Use Marcona Almonds to get a superbly delicate, buttery Ajo Blanco. This delicious creamy cold soup is also known as Almond Gazpacho.
What are Marcona Almonds?
Marcona Almendras are a type of nut grown in Spain, mainly Valencia and Andalusia. Each Spring, the pink and white blossoms of the almond trees are an awesome sight – one that always makes me think of making an ajo blanco!
Marcona almonds are a great choice. But whichever almonds you do buy, make sure they are blanched. Not salted or fried. And definitely peeled. Make ajo blanco with unpeeled almonds, and you get a brown, bitty, bitter soup (been there) and peeling almonds by hand, well – life is way too short to do that ever again.
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What is Ajo Blanco?
Ajo Blanco is a Spanish cold soup – belonging to the Gazpacho family. It is a blend of almonds with bread, olive, oil, garlic, salt and vinegar.
There are some important ‘nesses‘ you are looking for with a good Ajo Blanco (almond gazpacho): ie. smoothness, coldness, and creaminess. Then it’s the hints. A suggestion of garlic, a kick of vinegar, a touch of salt, which play out against the buttery, delicate backdrop of almond.
Almond soup, smooth, cold and creamy
Toch, one of our favourite local restaurants, gets it spot on. And for 8 euros you can buy a few creamy, cold, smooth, buttery spoonfuls of almond perfection.
Last summer, I did some extensive testing, putting on a couple of kilos (but hey, that’s alright it’s unsaturated fat packed full of iron and vitamin E, right?) in the name of research.
I spoke to the chefs who let me into their secret to making an authentic ajoblanco.
Here’s how:
Use blanched, peeled almonds
Sweeter, moister and softer than the classic almond, Marcona has the perfect buttery texture needed for a white gazpacho.
Find out more about the health benefits of almond gazpacho.
Where to buy Marcona Almonds?
Buy marcona almonds online. Or, of course on your next trip to Alicante visit El Mercado Central and buy locally grown almendras from Valencia, and ask to get them vacuum packed to maintain freshness.
Almond Pairings
Get creative! Almond pairs superbly with the flavour compounds in beetroot, cherry and apricot and you can mix an ajo blanco with beetroot juice and other fruit gazpachos. Try this Beetroot & Almond Gazpacho combination.
Making Almond Gazpacho
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First, add the garlic, almonds and bread – with just enough oil to keep the blades on your blender turning, and allow the nuts to blend until smooth. This will take at least 5 minutes.
Once you have a thick paste, then add the rest of the olive oil,
Traditionally, centuries ago this would have been done by hand in a pestle and mortar. Today, the chefs at Toch use a Thermomix, but I’ve found a Magimix does the job just fine.
Here are some other tips they gave me:
Choose a mellow, yellow Olive Oil.
Pick a mellow, fruity, good quality olive oil. The stronger olive oils will dominate the flavour, go more for a yellow Arbequina than dark green Picual.
Vary the quantity of olive oil
In this recipe, based on the Toch recipe, there is a whopping 300ml of olive oil (but boy does it taste good!) However, if that feels too plentiful, you can play around with the quantity of oil in the recipe.
The amount of olive oil in all the Ajo blanco recipes I tested varied significantly. Nieves Barragan halves that amount in her recipe in her cookbook Sabor, Brindisa drops it to 60ml and Joan Roca removes the oil completely, replacing it with water.
If you use less olive oil the resulting
Ajo Blanco meaning in English: White Garlic
Literally translated
To keep a reign on the garlic make sure you crush it well with the back of a knife before adding it to the blender and if it’s a large clove use less than the recipe states.
Use your bread
Stale, day old bread works best. Tear out the inside of any tasty loaf or baguette and allow time to soak with the rest of the ingredients before you blend.
Gluten Free Ajo Blanco?
If you want to remove the gluten you can. I have tested this recipe using gluten-free bread and it turned out very much the same taste-wise, just slightly thinner.
Sopa Fria
Like any gazpacho or salmorejo, serve this soup very cold. Chill overnight in the fridge and bring it out only just before serving.
The soup will thicken overnight. Just let it down with a few drops of ice cold water. Also make sure you taste the soup again for seasoning, as the chill will dull the flavours. Quite likely, it will need another pinch of salt or drop of sherry vinegar to bring the soup alive.
Almonds and Flowers
Top with sliced almonds, a sprinkling of micro herbs and edible flowers for this pretty summer canape.
Discover how Michelin chefs are pairing ajo blanco with these unusual Gazpacho ingredients.
