Arròs
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Recipe · 4 min read

Arroz Sucio Mallorquín

Mallorcan spiced rice soup with meat, game and vegetables

Arròs Brut

Caldoso · brothy Cooked in Clay casserole Balearic Islands

01Geographic & Texture Profile

  • Primary Geographic Zone: Mallorca, especially the rural interior (Es Pla) and the Serra de Tramuntana villages. Eivissa has a sibling dish, the arròs de matances.
  • Liquid & Texture Profile: Caldoso (soupy). Served hot from the pot.
  • Traditional Cooking Vessel & Fuel: An earthenware greixonera or olla on a wood stove.

02Historical & Cultural Context

In Mallorcan Catalan, brut means "dirty". The name refers to the murky broth coloured by the spices: cinnamon, pimentón, saffron, pepper, and in some versions clove and nutmeg. Originally it was a hunter's and farmer's dish. It was made with hare and rabbit, thrush or pigeon, whatever vegetables the field gave, and in older versions offal and blood, which made it a typical winter dish. Modern versions use chicken, pork ribs, sobrassada (spreadable cured sausage) or botifarró, mushrooms or snails, and a picada of liver. Some cooks insist an arròs brut without chopped liver doesn't deserve the name.

Culinary science: the picada of pounded fried liver, garlic and spices is added at the end. Liver proteins and blood thicken the broth slightly and darken it, which is why it looks "dirty". This is the opposite of the Valencian idea of a clear caldoso. The warm spices recall the medieval Catalan spice palette that survived on the islands.

03Local Town-by-Town Variations

⚠️ Village-level variations are only loosely documented online. The patterns below come from the sources cited, and the town names are indicative, not confirmed.

  • Classic interior (game): Hare or rabbit + thrush or pigeon + snails + wild mushrooms + liver picada.
  • Modern / urban (Palma): Chicken + pork ribs + sobrassada + vegetables (green beans, artichoke, peas) + liver picada.
  • Tramuntana: ⚠️ Heavier on mushrooms (esclata-sangs, saffron milk caps) in autumn.

04The Master Recipe (4-Person Batch Blueprint)

Variant represented: modern Mallorcan (chicken, pork, sobrassada, liver picada).

The Flavor Base (El Fondo)

Ingredient Quantity
Olive oil 70 ml
Chicken, pieces 500 g
Pork ribs, short 300 g
Chicken livers 100 g
Onion, chopped 1
Ripe tomato, grated 200 g
Garlic 3 cloves
Sobrassada 50 g
Mushrooms (esclata-sangs, if in season) 200 g
Green beans / artichoke / peas 250 g total
Pimentón dulce 3 g
Water 2 L
Spice picada: cinnamon ⅓ tsp, black pepper, 2 cloves, nutmeg pinch, saffron 0.2 g, parsley, 2 garlic cloves, the fried livers —

Extraction: Fry the livers briefly and set them aside. Brown the chicken and ribs (15 min). Add the onion (10 min), then the garlic, tomato and pimentón (5 min), and the sobrassada (1 min). Add the water and simmer 30 min. Add the vegetables and mushrooms (10 min). Pound the picada in a mortar.

Assembly Ratios

Element Quantity
Round rice 280 g
Broth ≈ 1.8–2 L (≈ 6:1, caldoso)

Step-by-Step Cooking Blueprint

  1. Bring the broth to a boil and add the rice.
  2. Simmer 10 min, then stir in the spice and liver picada.
  3. Cook 6–8 min more.
  4. Serve immediately. It must stay soupy.

Winter pot & matanza rices: Olla-style pots of legumes, pork and offal with the rice cooked in.