Papas de Sarrabulho: Portuguese Soup from Pork Blood


Portuguese cuisine reminds me of Czech cuisine in many ways. The Portuguese soup papas de sarrabulho, originating from the northern Portugal region of Minho, is one such example. It reminds me the Walachian soup “prdelačka”, blood soup made from slaughtered pig commonly cooked in the Walachian region (part of Moravia).

Just like the Czechs, the Portuguese are also used to consuming every part of a pig, examples include sopa de miolos de porco (pork brain soup) or sopa de orelheira (pork ear soup).

Papas de sarrabulho
Papas de sarrabulho

Papas de sarrabulho is somewhere between a soup and a porridge. It is much thicker, with the main ingredients being pork blood, wheat bread for thickening, chili, and other spices. One of the spices is cumin, which is also sprinkled on the surface. Cumin creates the biggest taste difference from Czech version of the soup (we use caraway).

Papas de sarrabulho is definitely not a soup for everyone. In Porto’s restaurant menus, you will come across it quite often, certainly more often than I can find prdelačka in Moravian cities. One portion of the soup costs approximately 2 EUR. I tasted it at Casa Guedes, but you can surely find it elsewhere.

Will you be brave and give it a try?

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