Salmorejo, sometimes known as ardoria or ardorío, is a traditional soup originating from

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

, southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, made of

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

, bread,

extra virgin olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

and garlic. Normally, the tomatoes are skinned and then

purée A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., apple ...

d with the other ingredients. The salmorejo is served cold and may be garnished with diced Spanish ibérico ham and diced hard-boiled

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

.Teresa Barrenechea, Christopher Hirsheimer, Jeffrey Koehler, (2005), ''The cuisines of Spain: exploring regional home cooking'', New York, Ten Speed Press, , pag. 67 The bread used for salmorejo is called '' pan de telera'', which is equivalent to Castilian pan candeal. This is a bread with a very dense and white crumb (as it is made with a variety of

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bread ...

that has a high protein content and less water and gluten content than other flours) and thin crust. Using this kind of bread is important to give salmorejo its characteristic texture. It is believed that the original recipe was brought from the region of Alentejo,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, after the Spanish prisoners were released in the aftermath of the

Battle of Montes Claros The Battle of Montes Claros was fought on 17 June 1665, near Vila Viçosa, between Spanish and a combined Anglo-Portuguese force as the last major battle in the Portuguese Restoration War. The battle resulted in a decisive Portuguese victory an ...

. Salmorejo is more pink-orange in appearance than

gazpacho Gazpacho (; ) or Gaspacho (), also called Andalusian gazpacho, is a cold soup and drink made of raw, blended vegetables. It originated in the southern regions of the Iberian peninsula and spread into other areas. Gazpacho is widely eaten in Sp ...

, and is also much thicker and creamier in texture, because it includes more olive oil and bread and this is of a different kind (in gazpacho, usually stale loaf bread soaked in water is used). In Salmorejo, per 1 kg of tomatoes, 200 g of bread and 100 g of olive oil are used. There are several variations in

, including ''ardoria'' and ''porra antequerana'' (with bits of tuna as topping). Salmorejo is also the name given to a

marinade Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flav ...

typical of Canary Islands cuisine. It is used to flavour meat before cooking, especially rabbit (''conejo en salmorejo'') which is a speciality of the islands. Typical marinade ingredients include salt, garlic, paprika and hot peppers. Salmorejo should not be confused with the southern Italian/Sicilian salmoriglio, despite both sharing the same etymology (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''salimuria'' meaning "brine"). Whereas salmorejo is a tomato-based soup, salmoriglio is a sauce consisting of lemon, herbs, and olive oil.

See also

References

Further reading