Sopa de Antruejo

Sopa de Antruejo is Extremaduran, from Aceuchal in Badajoz, and it belongs to Carnival, when the pork from the matanza still had its say before Lent quieted the table. This is not a light broth with a garnish floating politely on top. It is bread made rich with pork broth, egg, chorizo, and the gelatin of ear and knuckle. Cocina de cuchara, spoon food, and honest as a closed fist.

The bread decides it. Use pan asentado, day-old bread with some body, cut thin, and pour the hot broth over it in two passes so it swells without turning to paste. Fresh sandwich bread gives you glue. Hard toast stays stubborn. The right bread drinks the broth and still lets the spoon find slices.

If you are far from Aceuchal, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use a fresh pork hock or smoked ham hock for the codillo, and a ham bone or salted pork bone for the depth. If you can't find pig's ear, use a small trotter; you lose the clean bite of the ear but keep the gelatin. For chorizo, look for Spanish cooking chorizo or Portuguese chouriço at a pinch, not fresh loose chorizo that breaks apart and takes over the pot.

The dish is slow, but not difficult. Bring the meat up gently, skim it, hold it at a quiet simmer, then let the bread rest under the broth until it becomes soup instead of soaked bread. Siempre sale, si lo sigues. In my Margin beside this one, I wrote only: "pan viejo, caldo claro," old bread, clear broth.