Ajo blanco
In Andalusia ajo blanco is considered older than the red gazpacho we know today — similar almond and bread soups were eaten there long before tomatoes reached Europe. It is a soup of almonds, bread, garlic and olive oil, with no tomatoes and no cooking at all. The whole technique reduces to one thing: blend for a long time, then push it through a sieve. Without the sieve you get a sandy suspension instead of a silky cream.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Soaking 30 min
- Blending 10 min
- Chilling 120 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneSoak the almonds and bread separately
Cover the almonds with boiling water for 30 minutes and the crustless bread with cold water for 10. Soaked almonds soften and blend far more finely — dry ones give a grainy liquid and a lot of waste in the sieve.
Ingredients: 200 g almonds · 120 g stale bread · 1 clove garlic · 700 ml water · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sherry vinegar · 1 tsp salt
Almonds in boiling water, bread in cold.Remove the green germ from the garlic
Halve the clove and take out the green shoot in the middle. That is what carries the harshness and bitterness, which in a raw, cold soup lingers for hours. One small clove is the maximum — ajo blanco should smell of garlic, not hit you over the head with it.
Ingredients: 200 g almonds · 120 g stale bread · 1 clove garlic · 700 ml water · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sherry vinegar · 1 tsp salt
Blend for five minutes, no less
Blitz the almonds, squeezed bread, garlic, salt and half the water for a full 5 minutes at top speed. The longer it runs, the finer the almonds and the creamier the almond milk — blend briefly and the mixture stays grainy and watery.
Ingredients: 200 g almonds · 120 g stale bread · 1 clove garlic · 700 ml water · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sherry vinegar · 1 tsp salt
Pour the oil in a thin stream
With the blender running, add the oil very slowly — the mixture thickens and turns opaque white. Only then add the vinegar and the remaining water. Use a mild olive oil: an intense peppery one overwhelms the almonds, which are the point here.
Ingredients: 200 g almonds · 120 g stale bread · 1 clove garlic · 700 ml water · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sherry vinegar · 1 tsp salt
Oil in a thin stream — the mixture whitens and thickens.Push it through a sieve
Force everything through a fine sieve, pressing with a ladle. A surprising amount of almond grit stays behind. This is the step that takes the soup from home cooking to restaurant — five minutes of work for a silky texture.
Ingredients: 200 g almonds · 120 g stale bread · 1 clove garlic · 700 ml water · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sherry vinegar · 1 tsp salt
Grit in the sieve, silk in the bowl.Chill two hours and season again
Refrigerate for 2 hours. Taste before serving and add salt — cold blunts flavour, and this soup has no strong ingredient to make up for it. Serve with halved grapes, toasted almonds and olive oil.
Ingredients: 200 g grapes · 30 g flaked almonds · 2 tbsp olive oil
Before you start
The grapes are not decoration
Their acidity and crunch balance the richness of almonds and oil. Without them ajo blanco is heavy and monotonous. Melon, diced apple, or — unexpectedly but very well — a few drops of roasted pepper oil all work instead.
Adjusting the thickness
700 ml of water gives a soup to eat with a spoon. For a drinkable version served in a glass as an appetiser, add another 200 ml and sieve it a second time.
Almonds with skins
They will not do — the skins bring bitterness and a greyish colour, and ajo blanco should be snow white. If skin-on is all you have, pour boiling water over them for a minute and the skins slip off under your fingers.
