Salmorejo

Salmorejo Cordobés

A velvety, chilled tomato and bread cream from Córdoba, Spain — thicker and richer than gazpacho, finished with chopped hard-boiled egg and Jamón Ibérico. Serve ice-cold in summer.

Prep

20 min

Cook

5 min

Total

25 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •1 kg (2¼ lb) very ripe tomatoes, preferably the pera/Italian-type grown around Córdoba; ripe vine tomatoes are the closest substitute
• •200 g (7 oz) stale white country bread, 1- to 2-day-old rustic Spanish-style bread (telera/mollet), crust removed and soaked
• •1 small clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped; adjust to taste
• •120 ml (½ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, use a good Andalusian (Picual or Hojiblanca) if possible
• •1 tbsp sherry vinegar, Vinagre de Jerez; red wine vinegar is a passable substitute
• •5 g (1 tsp) fine sea salt, or to taste
• •2 large eggs, hard-boiled for the garnish (9 min from boiling); cook fully for safety
• •60 g (2 oz) Jamón Ibérico or Serrano, finely chopped for the garnish; Serrano is the common home cook's choice

Steps

1. 1 Soak the bread: remove the crusts, tear the crumb into chunks, and submerge in cold water for 5–10 minutes until soft. Squeeze out excess water and reserve.
2. 2 Wash the tomatoes well. There is no need to peel or seed them — the strainer in the next step removes skins and seeds.
3. 3 In a blender (or food processor), combine the tomatoes, the squeezed bread, the chopped garlic, the salt and the sherry vinegar. Blend until as smooth as possible.
4. 4 Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing with a wooden spoon or the back of a ladle to extract all the pulp. Discard the skins and seeds left in the sieve. (This step is what gives salmorejo its signature silky body.)
5. 5 With the blender running (or whisking vigorously), slowly stream in the olive oil until the cream is thick, glossy and a beautiful pale orange-red. Taste and adjust salt and vinegar.
6. 6 Chill thoroughly: cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, ideally 4, until very cold.
7. 7 Just before serving, hard-boil the eggs: lower 2 eggs into boiling water and cook 9 minutes for a fully set yolk (safe and traditional for the garnish). Cool, peel and finely chop.
8. 8 Finely chop the jamón.
9. 9 Serve the salmorejo in chilled shallow bowls, topped with a generous spoonful of chopped egg and jamón, and finish with a thin drizzle of olive oil.
10. 10 Safety note: serve the same day you make it and keep refrigerated; do not leave at room temperature for more than 1 hour. Use eggs and jamón within their use-by dates, as both are served without further cooking.