Cojondongo de Gañán

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dornillo or large mortar, or a wide mixing bowl
• •Pestle, potato masher, or sturdy wooden spoon
• •Box grater for the tomatoes
• •Sharp knife for the diced vegetables

Instructions

1. 1

   Soften the bread

   Put the 100g torn bread in a wide bowl and sprinkle it with 150ml of the cold water from the measured amount. Leave it for 10 minutes, just until it softens enough to mash. It should be damp and yielding, not floating like soup yet.

   Use bread with a firm crumb, like pan candeal or a plain country loaf. A soft sandwich loaf turns pasty and sweet, and the dish loses its backbone.
2. 2

   Make the majado

   In a dornillo, mortar, or wide mixing bowl, pound the garlic with the salt until it becomes a paste. Add the 50g roughly chopped green pepper and pound until the pepper gives up its juice. Add the softened bread and mash hard until you have a rough paste with no dry pieces. This hand-mashed base, the majado, is what makes this Cojondongo de Gañán and not a smooth Andaluz gazpacho.

   No dornillo where you are? Use a mortar for the garlic and salt, then a big bowl with a potato masher or sturdy wooden spoon. No hace falta haber pisado España.
3. 3

   Work in oil

   Pour in the 75ml olive oil little by little, mashing between additions so the bread drinks it in before the next pour. Do not rush this. The oil must disappear into the bread and garlic first; if you pour it all in at once, it sits slick on top and the soup tastes flat instead of full.

4. 4

   Add tomato and vinegar

   Mash in the 300g grated or crushed tomato, then stir in the vinegar. The mixture should look rough, red, and alive, with small flecks of green pepper. Taste now for salt and vinegar, but remember the cold will dull both.

5. 5

   Loosen and chill

   Stir in the remaining 350ml cold water a little at a time until the soup is loose enough to eat with a spoon but still has body from the bread. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. After chilling, taste again and correct the salt or vinegar. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

6. 6

   Finish the bowls

   Stir in the diced tomato, diced green pepper, and the cucumber and onion if using. Add the reserved 50g bread at the last minute so it keeps a little bite, or scatter it over each bowl. Finish with a thin thread of olive oil and serve very cold.

Chef Tips

• •Make this only when the tomatoes are heavy, ripe, and worth eating raw. Out of season, don't force it; cook migas extremeñas or an Extremaduran chickpea potaje and come back to Cojondongo when the market gives you tomatoes with flavor.
• •The bread matters. Use day-old rustic white bread with a firm crumb, not soft sandwich bread and not a very sour loaf. If the loaf is dry as a stone, dampen it a few minutes longer, then mash it well.
• •Keep the blender away if you can. A short pulse will feed you, yes, but the old dish is pounded and rough. Smooth and glossy is another cold soup.
• •Use a good wine vinegar. Sherry vinegar works well if that's what you can find; red wine vinegar is also right. Add it measured first, then correct after chilling because cold food needs a little more salt and acid than you think.
• •Serve it the day you make it. The base can sit cold for a few hours, but the diced vegetables and bread are best added close to the table so they don't go limp.

Advance Preparation

• •The majado base can be made up to 6 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator before the diced vegetables are added.
• •Dice the tomato, pepper, cucumber, and onion up to 2 hours ahead and keep them cold in a covered container.
• •Add the reserved bread and final olive oil just before serving so the bowl keeps its rough, fresh texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 385g)