The Soup I have selected is Calde Verde which is a soup my mom and grandmother have been making since I was a young lad. It consists of Collard Greens, Pureed Potato and Portuguese Sausage as well as a tablespoon of Salt and three tablespoons of olive oil. The reason I chose this is because I've been under the weather and did not want to do something extravagant so I kept it simple, plus my mother was going to make it anyways so why not.
Here is my grandmothers recipe for Calde Verde:
- 8 Collard Green Leafs (thinly sliced)
- 6 Large Yukon Gold Potatoes(rough cut)
- 1 Portuguese Sausage
- 1 Tablespoon of Salt
- 3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
- 8 Cups of Water
Equipment:
- Hand Blender
- Large Pot(for smaller portions use less ingredients and a smaller pot)
- Wooden Spoon
- Tablespoons
- Chefs Knife
- Vegetable Peeler
Pour 8 cups of water into the pot and add the sausage in and put it on high heat until it boils. Once at a boil turn down to medium heat. Add cut up potatoes and let potatoes soften in water. Once softened, remove sausage and rest on plate. Now use the hand blender to puree the potatoes. After that is done, go back to the sausage and slice it thinly and add back into the pot. It is now time to add the collard greens into the soup. Give it a quick stir to incorporate all the ingredients evenly. Toss in the olive oil and salt and stir once more. Place a lid on top of the pot, reduce to a simmer and let it cook for approx. 30 minutes but make sure to stir halfway to make sure nothing is sticking to the pot. After the 30 minutes you will have your soup hot and ready to eat.
Sensory Evaluation:
In this soup, I felt like it only met one of the 5 basic tastes which was salty because you have the salt of the sausage and salt which is added. You do not taste the potato or the collard greens. This soup is neither sweet, sour, bitter or umame.
Taste: I taste salt with the first spoonful, the last spoonful and every spoonful in between but it is not overpowering.
Smell: When preparing for the soup, I could smell the collard greens as I cut them and the potatoes as I peeled them and every ingredient that was part of the prep. When I was cooking it, I smelt the sausage pretty much the whole time. When pureeing the potatoes it gave off a nice smell. When its all done and ready to eat you can smell the potato and olive oil.
Sight: I see the olive oil, the collard greens, the sliced Portuguese sausage, and the murky looking water which in my opinion always turns me off to eat it.
Hearing: When cutting up the collard greens I could hear the crunch. The water boiling was subtle in the background while I began slicing up the sausage. When pouring it into our bowls I could hear the liquid mixture and bits of sausage hitting the bowl. That is all I heard besides the TV and some yelling.
Touch: All the ingredients touching my fingers. Touching the pot when it was hot was not a pleasant feeling but as someone I know would say "shit happens bruh".
After eating the Calde Verde, it had a unique taste which made it way different than any other soup out there. There was no "Taste like..." factor here.
What makes this soup unique is the Portuguese sausage. That is really the main ingredient which gives the soup its flavor. I'm not huge into soups and I'm not the type of person to wake up and say I want to make soup today so it did not really intrigue me.
Something I learned about my palate is it really likes salt. When eating it, I had to add a touch to my bowl because it was not hitting the spot. What was weird was that the four other family members were satisfied with the salt content. I guess over time I've developed a strong desire for salt in a dish.
No I did not enjoy this food. When looking at it, it is just murky and is not attractive to me, so I think as I forced myself to eat it, I did not enjoy it because when I took the first look at it, my brain was instantly turned off, which I guess turned off my stomach too. But hey, I'd eat this rather than cardboard.
Would I eat it again? I would only eat it if I had to. An example would be I have not eaten anything all day, I'm too lazy to make something(funny because I'm a chef in training) then yes I would eat it. Would ever crave it or ask my mother to make it for me? No I would not.
Flavor wise, all I really tasted was the salt in the liquid and the salt and spice from the sausage. Other than that there were no other tastes. I do admit though, the sausage is what helped me get through this eating experiment.
This experience has made me realize that we really do eat with our eyes first. I had not even taken a spoonful yet and as I looked down upon my bowl, I began panicking because I started telling myself "you do not want to eat this, it looks gross".
So where I had to get someone to try it, I used my mother because she is the only one who was willing to talk. She loved it. She eats this all the time, but yet again my mom eats anything and is not easily disgusted.
The only real challenge involved was that I am feeling terrible today just like I have all week. I really did not want to be in the kitchen, I really do not want to be writing this blog, I just want to go to bed and sleep, but education first so I have got to do what I have got to do. Next time if I ever make it again for my family I might try adding some onion in there maybe to b brighten up the flavors a bit. Other than that, this is the recipe and it is staying that way or else ava will grab the chinelo.
