AJOBLANCO, A SEASON CHANGER

 

White gazpacho with almonds, served with grapes, for the end of summer. 

As summer comes to an end and the season’s tomatoes begin to dwindle, the new crop of almonds arrives. It’s time to switch from red, tomato, gazpacho to ajoblanco, a white gazpacho. Ajoblanco, which means “white garlic,” is confected of almonds ground up with bread, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. Served cold, the soup is slightly tangy, very refreshing. It’s a very old peasant dish with an elegant side.  Ajoblanco makes a good afternoon snack or a starter for dinner. 

The traditional finishing touch to ajoblanco is a few golden Muscatel grapes. The sweetness of the grapes is a terrific contrast to the tangy, garlicky soup. 

Ajoblanco garnished with pieces of fresh figs, crispy croutons and droplets of extra virgin olive oil.

But ajoblanco is like a blank canvas—you have alternatives when it comes to the finishing touch. Other fruits: mango, figs, apples, melon and raisins are typical, but, why not a slice of brilliant pitaya? Slivered almonds or croutons of fried bread for crunch. Black garlic or black olives for black/white contrast. Try smoked sardines or air-dried tuna (mojama) for a salty punch. And, always, a dribble of olive oil. 

Mango on a skewer.

The subtle flavor of extra virgin olive oil is essential to ajoblanco, which changes in character with the oil. As ajoblanco is quintessentially Málaga, I like to use a Málaga varietal oil, Hojiblanco. This is definitely the time to use your finest extra virgin of whatever denomination. 

So the grapes don't sink!

Grapes are not cooperative for the ajoblanco photo shoot because they sink to the bottom of the bowl! Food photographer Miriam García, who blogs at El Invitado de Invierno, gave me a tip: Place a smaller bowl upside down in the soup bowl. Pour over the ajoblanco, then rest the grapes on the submerged surface of the smaller bowl. That’s just for the photo though. For your guests, try draping the grapes over the side of the bowl or spear them on cocktail picks.

 

Remove green shoot.

Fresh garlic is best (July is harvest month for the esteemed ajo morado, purple garlic). Used raw, it is pungent, almost biting. You’ll be amazed how adding salt and vinegar to the soup tames the garlic. Be sure to split open each clove of garlic and, with the tip of a knife, remove the green shoot, the germ, of the garlic. Raw, it is bitter and, according to campesinos, country folk, it causes the garlic to repite, to come back up on you later.

Traditionally, almonds and garlic are crushed to a paste in the almirez, a brass mortar and pestle. A blender is quicker and makes a soup just as good. You will need to add enough water to the blender so that it will grind the hard ingredients.

Blanched almonds, left; almond meal, right.

I am using new-crop almonds that I picked, shelled and blanched to remove skins. You can also use packaged blanched and skinned almonds or ground almond meal (unsweetened). In a pinch, you could make a passable ajoblanco with (unsweetened) almond milk, bread, garlic and olive oil. Use toasted almonds to garnish the faux soup. 

The bread should be from a rustic, country loaf, preferably one-day old. Cut it into chunks, removing as much crust as possible before soaking it in water to soften. 

Thin the almond-bread mixture with water so that the soup is the consistency of light cream. If you like it really thick, use less water. Adjust the salt and vinegar as well. They are essential to balance the sharp taste of raw garlic. Chilling the soup somewhat damps down the flavors, so taste it again right before serving.

Pour the soup into a pitcher or jar with a lid and refrigerate until chilled. Stir the ajoblanco before serving it, in bowls, cups or glasses, garnished with grapes. 

Pinch off skins.

To make ajoblanco with almonds in their shells:

Crack and remove shells. One pound almonds in their shells makes approximately 1 cup (5 ounces) shelled almonds. 

To blanch and skin almonds: place the almonds in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and cover them with cold water. While the almonds are still warm, pinch off the tip of the skins and squeeze out the white almonds. Discard skins.

White Gazpacho (Cold Almond-Garlic Soup)

Ajoblanco

Garnish ajoblanco with grapes or sliced figs.

Serves 4.

