What is "sofrito"

n. Fried onion, garlic, and tomato used as a base for cooking sauces and dishes.

Sofrito or refogado (, ) is a sauce used as a base in Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American cooking. Preparations may vary, but it typically consists of aromatic ingredients cut into small pieces and sauteed or braised in cooking oil.

In Spanish cuisine, sofrito consists of garlic, onion, paprika, and tomatoes cooked in olive oil. This is known as or sometimes as in Portuguese-speaking nations, where only onions and olive oil are often essential, garlic and bay laurel leaves being the other most common ingredients.

Sofrito is a meat (lamb, beef, chicken) sautéed with potatoes, garlic, turmeric, and cardamom and simmered in a small volume of water or stock with lemon juice, or simmered with all these ingredients without prior sautéing. The second method can also be used in cooking veal, calves' brains or fish. It is mostly common to eat it with chicken although other types of meat are sometimes also used.

It originated in Sephardic Jewish communities that were expelled from Spain and was eaten traditionally by them in regions such as the Balkans, the Levant, Turkey, the Maghreb and more.

Today it is widely eaten in Israel.

Category:Sephardi Jewish cuisine Category:Israeli cuisine Category:Stews Category:Chicken dishes