Today we bring you the 3 classic Andalusian cold soups: ajoblanco malagueño, gazpacho and salmorejo cordobés, as well as a delicious variation that is becoming very trendy in Spain: beetroot salmorejo.
These recipes embody traditional Mediterranean cuisine: they are simple yet perfect combinations of fresh and quality ingredients, letting these play the main role in the dish. They are all vegan recipes (if we don’t use the traditional garnish of salmorejo).
The traditional way of preparing these recipes is by using a mortar and pestle, but we think that the outcome is much better with a blender – not just to save 2 hours of pestle exercise, but because a more homogeneous texture really improves these recipes, especially salmorejos, delivering a deliciously thick cream.
Whichever way you prefer, the key to achieving best results is using high-quality and fresh ingredientes. Ripe red tomatoes, full of flavour, and extra virgin olive oil are they key to a fantastic salmorejo or gazpacho, not really whether you make it with green or red peppers. In the end, these are dishes with a few raw ingredients.
This doesn’t mean that you should buy the more expensive tomatoes that you would use in a salad. Roma tomatoes or other deep red varieties are the best for these recipes.
#1 Ajoblanco
Ajoblanco is probably the original gazpacho, as its preparation prior to the 16th century (that is, before there were tomatoes in Europe) is well documented.
Its origins are unclear, likely from Ancient Greece or Rome, but certainly humble. It was usual among shepherds, who prepared a cold soup by grinding the ingredients they had around: garlic, olive oil, vinegar and water.
There are several variations of ajoblanco, but the most usual is that from Málaga – ajoblanco malagueño.
Ajoblanco recipe
Taking care of ingredient proportions is important in all of these recipes, but in ajoblanco there are large variations. Adjust the quantity of water, bread and oil according to the desired density, and add garlic to taste.
- 150 g almonds
- 1 garlic clove
- Between 100 and 150 g bread
- 500 ml water
- 50-100 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 20-30 ml Sherry vinegar, to taste
- salt
Traditionally, raw almonds are used, but we have tried it with roasted almonds and we like it more, because it boost the almonds’ flavour. Some people also add milk.
As we are going to eat raw garlic, we recommend to remove its germs.
As for the bread, usually stale large-loaf bread (hogaza) is used, previously soaked in water. A ciabatta will be fine, but not a baguette. We have also tried with candeal (the kind you use in salmorejo) and its also very good.
The preparation of ajoblanco with a blender is really easy: first mix almonds, garlic and bread with a bit of water and blend it. Then add vinegar, the rest of the water and finally the olive oil, little by little, so it emulsifies well. Add salt to taste and then put it in the fridge as it is best cold.
You can garnish it with grapes, like we did, melon, sliced almonds… whatever you fancy!
You may notice saffron in our picture. Well, it is not only nice for decoration but it actually adds a very special touch.
#2 Gazpacho
Gazpacho is the most famous and consumed of all these cold soups – in Spain and worldwide. It is a known fact that is great to mitigate hangovers.
There are many variations in the recipe, and a lot of arguments about what ingredients should be used to prepare a real gazpacho: tomatoes only, with or without cucumber, whether you can use red peppers or not (these would make it redder)…
We think that the best is cooking it as one likes it more. In the end, real original gazpachos were just bread with olive oil and vinegar…
Gazpacho recipe
Gazpacho is always quite liquid, so you won’t use much bread and you can even drop it without noticing much the difference.
- 1 kg tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 1 green pepper
- 50 g bread
- 1 garlic clove (without germ)
- 1/2 sweet onion
- 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 20-30 ml Sherry vinegar, to taste
- salt
Roma tomatoes are a very suitable variety for gazpacho and this is what we normally use. You can add onion or not, but if you do so, it is best to use a sweet one.
Usually a large-loaf style or ciabatta stale bread is used, soaked in water, just like for ajoblanco.
Preparation is again very simple: peel and cut the ingredients and put them in the blender. First, vegetables are added, then the bread, vinegar and olive oil.
Usual garnishes are tomatoes, peppers, spring onions or toast, always cut in small cubes.
An interesting twist is adding cumin to gazpacho.
#3 Salmorejo cordobés
Salmorejo is a tomato cream typical from Córdoba, that is getting very popular in all Spain. It can be served as a starter or as a sauces with a great variety of dishes. We can understand why, as it is certainly our favourite of these 4 recipes.
It is a simple yet amazing dish, as long as we use quality ingredients. Don’t think that as a tomato cream, it’s a light appetiser, because the large quantities of bread and olive oil really fill your stomach.
Salmorejo recipe
We use the recipe from Cofradía del Salmorejo Cordobés, because it is clearly the best we have tried. When you cook salmorejo it is really important to take care of the proportions. If you follow these, it will have a perfect consistency:
- 1 kg tomatoes
- 200 g telera cordobesa bread (candeal)
- 100 g extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove (without germ)
- salt
Like with all these recipes, salmorejo can be prepared with mortar and pestle or with a blender.
What is crucial in salmorejo is using the right bread. Risking that someone from Córdoba gets angry with us, we will say that pan de telera is what in Castille is known as candeal: a white wheat bread with a very dense crumb, and a thin crust (like the one you see in the picture above).
Some say that mortar and pestle is better as it is more traditional, but the truth is that salmorejo as we know it today is barely 100 years old, and technology has really improved cuisine a lot.
With a blender, the texture of your salmorejo will be fantastic, but do it as you like it better, even changing ingredient proportions until you get the perfect texture for you.
Blend the tomatoes first, then add the garlic and bread in chunks. Finally, add the olive oil little by little and mix it well, until homogeneous and salt to taste.
Usually, salmorejo is garnished with boiled egg and small pieces of jamón ibérico.
#4 Beetroot Salmorejo
All these classics have many variants that are great for an Andalusian summer: strawberries or watermelon gazpacho, etc.
Our favourite is beetroot salmorejo. We tried it for our first time in Vega 10, a tavern in Seville – where, by the way, they cook amazing large maccheroni stuffed with fighting bull’s tail.
Today, it is found in more and more places, all around Spain. It is a surprising recipe thanks to its taste and beautiful colour.
Beetroot is denser than tomatoes, so you will need less bread than for a classic salmorejo.
Beetroot salmorejo recipe
- 500 g boiled beetroot
- 2 o 3 ripe tomatoes (optional)
- 1 garlic clove (without the germ)
- 60 g de telera cordobesa bread (candeal)
- 100 g extra virgin olive oil
- 20-30 g Sherry vinegar
- salt
Tomatoes are optional, but they help mitigate the earthy flavour of the beetroots.
It is prepared in the same way as a classic salmorejo: blend first the beetroot and tomatoes, then add bread and garlic and finally the olive oil and salt.
These four Andalusian recipes will deliver you a refreshing and colourful summer! You can also make a lot of variations, so tell us yours!