6 ounces day-old country bread

4 cups cold water

7 ounces blanched almonds or a combination of almonds and almond flour 

2 cloves garlic

½ cup extra virgin olive oil + more to finish the soup

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar

Grapes, to serve

Cut or break the bread into chunks, removing most of the crust. Place in a bowl and add enough of the water to barely cover it. Soak the bread until softened, about 15 minutes.

Place the bread, almonds, garlic and about 1 cup of the remaining water, enough so that the blender grinds the bread and almonds. Blend until fairly smooth. Blend in the oil, salt and vinegar until the mixture is very smooth. Blend in enough additional water to thin the soup to desired consistency. 

Chill the soup before serving. Serve the ajoblanco garnished with grapes. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil on the surface of the ajoblanco.

Fiesta del Ajoblanco in Almáchar (Málaga), Sept. 2, 2023. 

More versions of ajoblanco:

Ajoblanco Shooters.

Grilled Chicken with Ajoblanco Sauce.

Cold Almond Cream.(Mazamorra).

Ajoblanco with Apples.

Black and White Garlic Gazpacho.

FIGS-- FOR THE BIRDS AND FOR US

 

A heap of fresh figs picked from two trees in my garden. 

“You’d better dig up some fig recipes,” said Ben, as he dumped a basketful of fresh figs on my kitchen counter. Most years I would watch field rats and blackbirds darting among the broad fig leaves, nibbling and pecking at the ripe fruit. I gladly accepted bags of figs from friends’ gardens.

The birds missed these figs.

This year, there are enough figs from the two gnarly fig trees on our property for us and for the rats and birds. Perhaps the only benefit of serious drought is that the figs are both plentiful and especially sweet. 

Should you have the good fortune to be loaded with fresh figs, check at the end of this post for links to more recipes. So far, I’ve made fig salad, fig BBQ sauce and, here, a fig mousse, so sweet it requires no additional sugar. 

Luscious, creamy fig mousse, easy to make.

Fig Mousse

Espuma de Higos

Figs do not need to be peeled for this recipe.

Serves 6.

1 ½ pounds fresh figs

½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

½ cup cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chilled whipping cream 

2 tablespoons blanched almond halves

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ teaspoon brown sugar

Figs, to garnish (optional)

Wash the figs and snip off stems. Cut the figs in half and place them in a blender or food processor with the lemon zest and juice. Blend until coarsely chopped. Add the softened cream cheese and blend until it is smooth and combined with the figs. Add the vanilla. Scrape the figs into a mixing bowl.

Using chilled beaters and chilled bowl, whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the fig mixture. Spoon the fig mousse mixture into six dessert cups. 

Toast the almonds with the oil in a small skillet. When they are golden, add the brown sugar and heat, stirring, until the sugar melts. Remove from heat and scrape the almonds onto a plate to cool. Scatter the almonds on top of the cups of mousse.

Chill the mousse at least 2 hours. Serve the mousse cold garnished with quartered figs, if desired.

My neighbor, Karine, another fan of figs.

More recipes with fresh figs:

Grilled Figs and Bacon.

Grilled Chicken and Fig Salad.

Fig and Goat Cheese Flatbread.

Fig Salsa.

Fig BBQ Sauce.

Hot Gazpacho with Figs.

Figgy Fritters (Buñuelos).

Fig Ice Cream.

GRILL WEEK

 How did we get through two weeks of family meals without ever grilling? And, with two experienced barbecuers around, at that. I suppose it’s because we rarely sat down all together, making it hardly worth while to fire up the grill.

This week, in an attempt to keep a cool kitchen, I am grilling every single day. With the addition of salad-y foods and pots of rice and pasta, I’ve got lunches and dinners for days.

Ben gave me a grilling tutorial on day one to get me started. (We are using a gas barbecue.) His advice is pretty basic: Scrape the grill rack. Turn the gas on High to burn off residue. Scrub the grates with a half-lemon speared on a long-handled fork or tongs. Don’t use any oil on the grates nor on the foods to be grilled. Heat the grill very hot before placing food on it, then lower the heat as needed. Don’t use marinades, rubs or sauces that contain sugar, which can cause the food to burn. Add barbecue sauce at the very end of cooking time. 

