Portuguese Holy Ghost Soup, or Sopas do Espírito Santo, is traditional to the Portuguese Holy Ghost festa. This dish has a rich history and rich flavor. The festa is held only once a year, so if you ever get the craving you now know how to make the soup on your own!

Portuguese Holy Ghost Soup | Sopas do Espírito Santo

Portuguese Holy Ghost Soup, or Sopas do Espírito Santo, is traditional to the Portuguese Holy Ghost festa. This dish has a rich history and rich flavor. The festa is held only once a year, so if you ever get the craving you now know how to make the soup on your own!

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 6 hrs

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Portuguese

Servings 15

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 15 black peppercorns, whole sub. 1½ tsp ground pepper
• 10 allspice kernels
• 10 cloves, whole
• 5 sticks cinnamon sub. 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 10- 20 bay leaves
• 5 lbs beef chuck roast, bone in
• 2 yellow onions, large sliced in thick wedges
• 1-1½ quarts water
• 1½ cups red wine
• 5 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cans crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 bunch mint leaves
• ½ tsp cumin
• 4 tsp table salt
• 1-2 bunches collard greens sliced
• day old Portuguese or crusty artisan bread thickly sliced
• 2 cups tomatoes peeled or finely chopped, sub. 2 cans of tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

 

• Make a bouquet garni with all of the whole spices and bay leaves.
  
• To a large stock pot, add the chuck, onions, water, red wine, garlic, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, 1/4 of the bunch of mint, cumin, salt and the bouquet garni. Set over medium-low heat and allow to cook for at least 5-7 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone and easily shredded.
  
• *Optional* To add a extra richness and a velvety mouth feel to your soup follow these steps. Add ¼ cup of water to a small sauté pan. Pour in two packets of gelatin. Stir it to combine and let it sit for 5 minutes. This step is known as blooming. Add two ladles full of hot broth from the soup pot into the gelatin and allow the gelatin a few minutes to melt. After the gelatin is fully dissolved add it into the soup.
  
• When your soup has about 1 hour left of cooking, add the sliced collard greens. At this time you can also add a few more cups of water if your soup needs it. This soup should contain a lot of broth. Additionally, taste your broth and add more salt and other seasonings.
  
• To serve, place a slice or two of bread in each soup bowl topped with a mint leaf or two. Ladle a generous amount of broth over the bread to soften followed with some pieces of meat.
  

Video

Notes

Bouquet garni: a French term, for a bundle of herbs tied together. This makes it easy to remove woody herbs or whole spices before serving. 

Holy Ghost Crown link:

https://portuguesemuseum.org/?page_id=1808&category=4&exhibit=&event=234

 

 

https://justcookwithmichael.com/tips-for-slow-cooking-braising-stewing-and-smoking/

History of the Holy Ghost queens

https://portuguesemuseum.org/?page_id=1808&category=4&exhibit=&event=240

Link to IDES Azorean Halls Festas in CA, 

Azorean history immigration

Keyword Festa, Holy Ghost Soup, portugal soup, portuguese soup, soup

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