Chef Isabel
Aguaillo de la Sierra de Cadiz
Aguaillo is from the Sierra de Cadiz: cold water, stale bread, garlic, oil and vinegar, closer to a field drink than a bowl of soup, and sharp enough to wake you in the heat.
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Ajilimojili de Jaen
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Ajilimojili is Jaen's tomato-free cold soup: potato, roasted red pepper, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar pounded into a cool, silky spoonful.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
Weeknight
20 min
Active Time
30 min cook•2 hr 50 min total
Yield4 servings
Ajilimojili is from Jaen, in Andalucia, and it proves a cold soup doesn't need tomato to be worth making. Boiled potato gives it body, roasted red pepper gives it its soft red colour, and garlic, olive oil, and vinegar wake it up. This is olive country food, plain and clever.
The method that decides it is the pounding. Mash the potato while it is still warm, work in the roasted pepper and garlic, then add the olive oil slowly so it binds instead of splitting. If you use a blender, use it gently and briefly. Potato punished too hard turns gluey, and then no amount of good oil will save the texture.
If you are far from Jaen, no hace falta haber pisado Espana. Use a good roasted red pepper from a jar if fresh peppers are poor, and use a fruity extra virgin olive oil that tastes clean, not bitter. What changes is the smoke and depth, a home-roasted pepper is sweeter and fuller, but the dish still comes out. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Serve it cold, not icy, with hard-boiled egg, a few olives, and bread for pushing through the bowl. My Margin beside this one says only: do not drown it. Loosen it little by little, because ajilimojili should be spoonable, not watery.
Ajilimojili belongs to Jaen, especially the inland olive-growing kitchens where potato, pepper, garlic, vinegar, and oil could make a meal without meat. Its name keeps the old Andaluz habit of ajo, garlic, at the centre, much like other bread, almond, or potato cold preparations made to stretch the larder through heat and hard work. It sits near the family of gazpachos without being a tomato gazpacho: a pounded cold soup from the olive province, built on body and oil rather than raw summer tomato.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
floury potatoes
Quantity
500g
peeled and cut into large chunks
red bell pepper
Quantity
250g
roasted, peeled, seeded, and torn into strips
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove
germ removed
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
75ml
preferably fruity Jaen picual
vinagre de Jerez or good white wine vinegar
Quantity
2 tablespoons
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
cold potato cooking water
Quantity
120ml, plus more if needed
hard-boiled eggs (optional)
Quantity
2
quartered
green olives (optional)
Quantity
40g
crusty bread (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| floury potatoespeeled and cut into large chunks | 500g |
| red bell pepperroasted, peeled, seeded, and torn into strips | 250g |
| garlicgerm removed | 1 small clove |
| extra virgin olive oilpreferably fruity Jaen picual | 75ml |
| vinagre de Jerez or good white wine vinegar | 2 tablespoons |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| cold potato cooking water | 120ml, plus more if needed |
| hard-boiled eggs (optional)quartered | 2 |
| green olives (optional) | 40g |
| crusty bread (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium saucepan
- •Mortar and pestle or potato masher
- •Mixing bowl
- •Fine knife or skewer for testing potatoes
Instructions
- 1
Boil the potatoes
Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water by 3cm, add a good pinch of salt, and bring to a steady simmer. Cook until a knife slides through with no resistance, about 20 to 25 minutes. Scoop out and save 250ml of the cooking water, then drain the potatoes well.
- 2
Roast the pepper
If roasting your own pepper, char it over a flame or under a grill until the skin blackens in patches, then cover it in a bowl for 10 minutes. Peel, seed, and tear it into strips. Do not rinse it under the tap; you wash away the sweet roasted juices, and those belong in the bowl.
A good jarred roasted pepper is allowed. Drain it well and pat it dry, because extra brine makes the ajilimojili taste thin. - 3
Pound the base
In a mortar, pound the garlic with the salt until it becomes a paste. Add the warm potatoes and mash them smooth, then work in the roasted pepper until the colour turns a soft brick red. Warm potato takes the oil better than cold potato, so do this before everything goes firm.
- 4
Bind with oil
Add the olive oil slowly, a spoonful at a time, beating and folding as you go. This slow addition is the whole trick: the potato catches the oil and turns silky instead of greasy. Stir in the vinegar, then loosen with about 120ml cold potato cooking water until it is thick but spoonable.
- 5
Chill and finish
Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Taste it cold and adjust salt and vinegar, because cold food always needs a clearer hand with seasoning. Serve in shallow bowls with quartered hard-boiled egg, green olives, a thread of olive oil, and bread. Tal como se hace alli, simple and useful.
Chef Tips
- •Use floury potatoes, not waxy salad potatoes. Floury potatoes mash light and take the oil; waxy ones can turn heavy and tight.
- •Picual oil from Jaen is the right voice here: green, peppery, and direct. If it is too bitter where you are, use a milder extra virgin olive oil and keep the full 75ml.
- •If fresh red peppers are dull or out of season, a good jarred roasted pepper is better than a sad fresh one. Drain it well and expect a little less roasted sweetness.
- •Do not overwork potato in a blender. A few pulses are enough. Pounded by hand is better, and no, this is not me being romantic about the mortar.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the ajilimojili up to 24 hours ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Stir before serving and loosen with a spoonful of cold potato water or plain cold water if it has tightened.
- •Roast and peel the pepper up to 2 days ahead. Keep it covered with a spoonful of olive oil in the refrigerator.
- •Boil the eggs ahead if using them; peel only when you are ready to serve so the whites stay clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 285g)
Calories
380 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
17 g
Cholesterol
95 mg
Sodium
780 mg
Total Carbohydrates
41 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
8 g
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