Sea bass (lubina) on the grill with a bunch of vegetables.

So simple! A whole sea bass (about 1 3/4 pounds) on the grill. The fish vendor suggested not removing scales. I sprinkled it with salt, nothing else. No oil. Surprisingly, the fish did not stick to the grill at all. 

Remove the fish from the refrigerator 20 minutes before grilling. Salt it inside and outside. Heat grill to maximum. Place fish on the grill, reduce heat and lower the cover. Grill 5 minutes. Turn the fish and grill 2 minutes longer or until fish, when prodded with a skewer, seems to separate easily from the spine. 

In the kitchen, I removed the head, pulled off the skin and lifted the fillets off the bone. I served the fish with a hot-spicy Green Chile Sauce, Mojo Verde (the recipe for mojo verde is here.)

Vegetables for grilling.

Any time the grill is on, you can be sure I'll add some vegetables on the side of the main item. Mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, peppers, onions, garlic, eggplant, tomatoes are all good. The vegetables pictured grilled alongside the fish, but I didn't prepare them, removing skins and cutting them up, until the next day. 

Albacore tuna (bonito del norte) on the grill.

Albacore tuna (bonito del norte) is a summertime favorite and amazingly economical. I bought two thick steaks, about 15 ounces each. Dipped them in coarse salt and sesame seeds, seared them on a preheated very hot grill, 2 minutes per side. I wanted them rare in the center, but made the mistake of turning them a second time. Experience is everything with grilling!

The albacore tuna was delicious sliced and served with Japanese-style ponzu sauce (the ponzu sauce recipe is  here.), rice, bok choy and coleslaw with black sesame. Leftover grilled bonito made a good lunch in a salade Niçoise. 

Pasta with grilled vegetables.

And those gorgeous grill-roasted vegetables?  After peeling the eggplants, peppers, onion and tomatoes, I pulled them into strips for escalivada, a Catalan dish. (That recipe is here.) I  sautéed the vegetables and the mashed roasted garlic in olive oil with 1 cup grated tomato pulp and white wine to make a pasta sauce. Here it is served on noodles and topped with requesón, the Spanish version of ricotta, pine nuts and chopped basil for a summery vegetarian dish. 

Racks of ribs on the grill, before adding Fig BBQ Sauce. Those tomatoes, once they char and soften, will be stashed for a future pasta sauce.

No grill week is complete without ribs! I had two small racks of ribs, each weighing about 1 ½ pounds. I marinated them in a semi-adobo, with salt, pepper, oregano and vinegar (no pimentón, which burns easily; no oil, which causes flare-ups). Placed on a preheated hot grill, they cooked 12 minutes before turning. Another 12 minutes. Then I brushed them on one side with Fig BBQ Sauce and let that brown nicely (careful!) before brushing the reverse side with more sauce and turning to glaze. The recipe for Fig BBQ Sauce is below.

Grilled ribs are finished with a fig BBQ sauce, served with skewered grilled figs and grilled potatoes. 

I served grilled potatoes with the ribs. They were par-boiled, then cut in halves, brushed with a little oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper and sprigs of rosemary and placed on the grill just until lightly browned. I had leftover grilled potatoes, so, the next day, I turned them into Green Potato Salad!

For the Green Potato Salad: Cut cooked potatoes into dice. Add chopped celery, onion and red bell pepper. Add spoonsful of Green Chile Sauce (mojo verde, the sauce that accompanied the grilled sea bass) and mix gently. Add more salt and vinegar, to taste. 

Small, spatchcocked chickens splayed out on the grill. Grill week came to an abrupt end when the butane gas bottle ran out! Luckily, it was in the last few minutes of cooking time. The smaller chicken was done to perfection. The larger one I'll use, cut up, incorporated in different dishes that will cook a little longer. I served the grilled chicken with chunky Fig BBQ Sauce on the side, not brushed on the birds as for the pork ribs. Same sauce, different ways to use it.

I like these small, whole chickens (each weighing about 2 pounds) because they roast so quickly and stay juicy. For the grill, I spatchcocked them first (removed the back bone), then dry-brined them. I served them with chunky fig sauce. 

Remove back bone from chicken.

