Porrusalda
The name is Basque for leek broth, and that phrase is the whole recipe: leeks, potatoes, olive oil, water, and in the richer version salt cod. Two Basque details make the difference. The potatoes are not cut but snapped with a knife — the ragged edges release starch and thicken the soup without flour. And the cod goes in only for the last minutes, since cooked longer it toughens and splits into fibres.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Desalting the cod 1440 min
- Leeks 15 min
- Cooking with potatoes 30 min
- Cod 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneDesalt the cod for a day
Cover the cod with cold water and keep in the fridge 24 hours, changing the water three times. In a soup some salt moves into the broth, so the cod can be desalted slightly less than for frying.
Ingredients: 300 g salt cod · 2000 ml water
Sweat the leeks in oil without colour
Cut the leeks into rounds 2 cm thick, rinse thoroughly of grit and sweat with the garlic in the oil 12 minutes over low heat, until soft and glassy. Browned leeks turn sweetish and dark — porrusalda should be pale.
Ingredients: 5 pcs leeks · 700 g potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 3 cloves garlic · 80 ml olive oil · 1800 ml water · 1 tsp salt
Thick rounds, no colour — the soup must stay pale.Snap the potatoes, do not cut them
Push a knife into a potato and lever it, breaking off an irregular piece. This technique, called cascar in Spanish, leaves a ragged edge that releases starch to thicken the soup; a clean cut does not.
Ingredients: 5 pcs leeks · 700 g potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 3 cloves garlic · 80 ml olive oil · 1800 ml water · 1 tsp salt
Snapped with a knife — the ragged edge thickens the soup.Add potatoes, carrot and water
Add the potatoes and sliced carrot to the leeks, stir to coat in oil and pour in the water. Cook 25–30 minutes over medium heat, until the potatoes are tender and some have fallen apart.
Ingredients: 5 pcs leeks · 700 g potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 3 cloves garlic · 80 ml olive oil · 1800 ml water · 1 tsp salt
Do not salt until the cod is in
Do not salt the soup before the cod goes in. Even desalted, it releases salt into the broth, and an oversalted soup cannot be rescued. Taste only after it has cooked.
Ingredients: 5 pcs leeks · 700 g potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 3 cloves garlic · 80 ml olive oil · 1800 ml water · 1 tsp salt
Add the cod for the last minutes
Remove the skin and bones from the cod, cut it into pieces and lay it in the soup for the last 6–8 minutes, over low heat. It should barely cook and fall into flakes under a fork — cooked longer it becomes tough and stringy.
Ingredients: 300 g salt cod · 2000 ml water
Only the last minutes — longer and it turns stringy.Crush a few potatoes against the pot
Crush a few pieces of potato against the side of the pot with a spoon and stir. The soup thickens slightly but stays pale and golden. Taste and only now season with salt.
Ingredients: 5 pcs leeks · 700 g potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 3 cloves garlic · 80 ml olive oil · 1800 ml water · 1 tsp salt
Drizzle with oil and serve with bread
Ladle into bowls, drizzle with raw olive oil, scatter with parsley and serve with bread. In the Basque Country porrusalda is a first course, but with cod it makes a full meal.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 tbsp parsley · 6 pcs bread
Before you start
The version without cod
Porrusalda without cod is the simplest, everyday version of the soup — lighter and sweeter from the leeks. In that case add a teaspoon of salt from the start.
The leeks must be rinsed well
Leeks hold grit between their layers. Split them lengthways and fan them under running water, or soak the cut rounds in a bowl and lift them out by hand, leaving the sand behind.
Three days in the fridge
The soup keeps three days and thickens daily as the potatoes release starch. Loosen with boiling water when reheating. Reheated cod firms up — for a make-ahead batch add it fresh.
