Name: Basque Leek, Potato, and Cod Chowder (Porrusalda)
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: Minced fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish; 4 medium-size garlic cloves, sliced; 1 small onion, chopped; 4 to 6 ounces sliced smoked whitefish or salmon, torn into slivers; 4 medium-size leeks, white and pale green parts only, sliced ½ inch thick; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 6 cups Fish Stock, or 3 cups bottled clam juice diluted with 3 cups water or with liquid from canned vegetables; ¾ cup dry white wine; 3 medium-size Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled; ¾ pound pumpkin or calabaza, cut into 1-inch cubes; Fragrant extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling; 4 tablespoons coarse salt (kosher or sea), plus more for seasoning the soup; 1 piece cod fillet (about 1 pound), pin bones removed

Preparation info

Serves
4 to 6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The New Spanish Table

By Anya von Bremzen

Published 2005

About

Taking its name from the word puerro, or leek, porrusalda is a soup beloved by the Basques. And while theirs is a culture famous for its men-only gastronomic societies—where guys take turns cooking for one another—somehow porrusalda is a dish that always evokes mother or grandmother. Most renditions of porrusalda include bacalao, which gives it a savory smack and an unmistakably Basque identity. However, because really good bacalao is so hard to come by, I use fr