To spatchcock a chicken: Place the chicken on cutting board, breast-side down. With a sharp knife, cleaver or kitchen scissors, cut out the center backbone, from neck to tail. (Save it for the stock-pot.) Turn breast-side up and press down on the breast bone to slightly flatten the chicken. Salt the chicken generously, inside and out. Leave it, uncovered, in the refrigerator at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. 

Preheat grill to very hot. Lay chickens, cut-side down, on the grill. Close the cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. (Or turn off one of the three burners.) Roast the chickens 15 minutes. Check to make sure the chickens are not burning. Move them to different positions on the grill, but don’t flip them yet. Grill 15 minutes and move them again. After a total of 45 minutes, turn the chickens skin-side down and roast 15 minutes more to brown the skins. (Larger chickens will take longer. Cook to an internal temperature of 160ºF in the thickest part of the thigh.)

Chicken with Chunky Fig Sauce

Serve the chicken hot, warm or cold accompanied by the Fig BBQ Sauce (recipe below). 

Fig BBQ Sauce

Salsa de Higos para Barbacoa

Super-sweet ripe figs give this barbecue sauce substance without the addition of sugar. A sweet wine, such as Pedro Ximenez, adds to the fruity, caramel flavors. Balance them with vinegar and lemon juice. The figs do not need to be peeled. The sauce can be used chunky or pureed to make a sauce that can be brushed on a rack of ribs. For grilling, add the sauce at the end of cooking time so the sauce doesn’t burn. 

Chunky fig BBQ sauce.

Makes 3 cups of sauce.

1 ½ pounds ripe figs (4 cups chopped)

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup sweet wine 

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon grated ginger

¼ cup white wine vinegar

1 strip lemon zest, minced

¼ cup water

1 dried chile (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Chop figs without peeling.

Wash the figs, remove stems and chop the figs. Combine them in a saucepan with the soy, wine, garlic, ginger, vinegar, zest, water, chile, if using, and salt. Place over high heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Lower heat and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, until thickened, about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice. Cool the sauce.

If desired, puree all or part of the sauce. If using as a sauce for foods on the grill, add it at the end of the cooking time and watch carefully so that the sauce doesn’t char. 

Skewer ripe figs on rosemary twigs and grill. Wow!

More grill recipes:

Grilled Sardines and Cornbread.

Swordfish Brochettes.

Sauce for Grilled Vegetables.

Barbecue Sauce for Ribs.

Grilled Ibérico Pork.

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Onion Marinade.

COOKING FOR FAMILY

They stand head and shoulders over me! On the left is my son, Daniel, then his two sons, Nico, 15, and Lucas, 18. On the far right is my son, Benjamin, and next to him, his son, Leo, who is 19. All five are 6-foot or over. 

 Are these giant people really related to me? My two sons are six-foot and a fraction. Two of their sons are six-one and a fraction and, the tallest, six-five! It can’t all be genes (my sons’ father was not a tall man; the mothers of my grandsons are not especially tall women). 

Good nutrition? I grew up short, in Illinois, in the post World War II years. My kids grew up tall in the 70s on Spanish food. The grandsons are still growing, one here in Spain, the other two in Atlanta, GA. They’re all eating at my table this week. This is both a joy and a chaotic, frantic scramble to keep sufficient quantities of food on hand and to keep up with all the comings and goings of busy teens. 

Lunch: tuna-mac with Daniel and his wife, Eli. 

We are seven at table. “You never cook enough food,” said Ben, my younger son. “Cook twice as much as you think you need, then add rice, pasta and bread.” Here's how it's going.

Day 1. For lunch, a huge bowl of tuna-mac, pasta salad with tuna, but dressed with ponzu instead of mayo. For dinner, one of my go-to dishes, arroz con pollo, chicken with rice. I did the prepping while everyone was napping away their jetlag. 

Arroz con pollo.

Day 2. The whole gang spends the day at the beach. They send me pictures on WhatsAp of the grilled octopus and sea bass they're eating at a beach chiringuito. I’m allergic to sun, so I stay home and roast four chickens—with the air conditioning going during the hours when electricity rates are lowest (3-5 in the afternoon).  I vary the herb rub for the chickens. This time it is za’atar, lemon, garlic and olive oil. Once cooled, I slice the breasts to serve with pita bread, tahina and cucumber tzatziki.

