Chef Isabel
Aguaillo de la Sierra de Cadiz
Aguaillo is from the Sierra de Cadiz: cold water, stale bread, garlic, oil and vinegar, closer to a field drink than a bowl of soup, and sharp enough to wake you in the heat.
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Sopes Mallorquines
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Sopes Mallorquines are Mallorca's dry soup: cabbage, garden vegetables, olive oil, and paper-thin pa moreno that drinks the broth until the dish is eaten with a fork, not a spoon.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 10 min total
Yield4 servings
Sopes Mallorquines belong to Mallorca, and the name fools people at first. This is a soup only in the old sense: vegetables cooked down with enough broth to soften them, then laid over thin slices of dry brown pa moreno until the bread drinks almost everything. You eat it with a fork. If it swims, you've made something else.
The bread is what decides the dish. It must be dry, thin, and sturdy enough to soften without turning to paste. In Mallorca those slices are called sopes, cut from unsalted brown country bread, and they sit at the bottom of the greixonera, the earthenware dish, waiting for the cabbage, tomato, garlic, parsley, and market vegetables to do their work above them.
If you can't find pa moreno, use a dense wholemeal country loaf, sliced as thin as you can and dried overnight. A soft sandwich loaf will collapse, and I won't pretend otherwise. Keep the broth measured, add only enough for the bread to drink, and let it rest covered before serving. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Sopes Mallorquines come from the rural kitchen of Mallorca, where old bread was not a leftover to throw away but the base of a meal. The dish changes with the island's market garden: cabbage and cauliflower in cooler months, artichokes, peas, or tender greens when they are good. Its dry finish is part of its identity, tied to the thin slices of pa moreno that give the dish its name and make it closer to a bread-and-vegetable casserole than a bowl of broth.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dry pa moreno or dense wholemeal country bread
Quantity
250g
sliced very thin
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
large onion
Quantity
1
finely chopped
spring onions
Quantity
4
white and green parts sliced
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
finely chopped
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
2
grated
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
green cabbage
Quantity
500g
thick ribs removed, sliced
cauliflower florets
Quantity
200g
sliced small
chard or spinach
Quantity
150g
chopped
peas or sliced green beans
Quantity
100g
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 small bunch
chopped
vegetable broth or water
Quantity
900ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dry pa moreno or dense wholemeal country breadsliced very thin | 250g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| large onionfinely chopped | 1 |
| spring onionswhite and green parts sliced | 4 |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 4 |
| ripe tomatoesgrated | 2 |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| green cabbagethick ribs removed, sliced | 500g |
| cauliflower floretssliced small | 200g |
| chard or spinachchopped | 150g |
| peas or sliced green beans | 100g |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 1 small bunch |
| vegetable broth or water | 900ml |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy pot or Mallorcan greixonera
- •Serrated bread knife
- •Slotted spoon
Instructions
- 1
Dry the bread
Slice the bread as thin as you can, about 3mm if your knife allows it, and leave it uncovered while you cook. If it is fresh, dry the slices in a low oven at 120C for 15 minutes without browning them. The bread must drink broth, not dissolve into porridge.
- 2
Cook the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy pot or greixonera over medium-low heat. Add the onion, spring onions, garlic, and salt, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes until soft and sweet. Stir in the grated tomato and cook until the oil comes back clear at the edges and the tomato has lost its raw smell. Add the pimentón off the heat for a few seconds so it perfumes the oil without scorching.
- 3
Soften the vegetables
Add the cabbage, cauliflower, chard, peas or green beans, parsley, and black pepper. Turn everything through the sofrito until the vegetables shine with oil, then pour in 700ml of the broth. Cover and simmer gently for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cabbage is tender but the vegetables still have shape.
Use what the season gives, but keep the cabbage. It is the backbone here. Artichokes, broad beans, or mushrooms are welcome when they are good. - 4
Lay the sopes
Lift the vegetables out with a slotted spoon into a bowl, leaving the broth in the pot. Lay half the bread slices across the bottom of the pot or a shallow earthenware dish. Spoon over half the vegetables, then repeat with the remaining bread and vegetables.
- 5
Measure the broth
Ladle the hot broth over the layered bread and vegetables. Add only as much of the remaining 200ml broth as needed for the bread to moisten through; there should be no pool of liquid at the bottom. Cover and rest for 10 minutes. This is the step that makes it Sopes Mallorquines: damp, glossy bread holding its shape, not a bowl of soup.
- 6
Serve with a fork
Taste for salt, drizzle with a little more olive oil, and serve warm from the dish. The bread should be tender, the cabbage sweet, and the vegetables settled into the slices. Put out forks, not spoons. Tal como se hace allí.
Chef Tips
- •Pa moreno is a dark Mallorcan country bread, often unsalted, made to sit under vegetables and broth. Away from Mallorca, use a dense wholemeal sourdough or country loaf and dry it first. Soft bread gives you paste.
- •Do not flood the dish. The vegetables need broth to cook, but the finished sopes should be moist and forkable. Add the last broth slowly and stop before you think you should.
- •This is market cooking. In winter use cabbage, cauliflower, chard, and mushrooms. In spring use artichokes, peas, and broad beans. The recipe stays the same; the basket changes.
Advance Preparation
- •Slice the bread the night before and leave it uncovered so it dries properly.
- •The vegetables can be cooked up to 1 day ahead. Layer with the bread and hot broth only before serving, or the texture will soften too far.
- •Leftovers keep 2 days covered in the refrigerator and are best reheated gently in a covered pan with a spoonful of water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 590g)
Calories
400 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1500 mg
Total Carbohydrates
54 g
Dietary Fiber
13 g
Sugars
13 g
Protein
14 g
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