This experience did help me out because like said I realized that we do eat with our eyes so I need to make my dishes look nice now, and it will only get better and carry on when I am working in the industry. Just like Porky Pig says, that's all folks.
Here is my grandmothers recipe for Calde Verde:
- 8 Collard Green Leafs (thinly sliced)
- 6 Large Yukon Gold Potatoes(rough cut)
- 1 Portuguese Sausage
- 1 Tablespoon of Salt
- 3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
- 8 Cups of Water
Equipment:
- Hand Blender
- Large Pot(for smaller portions use less ingredients and a smaller pot)
- Wooden Spoon
- Tablespoons
- Chefs Knife
- Vegetable Peeler
Pour 8 cups of water into the pot and add the sausage in and put it on high heat until it boils. Once at a boil turn down to medium heat. Add cut up potatoes and let potatoes soften in water. Once softened, remove sausage and rest on plate. Now use the hand blender to puree the potatoes. After that is done, go back to the sausage and slice it thinly and add back into the pot. It is now time to add the collard greens into the soup. Give it a quick stir to incorporate all the ingredients evenly. Toss in the olive oil and salt and stir once more. Place a lid on top of the pot, reduce to a simmer and let it cook for approx. 30 minutes but make sure to stir halfway to make sure nothing is sticking to the pot. After the 30 minutes you will have your soup hot and ready to eat.
Sensory Evaluation:
In this soup, I felt like it only met one of the 5 basic tastes which was salty because you have the salt of the sausage and salt which is added. You do not taste the potato or the collard greens. This soup is neither sweet, sour, bitter or umame.
Taste: I taste salt with the first spoonful, the last spoonful and every spoonful in between but it is not overpowering.
Smell: When preparing for the soup, I could smell the collard greens as I cut them and the potatoes as I peeled them and every ingredient that was part of the prep. When I was cooking it, I smelt the sausage pretty much the whole time. When pureeing the potatoes it gave off a nice smell. When its all done and ready to eat you can smell the potato and olive oil.
Sight: I see the olive oil, the collard greens, the sliced Portuguese sausage, and the murky looking water which in my opinion always turns me off to eat it.
Hearing: When cutting up the collard greens I could hear the crunch. The water boiling was subtle in the background while I began slicing up the sausage. When pouring it into our bowls I could hear the liquid mixture and bits of sausage hitting the bowl. That is all I heard besides the TV and some yelling.
Touch: All the ingredients touching my fingers. Touching the pot when it was hot was not a pleasant feeling but as someone I know would say "shit happens bruh".
After eating the Calde Verde, it had a unique taste which made it way different than any other soup out there. There was no "Taste like..." factor here.
What makes this soup unique is the Portuguese sausage. That is really the main ingredient which gives the soup its flavor. I'm not huge into soups and I'm not the type of person to wake up and say I want to make soup today so it did not really intrigue me.
Something I learned about my palate is it really likes salt. When eating it, I had to add a touch to my bowl because it was not hitting the spot. What was weird was that the four other family members were satisfied with the salt content. I guess over time I've developed a strong desire for salt in a dish.
No I did not enjoy this food. When looking at it, it is just murky and is not attractive to me, so I think as I forced myself to eat it, I did not enjoy it because when I took the first look at it, my brain was instantly turned off, which I guess turned off my stomach too. But hey, I'd eat this rather than cardboard.
Would I eat it again? I would only eat it if I had to. An example would be I have not eaten anything all day, I'm too lazy to make something(funny because I'm a chef in training) then yes I would eat it. Would ever crave it or ask my mother to make it for me? No I would not.
Flavor wise, all I really tasted was the salt in the liquid and the salt and spice from the sausage. Other than that there were no other tastes. I do admit though, the sausage is what helped me get through this eating experiment.
This experience has made me realize that we really do eat with our eyes first. I had not even taken a spoonful yet and as I looked down upon my bowl, I began panicking because I started telling myself "you do not want to eat this, it looks gross".
So where I had to get someone to try it, I used my mother because she is the only one who was willing to talk. She loved it. She eats this all the time, but yet again my mom eats anything and is not easily disgusted.
The only real challenge involved was that I am feeling terrible today just like I have all week. I really did not want to be in the kitchen, I really do not want to be writing this blog, I just want to go to bed and sleep, but education first so I have got to do what I have got to do. Next time if I ever make it again for my family I might try adding some onion in there maybe to b brighten up the flavors a bit. Other than that, this is the recipe and it is staying that way or else ava will grab the chinelo.
This experience did help me out because like said I realized that we do eat with our eyes so I need to make my dishes look nice now, and it will only get better and carry on when I am working in the industry. Just like Porky Pig says, that's all folks.