There’s something to be said about food that takes just a little bit longer. Food that takes planning, food that you cook through the day. When I was growing up, my family was late to everything. Church, family reunions, leaving for vacations. You name it, we were never there on time. I remember cringing and feeling anxious in the car, thinking my parents only drove fast when we didn’t have a deadline to arrive somewhere. But when I look back, most of the times we were late, it was because we took the time to sit down together to eat. And most of the time, our meals were home-cooked and slow cooked.
In a culture that’s obsessed with quick and easy, there’s a kind of calm that is found in not rushing. In resting. In being okay with taking a little longer to eat, and a little longer to linger after eating. That’s the Culture of Caldo—taking the time to make a slow-cooked meal to take a slow day with those you love; to take a little rest from the rush, and the busy, and those days when it feels like you’ve been treading water to stay afloat all day.
When I was growing up, Caldo de Pollo meant two things: sickness, or a really long family get-together. One of the last times I called my mom, she told me about how they spent Labor Day eating through a whole stockpot of Caldo. She naively thought that if she invited people over for an early lunch, she might be able to kick them out by about 3:00, and have the rest of the day off to catch up on her Netflix shows. How wrong she was. Her huge stockpot of Caldo was the cause of a day-long eating extravaganza that lasted until the last drop was spooned away.
There is something intoxicating about the broth of this soup that warms your bones, and calms you down. Maybe it’s because it is a lighter soup that isn’t filled with chemicals, preservatives or things that are bad for you. Maybe it’s that the balance of flavors marry perfectly. I like to believe that the little secrets passed on by the women in my family have made caldo an art form—one that fosters gatherings where you can comfortably linger.
The real gem of Caldo is in the stock. Over the last two years, I’ve fallen in love with making my own chicken stock. Leaving out the unpronounceable chemicals and preservatives not only enhances the healthy factor of this soup, it also does wonders for the flavor. Caldo is best and most hearty when you start and make it from scratch. That way you are getting the richest, freshest flavors. I love Simply Recipe’s First Method for Chicken Broth which utilizes a leftover chicken carcass. This allows for a slow-cooked (translate: flavor packed) broth that extracts the most delicious flavors from the marrow and the fresh veggies. You can easily put this in a crockpot in the morning, so that you can have the stock ready when you come home.
The next time you have the chance to take a little longer with your food, and an all-day rest day, pull out your stock pot and make some Caldo. Eat slow, talk slow, and love slow with your clan. For extra feel goods, make some avocado roses.
Caldo de Pollo | Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Quart Chicken Stock
- 1/2 Quart Water
- 1 Whole Chicken salted
- 2 TBS grapeseed oil
- 2 Carrots Chopped
- 3 Celery Stalks Chopped
- 1 Chayote Squash Chopped
- 2 Red Potatoes Chopped
- 1 Leek Chopped
- 1 Cup Rice Cooked
- 1 Bunch Cilantro Minced
- 2 Avocados Sliced
- Fresh Tortillas
- 2 Limes Quartered
Instructions
- Begin by heating up your chicken broth and water and bringing to a boil. Once it is at a slow boil, add chopped up vegetables. Cook on Medium-Low heat until chayote squash and potatoes are soft. If needed, salt and season to taste.
- Heat oil over Medium High heat on a large pan. Once oil is hot, place the whole salted chicken on pan and brown on each side for 5 minutes. Heat Oven to 500 degrees and finish cooking chicken in the oven until a thermometer placed through the thickest part of the chicken breast reads at least 165 degrees.
- Serve Caldo with a piece of chicken, a scoop of rice, fresh tortillas, avocado, cilantro and lime. Eat, repeat and enjoy!
Mary-Beth Johnson
Mary-Beth is a creative, food-obsessed, Georgia transplant living Chicago. She is proudly and fiercely Latina, and more specifically Chapina. In her day to day she is a food educator to students around Chicagoland aged 3 to 80+, both virtually and in-person. She is passionate about cultivating the truth that every person has an understanding of food that deserves being brought to the table, and that time in the kitchen can be sacred, passionate, and an act of love for self and others. Outside the kitchen you can find her at the intersections of infertility, chronic illness, and a deep love for the dignity of all humans. She hopes to create a space that is holistic about the role of food in the social, political, relational, and physiological dynamics of our world.
