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Recipe · 3 min read

Arroz Caldoso con Pato de las Marismas

Arroz de Pato Cortijero

Caldoso · brothy Cooked in Cassola Andalucía

01Geographic & Texture Profile

  • Primary Geographic Zone: The marismas del Guadalquivir (Sevilla): Isla Mayor, La Puebla del Río, Villafranco, and the rice cortijos of the Bajo Guadalquivir.
  • Liquid & Texture Profile: Caldoso (soupy).
  • Traditional Cooking Vessel & Fuel: A clay cazuela or iron pot over a wood fire in the cortijo kitchen.

02Historical & Cultural Context

The rice paddies of the Guadalquivir marshes are Spain's largest rice-growing area, and like L'Albufera they are full of waterfowl. Directo al Paladar documents an "arroz caldoso con pato" as a traditional cortijo recipe of the Sevillian marismas: the rice workers' and farmhands' (cortijeros) stew, made with duck from the marsh. Like its Valencian cousin arròs amb ànec, it reflects the link between wetland, rice and wildfowl. The Andalusian version, however, is soupy and built on an onion-and-pepper sofrito, not the Valencian dry pan.

Culinary science: duck fat renders into the sofrito and coats the grains. A long braise breaks down the bird's collagen, and the resulting broth carries a lot of body into the caldoso.

03Local Town-by-Town Variations

  • Isla Mayor: Duck, sometimes with cangrejo rojo (red swamp crayfish, now a major local product).
  • La Puebla del Río: Duck + green pepper + fino or manzanilla in the braise.
  • Cortijo (traditional): Duck + potato + whatever garden vegetables are at hand. Stretched with more broth for a larger crew.
  • Variations are only lightly sourced; verify locally.

04The Master Recipe (4-Person Batch Blueprint)

Variant represented: cortijo caldoso.

The Flavor Base (El Fondo)

Ingredient Quantity
Duck, jointed 1 (≈ 1.6 kg)
Olive oil 40 ml
Onion 1 large
Green pepper 2
Garlic 4 cloves
Ripe tomato, grated 200 g
Pimentón dulce 4 g
Bay leaf 2
White wine or fino 150 ml
Water 2.5 L
Saffron 0.2 g

Extraction: Render the duck skin-side down (15 min). Pour off the excess fat. Add the onion and peppers (12 min), the garlic, pimentón and tomato (5 min), then the wine. Add the water and bay leaf. Simmer covered for 75 min. You should have ≈ 2 L of broth.

Assembly Ratios

Element Quantity
Round rice (marisma variety) 320 g
Duck broth ≈ 1.9 L (≈ 6:1)

Step-by-Step Cooking Blueprint

  1. Rice: Bring the broth to a boil, add the rice and saffron.
  2. Fire: Steady simmer for 17 min.
  3. Finish: Serve at once, with a piece of duck in each plate.

Duck & wetland rices: Rices of the great rice marshes: Albufera, Ebro Delta, Guadalquivir.