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This is a simple, healthy specialty from Cordoba, prepared and served cold, and ideal when the weather starts to warm up.
Ingredients
1 Kg of tomatoes
1 garlic clove
A 10 cm chunk of white baguette (it’s ok if its hard/a few days old)
2 tbs Vinegar
1/8 litre of Extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
1 Boiled egg (optional)
100 gr of chopped up serrano ham (optional)
Preparation
This recipe really needs the use of a powerful blending machine – if you don’t have one you can use a hand mixer as long as you use a "pasapures†(mouli) in the final stage.
Start by immersing the bread in a bowl full of water, then wash the tomatoes and cut them into quarters. When the bread has softened, get it out of the bowl and get rid of the excess liquid by squeezing it with your hands, then place it along with the tomatoes in the mixer jar.
Add a peeled garlic clove cut into quarters, a pinch of salt and then start your machine for 4 to 6 minutes.
Check the texture, it should be quite thick, but if you think it’s too dense for your taste then you can add from 1/2 to 1 glass of cold water. To do so start the mixer and add the water little by little stopping every now and again to check if the texture is right.
Taste for salt and add more if needed, start the machine for a few seconds so it mixes properly and repeat the procedure until the salt is just right.
Then proceed to add the vinegar, again start the machine for few seconds to allow proper mixing. Stop the machine and taste again, if you think it needs a little bit more, add more vinegar.
Finally, add the oil gradually, starting the machine at a low speed setting. Again, stop to taste.
I know it might be annoying to start-stop so many times but I find that is the only way to get the taste that one likes, which as a matter of fact also depends on the acidity of the tomatoes, so the taste might vary each time. It is also important to follow the order, for example water should always be added before the oil.
To present the Salmorejo, serve in small bowls or small earthenware dishes. You can eat it alone, or for a more filling dish you can add a spoonful of boiled egg chopped very finely and/or a spoonful of serrano ham, also cut into very small pieces – these are sprinkled onto each bowl just before serving.
- Marina
tania
20 Apr 06 at 10:33 pm
the pasapures or mouli for me is like a food grinder, or food mill in the USA…it also kind of works like a cheese grater..well sort of.
o en español (en Puerto Rico where I am from) un molino…por ejemplo me acuerdo que mi abuela tiene un molino de cafe muy antiguo, pero tambien puede ser un molino de carne or de comida
great recipes!
Love all your Podcast in English y en Español….Muchas Gracias!!
Brian
20 Apr 06 at 10:50 pm
Do you have a picture of what a “chino” looks like?
Great podcast! I love gazpacho, but this looks like an excellent alternative.
Ben
20 Apr 06 at 11:00 pm
Here we are, the chino/mouli.
Tim
21 Apr 06 at 11:20 am
Another great podcast.
If you’re off to the Canaries, how about preparing papas arrugadas con mojo? I guess the difficult bit is making the mojo (and the different types of mojo). It’s addictive..
Christian
26 Apr 06 at 6:04 pm
This looks exactly like the “gazpacho” I was served yesterday in Algodonales. Being vegetarian I had to order another without the pig. It was excellent and just the first of five courses in the menu del dia that cost only 9 euros.
Ben
2 May 06 at 4:45 pm
By the way I chekc Algodonales in google images and it seems like a very nice place. Do you live in the area? or are you on holiday?
Marina
2 May 06 at 4:47 pm
Sorry, that was Marina not Ben.
PattyN
1 Jul 07 at 11:30 pm
I’ve been waiting to make this recipe until I could find really good tomatoes. I finally made it this weekend, and it has definitely been worth the wait. Wow, it’s hard to believe you could get such great flavor from so few ingredients. This will become a staple of my summer cooking.
Marina
15 Aug 07 at 4:09 pm
Many thanks Patty, great to hear that you enjoyed it!
Jon Hundt
19 Jul 08 at 9:10 pm
how’d they make this stuff back in the days before the\y had electric food processing devices?
Ben
19 Jul 08 at 9:48 pm
@Jon, with the Mouli!
dave
21 Aug 08 at 6:18 am
omg, that looks so good. I think I’ll make it for my wife this weekend.
thanks!