Sancocho it’s a traditional hearty soup we eat in Venezuela and other parts of Latin America. It doesn’t have a particular recipe, it can be made with chicken, beef or fish, and a whole lot of different vegetables. Some “Sancochos” are named based on their key ingredient: “Mondongo” uses belly, “Sancocho de Jurel” is made with fish, and one that I find particulary funny is “Sopa de Rabo” where we use cow tail to make the broth. When mixing different cuts and types of proteins, we call it “Cruzao”. Almost every region, city, town and even every grandmother has its own way and recipe to cook a Sancocho. I make “Sancochazo”! Lately, i have been organizing popular sancochos, that we cook in public spaces, where we have fed up to 250 people in the community, but that’s another story. Let’s get to the recipe (you can adjust the quantities as you require):

Recipe:

90 lt. Water
12 kg Protein: whole chicken / meat (shoulder / ribs )
8 Kg. Potato
8 kg. Yucca
8 Kg. Yam
8 kg. Yautia
2 kg Onion
3 kg Corn
3 kg. Carrots
600 gr. Coriander leaves
600 gr. Parsley leaves
Garlic, salt and pepper and other species to taste.

Directions:

Boil all proteins (meat, chicken) and the corn for at least 1 hour. Add all the root vegetables, onion, and the rest of the ingredientes, except the leaves. Cook until everything is soften and cook.
Add the parsley and coriander leaves and cook for 10 more minutes.

Tips:

• My grandmother used to say, you have to add the hardest vegetables first to get everything cooked by the same time.
• Add the protein after the water is boiling, that way the broth will not be as dark.
• Wash the meat before adding it to the water, that way you won’t get foam on top or "cachaza".
• If you can’t or didn’t wash the meat, you should remove the foam or "cachaza" from the top of the soup, it can give the broth a weird color and taste.
• The smaller you cut the vegetables, the faster they soften.