You say gazpacho… we say salmorejo!
What do Spaniards love more than a tomato? Not much. Per www.statista.com, in 2021 tomatoes were Spain’s most eaten vegetable (OK, so technically they’re a fruit, but go with this). Spanish-grown tomatoes make up 35 percent of European tomato consumption, making them a vital export crop too.
Along with potatoes and corn, the tomato was one of the first crops brought back to Spain from the New World in the 15th century. But it was another 200 years before the Spanish really got the hang of eating them – although they grew well and didn’t compete with existing crops, they were initially used for decorative purposes. Eating vegetables was broadly considered bad for the health (!) and as they were so unlike anything else that grew in the Mediterranean, the texture and flavour were too unfamiliar.
It’s hard to imagine that, now they’re so intrinsic to the broader Mediterranean diet (held to be the world’s most healthy), tomatoes took so long to catch on. In Spain they feature on toast for breakfast, in paella, salads, soups and in bravas sauce, classically paired with potatoes and eaten as a tapa. They’re an essential part of sofrito, a mix of tomato, garlic, onion and maybe paprika, that’s cooked together then used as the starting point for myriad Spanish dishes.
Although industrially-produced tomatoes and canned alternatives are also a thing in Spain, like anywhere else, if you visit produce markets in tomato season you’ll be blown away by the stunning variety and overall magnificence of locally grown specimens. There are varieties like the tomate rosa (pink tomato) from Huesco, grown near the Pyrenees, that’s got thin skin, sparse seeds and intense flavour that’s most appreciated in salads. The tomato rosado, another pink type but from Huelva in Andalusia, is plump, large, juicy and has such delicate skin it needs to rest on wooden boards to stop it touching the ground and rotting as it ripens. The large, beautiful raf tomato, with its irregular shape and deep furrows, is a comparatively low yield, fungus-resistant breed that ripens from the inside out. Its flesh is rich, particularly sweet and juicy and is much used in Andalusia as it mainly grows around Almería. Did you know the blackish-green kumato, another inside-to-outside ripener, was developed in Spain? With its interesting, dark appearance and intense, sweet flesh, it’s become the darling of Michelin chefs. Pro tip; if you find yourself appreciating the gorgeous tomato bounty in a Spanish mercado, don’t touch! It’s customary to have staff carefully choose for you when you want to buy, often using a gloved hand, as they know what’s ripest and best. No self-help or handling by customers! Now you know.
And so, to salmorejo. While summer rages and tomatoes ripen to juicy sweetness in our part of the world, it’s time to make this Andalusian classic. Mostly associated with the town of Cordoba but common throughout the region (you can even buy it in tetra packs from the supermarket for a couple of Euros!), it’s silky and a gorgeous pink-orange colour. It differs from gazpacho both in composition (it contains none of the cucumber, capsicum and onion of a gazpacho and includes bread) and texture; it’s very thick, impossibly creamy and rich. It's usually finished with boiled egg and chopped jamón but some versions use tuna instead of the ham. It gets stinking hot in southern Spain so a refreshing chilled soup makes a lot of sense when the days are blazing. An incredibly easy dish to make and with few ingredients, Andalusian cooks make theirs by taste and eye, so not every version is precisely the same. As with all super-simple dishes, the quality of each ingredient is paramount; there’s nowhere to hide from underwhelming tomatoes, gluey bread and throat-catching olive oil. A few pointers;
+Find the fullest-flavoured, ripest, sweetest, sun-ripened tomatoes you can for this dish. In Spain they use ‘de pera’ (‘pear’) tomatoes, similar to what we variously call roma, plum or egg tomatoes. These have a thin skin, particularly meaty flesh and intense flavour – but use any type, so long as they taste really good.
+Hojiblanca olive oil , with its softer flavours, is ideal for this dish. Slightly stronger-tasting picuel or mild alberquina will also work well; a good quality olive oil (and the ripe toms) is EVERYTHING here.
+A food processor or blender is a must, or you won’t achieve the proper creamy, thick consistency. Back in the day a mortar and pestle did the job but that’s laborious (knock yourself out though) and you don’t get the full-on creaminess a machine gives. If you want an ultra-smooth soup and can be bothered, strain the tomato puree to remove the seeds, pressing hard on the solids to extract all the liquid. Then, proceed with adding the bread etc.
+Use a good bread that actually goes stale after a day or so; mass produced bread is gummy and the additives give it a distinctive taste and smell. In Cordoba they use pan de telera, a type of bread with a thin, crunchy crust and dense crumb structure that dries out a bit after a day; a good baguette or even ciabatta would do. Sourdough has too assertive a flavour.
Let’s go traveling…
