Sofrito

Sofrito is the signature dish of Jerusalem, my home town. The name comes from the ladino dialect, a kind of pidgin Spanish spoken by the oldest Jewish community there. To me sofrito is the essence of the simple, no-frills, salt-and-pepper cooking typical of this town. The meat is browned slowly in its own fat, then a ton of onions are browned in that same fat. Potatoes are added along with seasonal variations – artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, turnips, quince. . . A few tomatoes or tomato purée can be added for colour and sweetness; plums or prunes are another option. All this is left to cook in a large pot on the lowest flame for a few hours or overnight. Inside the pot the meat and vegetables release their juices and slowly stew in them. These juices later reduce into a thick, glistening, savoury glaze. The resulting meat is utterly melting and somehow tastes meatier than usual, but the main events for me are always the potatoes – lacquered and soft, browned to the core by the juice of meat and onion – and the scent, which for me is the essential smell of home.