachusetts from the Azores three generations ago. I have them to thank for my small stature, dark hair, and short fuse. The only things they brought with them were the clothes on their backs and their recipes. They even left the language at home under the strict orders of my great-grandmother, who threatened everyone that, “We’re Americans now. We shpeak-a de Englush.” I like to imagine that in a Portuguese-predominant neighborhood, theirs was the only quiet house that year. 

My mother is the one who passed down this recipe to me from my great-grandmother. Contrary to her genetics and the culinary prowess of the Portuguese, my mom can only cook three things: caldeen, linguiça and potatoes, and SpaghettiO’s. This “caldeen” recipe (properly spelled “caldinho,” but it’s Portuguese so it’s never spelled how you say it) was the ultimate comfort food growing up, and what you asked for when you were sick or when it was your birthday. It pairs nicely with massa sovada, or Portuguese sweet bread. If you don’t have 18 years, wizardry, and a 5-gallon bucket to make your own massa, store-bought King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls will work just fine. Feel free to make changes and tweaks to this recipe as you so desire, but for every change you make remember that you owe vovó (grandmother) one Hail Mary.