Comments on: Puchero/Cocido, Revisited

By: mgr

mgr — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 06:42:37 +0000

I always differentiated cocido from puchero from the ingredients used. While both may be made with a bunch of stewed meats and veggies, puchero as wickedlysexy puts it, has the saba banana and pork and beans thrown in. Spaniards will never add the banana/pork and beans can to a classic cocido. So just like all other ‘base’ recipes of Spanish influence (eg. flan, champurrado, paella), there will always be a twist on the other colonized countries based on available ingredients….hence a different name. Just my two cents…

By: elena t. santos

elena t. santos — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:01:49 +0000

i missed this dish just like my mama cook it except for the grilled eggplant

By: elena t. santos

elena t. santos — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:59:55 +0000

i missed this dish just like my mama does except fir the grilled eggplant

By: wickedlysexy

wickedlysexy — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:59:09 +0000

i am proud to say that in my family ako ang authority when it comes to cooking pochero….i will forever be indebted to my high school teacher for teaching us this recipe….i cook mine with canned pork and beans…i will try your way with the blood sausage and all….hmmm, just seeing this lang makes me wanna go to the kitchen and cook up na…

By: leila antonio

leila antonio — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 10:39:41 +0000

Yes, this is also our family’s favorite. Both version, the one with the tomato based sauce, which we call cocido and the one with the grilled eggplant relish on the side as puchero. But we liked the one with the grilled eggplant accompaniment better. We also loved it with the saba bananas.

Our version though is the simpler and more economical one, no blood sausage, though we also boil ham bone together with the meats for added flavor. Ham bone is always available at majestic outlets or at Excelente Ham Store.

For ordinary days, we just have calamansi and patis as dipping sauce. Hmmmm……yummy!

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:59:28 +0000

i always thought puchero was a dish passed down in my family from my lola’s spanish side, it’s totally pinoy pala! we have this dish on sundays and we include sausage-shaped ground meat, i guess to make up for the chorizo which gets eaten up so quickly! also in our family, before eating, we cut up the meat and vegetables, mix it with the rice, and mix in the olive oil, vinegar, and tomato sauce — kinda like when as a kid your yaya would cut your food and mix it up in one big mash. haven’t tried the grilled eggplant sauce yet, should try it out. thanks for featuring this! you know with all our comments on food, you can write a book on traditional pinoy food + alternate versions of your readers.

By: lysandrad

lysandrad — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:02:31 +0000

Thanks MM .. just like my Lola used to make and which I often try to replicate to moderate success … :-)

By: gina

gina — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:01:59 +0000

you call it comfort food, my family calls it “holiday season food” ‘coz this is served usually on christmas and new year in our family. my version is similar to yours, except for the chorizo and blood sausage. also i just boil (as opposed to broiling) the eggplant, then i mash it add some mashed potato then put in a dressing of vinegar, salt, pepper and some sugar. our dipping sauce is usually patis with calamansi. whenever i serve puchero, my kids know there must be something good to celebrate. i also cook this in a very large batch, like you do because like maria clara said, it tastes better the day after it’s cooked.

By: brenda

brenda — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:40:12 +0000

My puchero version is basically the same veggies that you used, minus the chorizo de bilbao and blood sausage. But instead of garbanzos, I use canned pork & beans so the broth is kinda sweet. I’ll give it a try with grilled eggplant

By: Maria Clara

Maria Clara — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:06:20 +0000

I love this dish the day after it was cooked. The flavors are in there and matured.