This Ajo Blanco Proves That Cold Soup Can Hold Its Own

We’re chowing down on a recipe that food writer Diana Henry describes as “a kind of white gazpacho” — and as “an amazing dish.”

It comes from cookbook Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa. According to Henry, ajo blanco — the white gazpacho in question — is the kind of magical treat that we can confidently categorize as “foolproof.”

“The worst cooks can’t muck it up, you can make it in the last 10 minutes before guests arrive, and the unpromising ingredients of yesterday’s bread, almonds, garlic, water and oil are whipped into something eminently appetizing,” Henry writes.

Henry also has some gentle tips to help guide you on your road to the perfect cold soup: “Needless to say, neither the almonds nor the garlic should be old; in fact, plenty of purists would pound freshly shelled almonds in a mortar and pestle, or so they tell me. The stale bread should have been good in the first place, and the oil should be the best.” Basically, quality is the name of the game.

“Serve ajo blanco well chilled in very small portions: It’s pretty rich,” Henry advises. Sounds like the perfect precursor to your dream dinner party.

Diana Henry’s Ajo Blanco recipe

Serves 4–6

Ingredients

• 6 oz (175 g) day-old white country bread, crusts removed
• A little full-fat milk
• 7 oz (200 g) blanched almonds
• 3 garlic cloves
• 6 fl oz (175 ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
• 14 fl oz (400 ml) very cold water
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• About 32 seedless white grapes, plus more to serve
• Sea salt flakes and freshly ground white pepper

Instructions

1. Soak the bread in a bowl in enough milk to moisten it. Leave for a couple of hours, then squeeze the milk out.
2. Put the bread into a food processor with the almonds and the garlic. With the motor running, add the oil gradually, followed by the water. Season with the sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir, then taste to check whether you would like any more water or seasoning.
3. Peel the grapes. (Come on, think of it as therapeutic.) Whether you serve the soup in individual bowls or take it to the table in a tureen, scatter the peeled grapes on top and drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil. (I love the grapes with it, so I always serve more on the side, though I never get around to peeling those…)

Excerpted from Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons: Enchanting dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa, by Diana Henry, Aster.