It consists of a baroque stew whose main ingredient is the chick-peas and the secondary ones, although with the great protagonism, diverse vegetables and meats. It is, along with the “mountain spanish stew”, the “escudella and carn d'olla” or the maragato spanish stew, among others baked and soups that are realized in all the Spanish geography, a evolution of the Jewish adafaina.

It is a unique, powerful and habitual plate in the cold time. The traditional form to serve it is in three services, denominated upsets: First it is the resulting soup of the baking of all the ingredients, the second corresponds to chick-peas along with vegetables and potatoes to him and the third party, call the one of viandas, is the one of the meats.

The adafaina

They were the sefardíes Jews, not them ashkenazis, those that possibly introduced the plate in the Spanish culture. The adafaina or can be considered a spanish stew or a soup as those that now are realized by all Spain. It had a few variations like, for example, that did not use pig meat, and the meat, basically calf and birds, was bled according to the kosher tradition. Another difference was that ova were baked that soon were appeared parties in four details along with chick-peas and vegetables. It is created, nevertheless, that the use of pig meat was not an addition “Christian”, but were the pigs (name with which it was known the conversos Jews) those who began to introduce garlic sausage, bacon and, mainly, blood sausage (that to contain blood was pig manjar doubly prohibited by its religion) all this to credit his conversion and to avoid problems with the Inquisición.

The plate already had the three upsets that still conserve the Madrilenian spanish stew and many other Spanish spanish stews.

The upsets

Like it happens with almost all the prescriptions, an authentic prescription of the Madrilenian spanish stew does not exist. In each house it is realized of a way and so authentic it is it one site like in the other. Nevertheless, it is governed by common parameters, therefore, it is possible to be said which are the habitual ingredients of a Madrilenian spanish stew and which, being less frequent, do not weaken it. The upsets can one by one be appeared in the table or all simultaneously, will depend on the custom of each house or the space available in the table.

The soup

To the result of the baking of all the ingredients, that is to say the broth. To vermicelli or rice are added to him to realize a soup, although it is not either rare to realize it with breads. Also he is habitual to perfume it with mint and to add saffron fibers to him to give color. It is the first service that leaves to the table and usually goes accompanied of chives cut in green canes and in vinegar, to be biting while the soup eats. There is people to whom it likes to add to the soup chick-peas of the second upset.

The vegetables

The vegetables additions will depend much on each cook but, between which they are habitual, are the cabbage, the carrot, the turnip, the green bean, the beet, the thistle and the potatoes. They dictate cánones that no of vegetables, with the exception of potatoes, must bake with chick-peas, but next to the blood sausage, the garlic sausage and the ball if it is used, although is not stranger who in many houses obvien itself and everything in the same pot cooks.

This it will be the second service that appears in the table. It consists of all the vegetables next to chick-peas. Usually it is accompanied with a sauce of tomato with cumin that will serve to add to chick-peas. The vegetables usually are watered with a refrito of garlic minced with something of pimentón.

The meats or viandas

The used meats can be divided in three classes: the meat of pig, the birds and the calf.

    * The pig meat is the main one at the time of realizing the spanish stew. There are some parts that are almost indispensable and other that go based on the good knowledge to do of the cook or the taste of the companions at table.
          o Between the almost obligatory ones we have the bacon, preferably fresh, although there is “temples” of the spanish stew like the restaurant “Malacatín” in which they use rancid bacon.
          o The following one would be the garlic sausage, preferably without smoking, as it happens in from Leon preparations, astures or the Gallegos.
          o We also have the blood sausage, in this case of onion, a spanish stew that wants to take the Madrilenian last name will take care of much of not using it of rice.
          o The following one will be a bone of jamón, that will confer flavor to the broth, of course this will not appear in the plate.
          o Finally we have jamón and the previously desalted salty hands of water pig during 24 hours. These last ones, in case of lying down, will confer to the broth a greater untuosidad due to the gelatin that contains.

    * The used parts of the calf in the spanish stew are not of noblest, but if of most flavorful, most orthodox it would be the shank or jarrete and, of power to be, he is preferable the buttock to the forward. As the most habitual substitute is the rearguard, although it loses Orthodoxy. As with the bone of jamón, cane bone is used (the one of the female duck) like fast element for the broth. Finally we would have the minced meat to realize the ball, a great meatball species that is added in sancocho at the end of the baking.

    * The birds added to the broth almost can be reduced to one, the hen, although he is habitual to change it by chicken, if this is not in the commerce. Nevertheless, until the end of century XIX he was more habitual to use the chicken and it was recommended to change it by capon. He is habitual between the hunters, to also realize them with doves zuritas or partridges, but one leaves the Orthodoxy.

The habitual thing is to serve the sliced meats, along with the cane bones. These last ones agree to serve them quickly and to consume them in the beginning along with the soup and the chick-peas, since the marrow that contain cools quickly.

The surpluses of the spanish stew

During the times of scarcity he was habitual to develop a kitchen in which the surpluses were taken advantage of to realize new plates. Perhaps the spanish stew (generally), is the plate that more kitchen of advantage has accumulated. The ratios are that it was before a very habitual, weekly plate, even a couple of times per week, and that was realized by all Spain, reason why the possibilities of creating new plates increased.

Between the most outstanding plates it is possible to be mentioned, the old, consisting of clothes a refrito of onion, garlic and a little flour to which chick-peas, bacon, garlic sausage are added to him and something of meat. With the surpluses of hen or jamón they were used and usually they realize the everlasting croquettes. Another plate is pringá, in white bread muffins to which the crumb takes off to him, add very perforated all the details of meat, it is tightened so that the bread is soaked with all the substances and it is let rest hours; one swallows after adding him an oil jet.

Another plate derived from the spanish stew is the soup, from the broth can be realized diverse soups. Although more than it exceeds what usually one becomes is to invest a dipper with boiling water while the spanish stew is realized and to be eliminating broth a third dipper, while it recovers of the second with water. The result usually is a less substantial and tasteful broth, but in an increased number.