Caíde Sweet Sarrabulho
Also known as: Caíde Sweet Sarrabulho · Sweet Blood-and-Bread Porridge
A pig-slaughter spoon sweet of Padronelo bread, cooked blood, honey, cinnamon and Port.
- Origin
- Caíde de Rei · Lousada
- Region
- Caíde de Rei · Lousada
- Season
- Winter; traditionally tied to the pig slaughter and January festivities
Sarrabulho Doce de Caíde de Rei is a thick, dark, grainy porridge, entirely different from savoury papas de sarrabulho. Padronelo bread at least two days old is broken into small pieces and combined with cooked, crumbled pork blood. A syrup of water, sugar, honey, cinnamon and Port turns the ingredients into a moist, glossy spoon dessert.
There is no single fixed ratio: for generations its consistency was judged ‘by eye’. The blood should be finely crumbled and the bread should retain some texture, without the mixture becoming liquid or smooth. It is served warm or cold in an earthenware dish, especially in winter and around the traditional pig slaughter.
- stale Padronelo bread
- cooked pork blood
- sugar
- honey
- cinnamon
- Port wine
- water
Sweet and spiced with honey and Port, softened-bread texture and a restrained mineral depth from the blood.
Some formulas add caul fat, walnuts, raisins, almonds, cloves or breadcrumbs; the Caíde reference keeps bread, blood, sugar, honey, cinnamon and Port.
In Caíde de Rei during the Sarrabulho Doce Festival in late January, and at events organised by its confraria and community.
Tawny Port or strong black tea.
Its origin is old and undocumented, but the recipe travelled through generations of northern families connected to the pig slaughter. It was called a ‘poor people's sweet’ because it used stale bread and blood and circulated without written measures. The Confraria Gastronómica do Sarrabulho Doce de Caíde de Rei, founded on 2 May 2017, promotes, studies and protects the specialty and organises an annual festival and competition on the last weekend of January. In 2019, Sarrabulho Doce was one of Porto district's seven finalists in the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Sweets, placing third in the district round.
Sources: sarrabulhodoce.pt · sarrabulhodoce.pt · noponto.pt · acpp.pt · caruspinus.pt
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