Ajoblanco - {Spanish-Central Andalusian Cold Almond Soup} Recipe - Cooking Index
Ajoblanco - {Spanish-Central Andalusian Cold Almond Soup} Recipe - Cooking Index
Ajoblanco, according to recipe contributor Jose Luis Vivas, is a Weight Watcher's worst nightmare. Thanks to the high energy contents of the almonds and bread, it is a caloric bomb. In fact, he says, these soups were usually consumed by country laborers in Andalusia during the harvest months as a mid-morning snack. They would have breakfast very early (5:00 AM) and about 11:00 they stopped to prepare the soup (or have someone bring it from the house), take it and brace themselves for temperatures above 95° from noon onwards. Logically, they stopped about 14:00 and had some light lunch... and a siesta, unless they were picking cotton and a storm was on the way. The soup is wonderful -- refreshing and very "drinkable" in texture, with unexpected richness, depth of flavor, and true savoriness. Hard to believe it's so bad for you.
Courses: Soup| 1/2 lb | 227g / 8oz | Crusty white bread - crusts cut off |
| Water - to soak the bread | ||
| 1/4 lb | 113g / 4oz | Raw (not toasted) peeled almonds |
| 2 | Garlic cloves | |
| 7 cups | 1659ml | Cold water |
| 1 cup | 237ml | Olive oil |
| Vinegar - (red wine or Sherry vinegar preferred) | ||
| Garnish - (see below) |
Soak the bread thoroughly in water. To peel the almonds, dip them for a few seconds in openly boiling water then pop the peels off with a squeeze.
With a powerful blender, grind the almonds, together with the garlic and a little salt, as fine as you can (the finer they are ground, the creamier the result will be). Then add the soaked bread and blend until you get a white homogeneous paste. Still blending, add the oil in a thread, as you would in a mayonnaise, and then the vinegar (for the quantity, follow your taste, but just a spritz is sufficient -- otherwise you will mask the taste) and the water. Adding the oil and water must be done slowly; you want a smooth emulsion, not curd!
Serve with the garnish of your choice; sliced and seeded grapes, or apple slices, or melon, or small shrimps or even sliced, roasted almonds.
Garnish: In Málaga it is customary to serve Ajoblanco with peeled and seeded grapes, or apple slices. Melon, small shrimps or sliced, roasted almonds also go very well with this soup.
Source:
"Soup Of The Evening...Beautiful Soup at http://www.soupsong.com"
Average rating:
Unrated, please add a rating
Submit your rating:
Click a star to rate this recipe.