Escaldums de Pollastre

Escaldums de pollastre is Mallorcan cocina de cuchara, spoon food made from chicken, potatoes, dried fruit, and a sauce marked by the island’s sobrassada and almonds. The sausage melts into the sofregit, the slow onion and tomato base, staining it brick red without turning the pot into a chorizo stew. Prunes, raisins, cinnamon, and pine nuts give the savory sauce the restrained sweetness that belongs here.

The picada decides it. Grind the fried almonds, garlic, bread, and parsley until they become a paste, loosen it with cooking liquor, then add it only for the final minutes. Chopped nuts merely float in the gravy; a proper picada binds the chicken juices and oil into a sauce that coats each potato. Pésalo, no lo adivines. The amounts below give you body without turning the stew pasty.

No hace falta haber pisado España. If sobrassada de Mallorca is beyond reach, mince 50g of mild cured chorizo with 15g of pork fat until spreadable. It will taste smokier and won’t melt quite as completely, but it is a sensible kitchen compromise. Canned whole tomatoes are better than tired fresh ones in winter. The Margin beside this recipe says only, “grind the almond until no corner remains.” Do that, keep the braise gentle, and it comes out. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.