I make sides of my favorite Moroccan eggplant dish, zeilouk (pictured at right),  and a heap of cous cous taboulleh.  For dessert, not-Basque burnt cheesecake, stored in the freezer because no one was here to eat it a month ago. 

Day 3. The family meets me in town after my aerobics class for breakfast at a café in the plaza. For lunch, I’m so glad when Ben steps up to make lunch—nasi goreng, a fried rice dish he learned to love on surfing trips to Indonesia. After spooning on super-hot sambal, they are all soon breathing fire. They have dinner at a friend’s house. I happily eat leftovers and enjoy the silence.

Day 4. Daniel does breakfast for everyone. Eggs fried in pairs, or in Nico’s case, threes, plus bacon, toast, tomatoes. They’ve just gone through more than a dozen eggs! I put eggs on the list. Eli cuts a watermelon into chunks for everyone to help themselves. Breakfast is late enough that it can serve as lunch.  And, off to the beach.

I’ve got the whole afternoon to make meatballs in almond sauce, albóndigas con salsa de almendras (shown at left), using almost 3 pounds of ground chicken thighs. I will serve them with rice as well as fries, a big salad and a side of chard with pine nuts.

Finally, the evening is cool enough to eat on the terrace.  From the left, Nico, Lucas and Leo, waiting for food to be served.

Day 5. Nico and I make poke bowls for lunch with tuna and wakame salad. Leo and Nico go off to shoot hoops in the late afternoon and Lucas goes to soccer practice with the local football team. (Lucas, a goal keeper, will play with the Amherst College team in the fall.) A heap of chicken legs and other leftovers will assuage hunger when they finally get home. 

Days 6 and 7. The family of four goes off to Sevilla, where Lucas will meet up with some friends from his high school. Nico, Daniel and Eli use the hotel pool and spa until late evening when the streets are cool enough for strolling. Sevilla reaches 42ºC—almost 108ºF in the afternoon! 

Day 8. Hectic comings and goings. Eli to Málaga for shopping. She  meets up with Lucas at the train station. He returned from Sevilla on the high-speed AVE train. I’ve planned a big taco dinner with pulled pork and chicken with homemade taco sauce, salsa with homegrown jalapeño, guacamole, beans, rice, etc. But I forgot about soccer practice. They return in shifts. I sit down to eat with the first round and leave all the food out for the rest, who don't return until after 11 p.m.

Day 9. After a week off, Ben returns to his job at Puerto Banus and shows the family around the marina. Daniel drives Leo back to his mum’s house in Sotogrande. I might not see Leo again before he goes off to Plymouth University next month. The family has lunch at a venta, a roadside eatery, serving a menu del dia—starter, main dish, dessert—for about €11.00. Not bad for Marbella’s Golden Mile.

Day 10. I am preparing turkey kebabs marinated in hibiscus BBQ sauce (recipe from New York Times Food) to cook on the grill. But, plans change. The family is off somewhere. Daniel grew up in this village and so has lots of friends to connect with. Lucas has one more soccer practice before he leaves. Ben and I eat kebabs.

Day 11. I make tomato gazpacho using ground almonds instead of bread as a thickener. We all sit down to lunch with gazpacho, kebabs, rice, salad, kidney bean-corn salad, sliced ham, fresh bread, watermelon. The AC is keeping us cool on a very hot day.

Dinner out tonight! We go to a nearby venta converted to a grill restaurant, Los Condes, with extended family we're a table of nine. We enjoy everything from salmon, to lamb chops to ibérico pork to duck breast to entrecôte. 

Day 12. Packing. I fix breakfast for Lucas and Nico. Roast chicken again tonight for whomever is home. It’s sure going to be quiet when they leave! I wonder how much they’ll grow before I see them again?

On a previous visit, in 2013.

Same guys, 10 years later, summer 2023. (From the left, Lucas, Leo, Nico, Ben and Daniel.)

More cooking for family:

2010 Food Critics, Junior Division.

2013 Kid Stuff.

2016 The Churros Gang.