Chef Isabel
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Almogrote Gomero
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Almogrote Gomero is La Gomera's hard-cheese spread: cured goat cheese, garlic, pimentón, dried red pepper, and oil worked into a thick rust-red paste.
Appetizers & Snacks
Spanish
Quick Meal
Make Ahead
Picnic
20 min
Active Time
5 min cook•25 min total
YieldAbout 350g, enough for 6 to 8 servings
Almogrote Gomero belongs to La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, and it is not a polite little cheese dip. It is hard cured island cheese brought back to life with garlic, pimentón, dried red pepper, and oil, pounded into a rough rust-red spread for warm bread or papas arrugadas, the wrinkled salt potatoes of the islands.
The method that decides it is the texture. Grate the cheese very fine first, then work in the pepper paste and oil little by little until it becomes thick and spreadable, not loose and glossy like a sauce. Almogrote should sit on the bread with weight. If you pour in the oil all at once, the cheese clumps, the garlic shouts, and the whole thing turns greasy instead of deep.
If you can't find queso gomero, use a very hard cured goat cheese, or a dry Manchego curado if that's what you have. The flavor will be less goaty and less island-salty, but it will behave. Pésalo, no lo adivines. This is a dish born from saving a cheese gone dry, so the old hard piece at the back of the fridge is not a problem here, it's the point.
Make it, let it rest, and taste it again. The garlic settles, the pimentón stains the oil, and by the next day it spreads better. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Almogrote is the Gomero descendant of almodrote, an old Iberian cheese sauce that survived in La Gomera after it had faded from most mainland tables. The island version answers a preserving need: hard cured goat cheese could be grated, pounded with pepper, garlic, and oil, and made useful again instead of being wasted. It belongs to the Canarian table with bread, wine, and papas arrugadas, close in spirit to the islands' mojos but thicker, heavier, and ruled by the cheese.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
very hard cured Gomero goat cheese
Quantity
250g
finely grated
dried red pepper or ñora
Quantity
1, about 8g
soaked, seeded, and scraped
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
peeled
sweet pimentón de la Vera
Quantity
1 teaspoon
hot pimentón or ground pimienta picona (optional)
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
90ml, plus 1 tablespoon if needed
white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
small ripe tomato (optional)
Quantity
1, about 80g
peeled and grated
fine sea salt (optional)
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon, only if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| very hard cured Gomero goat cheesefinely grated | 250g |
| dried red pepper or ñorasoaked, seeded, and scraped | 1, about 8g |
| garlicpeeled | 2 cloves |
| sweet pimentón de la Vera | 1 teaspoon |
| hot pimentón or ground pimienta picona (optional) | 1/4 teaspoon |
| extra virgin olive oil | 90ml, plus 1 tablespoon if needed |
| white wine vinegar | 1 tablespoon |
| small ripe tomato (optional)peeled and grated | 1, about 80g |
| fine sea salt (optional) | 1/4 teaspoon, only if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Box grater or microplane
- •Large mortar and pestle, or food processor
- •Small bowl for soaking pepper
Instructions
- 1
Soak the pepper
Put the dried red pepper or ñora in a small bowl and cover it with just-boiled water. Leave it 20 minutes, until soft. Split it open, discard the seeds and stem, and scrape the softened red flesh from the skin with the back of a knife.
If you only have ñoras, use them. If you find Canarian pimienta picona, better. It gives the sharper island heat, but the paste still works without pretending. - 2
Pound the base
Put the garlic in a mortar with the scraped pepper flesh, sweet pimentón, hot pimentón if using, vinegar, and the grated tomato if you want that softer Gomero version. Pound to a thick red paste. The garlic should disappear into the pepper, not sit in raw chunks.
- 3
Work in cheese
Add the finely grated cheese by handfuls, pounding and pressing it into the red paste. This is the step that makes almogrote and not a bowl of seasoned grated cheese. The finer the cheese, the smoother the spread; big shavings stay stubborn and never quite become one paste.
- 4
Add oil slowly
Drizzle in the olive oil a spoonful at a time, pounding or stirring hard after each addition, until the almogrote is thick, rust-red, and spreadable. Stop when it holds its shape on a spoon. If it is too stiff, add the extra tablespoon of oil; if it is loose, work in a little more grated cheese.
- 5
Rest and serve
Taste before salting, because cured cheese may already carry enough. Scrape the almogrote into a small bowl, cover, and let it rest at least 30 minutes. Serve thick on warm bread, or with papas arrugadas. By tomorrow it will be stronger, redder, and better behaved.
Chef Tips
- •The cheese must be hard and cured. A young goat cheese will smear and taste milky, not sharp. Almogrote was made to use cheese that had dried out, so choose the firmest piece you can grate.
- •If queso gomero is out of reach, use a hard cured goat cheese first. Dry Manchego curado works at a pinch, but it will taste rounder and less goaty. That is the compromise, not a failure.
- •Some Gomero kitchens add tomato and some don't. Tomato makes the spread softer and a little brighter; without it, the almogrote is stronger, saltier, and keeps longer.
- •Serve it with warm bread, boiled potatoes, or papas arrugadas. Do not thin it into a dip. Almogrote should be spread with a knife, thick enough to leave ridges.
Advance Preparation
- •Make it at least 30 minutes ahead so the garlic settles and the pimentón stains the oil properly.
- •Keeps 5 to 7 days covered in the refrigerator. Bring it back to room temperature before serving and stir in a teaspoon of oil if it has tightened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 50g)
Calories
265 calories
Total Fat
24 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
35 mg
Sodium
410 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
10 g
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