Cojondongo de Gañán

Cojondongo de Gañán is Extremaduran, especially of Tierra de Barros, and it belongs to the field hand before it belongs to any table with a cloth on it. Bread, garlic, green pepper, ripe tomato, olive oil, vinegar, and cold water. That is the dish. Rough, cold, sharp enough to wake you up, and filling enough to count as lunch.

What decides it is the majado, the hand-mashed base. Pound the garlic with salt, then the green pepper, then the soaked bread, and only then work in the olive oil little by little. The bread has to drink the oil before the water goes in. Do that and the soup has body; skip it and you have wet bread with vegetables looking embarrassed in the bowl.

This is kin to gazpacho and salmorejo, yes, but don't make it into either one. Gazpacho Andaluz is blended smooth and drunk cold; salmorejo Cordobés is thick and rich. Cojondongo de Gañán keeps its rough edge, with diced tomato and pepper still there under the spoon. If you can't find Spanish pan candeal, use a day-old country loaf with a firm white crumb. If your tomatoes aren't worth eating raw, wait. A winter tomato will not be rescued by good intentions.

My Margin for this one is short: mash longer than you think, and chill before judging the vinegar. That's enough. Nadie nace sabiendo, nobody is born knowing, but this is a kind recipe if you follow the order.