Salmorejo, sometimes known as ardoria or ardorío, is a traditional

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...

originating from Andalusia, southern Spain, made of tomato,

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

, extra virgin olive oil and

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

. Normally, the tomatoes are skinned and then puréed with the other ingredients. The salmorejo is served cold and may be garnished with diced Spanish ibérico ham and diced hard-boiled eggs.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 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 Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo''). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...

, Portugal, after the Spanish prisoners were released in the aftermath of the Battle of Montes Claros. Salmorejo is more pink-orange in appearance than gazpacho, and is also much thicker and creamier in texture, because it includes more

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

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

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

cuisine. It is used to flavour meat before cooking, especially

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

(''conejo en salmorejo'') which is a speciality of the islands. Typical marinade ingredients include salt, garlic,

paprika Paprika ( US , ; UK , ) is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers. It is traditionally made from ''Capsicum annuum'' varietals in the Longum group, which also includes chili peppers, but the peppers used for paprika tend to be milder an ...

and hot peppers. Salmorejo should not be confused with the southern Italian/Sicilian

salmoriglio Salmoriglio is a southern Italian condiment made of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and herbs (such as oregano and parsley).Rosetta Costantino with Janet Fletcher, ''My Calabria: Rustic Family Cooking from Italy's Undiscovered South'' (W ...

, despite both sharing the same etymology (from Latin ''salimuria'' meaning "brine"). Whereas salmorejo is a tomato-based soup, salmoriglio is a sauce consisting of lemon, herbs, and olive oil.

See also