If you have experienced the scorching heat in the south of Spain, you know why people here like to eat a cooling soup. Salmorejo comes from Córdoba in Andalusia, a city with a long history and a cuisine that is characterized by its rural surroundings, but also by Arabic influences. Salmorejo is similar to the well-known gazpacho, but it does not use cucumbers or peppers, just sun-ripened tomatoes, olive oil, bread, garlic and salt. Like many things in Spanish cuisine, this dish is basically simple. A few, but very best ingredients are used and ensure a sensational taste experience, especially together with a garnish of little things, egg and ham, that are spread on top.
As with Ragú and Tortellini, there is an “official” recipe for Salmorejo, which is based on research by the Faculty of Gastronomy at the University of Córdoba and is published by the ‘Cofradía Gastronómica del Salmorejo Cordobés’, a kind of guild. This guild even organises regular conferences and events on Salmorejo – the last one only dealt with the permitted garnishes, have a look here. We are sticking to this ‘official’ recipe today.
And it is really simple.
First we boil an egg for the garnish (about 9 minutes if you put it in boiling water at room temperature).
In the meantime, we wash and chop tomatoes into large pieces. If you want, you can also remove the skin and seeds. We don’t think this is absolutely necessary.
The egg is now rinsed with cold water and we let it cool down well before peeling it.
Pieces of stale white bread, olive oil, garlic and salt are added to the tomatoes.
This mixture is now pureed in a blender or – this would be the traditional, mechanical preparation – crushed in a large mortar to make a thick soup.
In many recipes, a little white wine vinegar is added and seasoned with pepper, but interestingly, the “official” recipe does not include either. You can of course do as you like best. However, the purist version is actually extremely tasty and we didn’t miss anything.
Once the salmorejo is well chilled in soup bowls, you can now add some very finely diced hard-boiled egg and finely sliced ham on top. An extra drizzle of olive oil also works wonderfully. If you want to eat vegetarian or vegan, simply leave out the egg and ham.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients:
For 4 people (as a starter):
750 g ripe tomatoes
150 g stale white bread
75 ml olive oil (extra virgin)
1 clove garlic
8 g salt
1 boiled egg
Some Serrano ham
