PORRA ANTEQUERANA

PHOTO: Lorena M.

Hi all! Today my particular photographer craved for porra antequerana. The 'porra' is a cold dish made basically of crushed tomato. It is similar to 'gazpacho' but the gazpacho is a soup while the porra has a creamy texture. It is the ‘star’ of the cuisine of Antequera (a lovely little city at the north of Málaga) and its region. At the south of Córdoba, bordering with Málaga, this dish is called ‘salmorejo’. There are some differences between salmorejo and porra but they are inappreciable (salmorejo recipe has egg and porra recipe has vinegar and green pepper). Nevertheless everytime that someone says they are the same, be prepared for a long long discussion about ethereal differences…

The name comes from the instrument used anciently to prepare the dish (porra is the pestle). This is the traditional way but I prefer to use a modern and powerful mixer which allow us to obtain wonderful creamy textures and of course will save a lot of work. At this point, probably the same people involved in the futile discussion above will roar about using a mixer instead of a mortar…

This dish is a typical preparation of the Andalusian countryman and it is fantastic to recover the strength after a hard day working in the summer, in the fields, under the sunbeams. Then, you must taste it very very cold when the thermometer raises up to 35ºC…

INGREDIENTS     (For 2 hungry persons)

• 1 kg red tomatoes (as much red as possible)
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 clove garlic (not too big)
• 100 gr. stale bread (of the day before)
• 1 tbsp Wine vinegar
• 30 ml. de extra virgin olive oil
• 2 boiled eggs.
• Iberian cured ham
• A pinch of salt

METHOD

Wash carefully the tomatoes. Peel them, chop them in big pieces and eliminate the seeds and the hard white part. Peel the garlic clove and remove the central part. Put the tomatoes in the mixer together with the garlic, the bread broken in tiny pieces and the pepper. Let the bread get wet and crush. Add the salt and the vinegar. Mix again to homogenize. Keep on mixing and add the oil very very slowly. Put in the fridge until serving.

Serve in a bowl. Chop the ham and the eggs in little cubes and decorate the bowls with the ham, the eggs and some drops of olive oil.

DIFFICULTY

The quantities of salt, garlic, vinegar and oil are approximate (it’s a matter of personal choice). If we are not sure enough, the best way to proceed is to add small quantities of these ingredients and mix. Too much garlic may produce an intolerable digestion. I use to taste the tomato cream whilst I’m preparing it, taking care of not adding too much of oil, vinegar or salt.

OZEMIGUÉ