Gorgeous tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers are always sold where I go for a walk near my house. Fresh from the local gardens along the Genil river you can purchase fresh vegetables daily. Gazpacho is the best summer treat, served cold in a glass with ice. In Granada you get a free tapa with that cold glass of gazpacho in any bar. But, we are not limited to the classic tomato gazpacho. The other day in one of my favorite tapas bars in Antequera I ordered a Sephardic Gazpacho or “tarator”. Tarator is originally a thick cream prepared with yogurt, walnuts and cucumber. Similar to a tzatziki. Here the yogurt is substituted with kefir and it is served in a cup and thus turned into a Sephardic Gazpacho. Perfectly refreshing and filled with flavor it was one of the best tapas I have ordered in a long time.
One of my very favorite dishes from Andalucia is Ajoblanco. It is originally made from mashed almonds, garlic, olive oil and bread, garnished with white grapes. The dish dates back to the Romans when the Iberian Peninsula was known as Hispania. At the restaurant and tapas bar Arte Cozina in Antequera the chef celebrates the origins of the local dishes. They offer an Ajoblanco made from dried fava beans which a perfect example of the history here. Instead of the white grapes they garnished it with a frozen slice of prickly pear fruit. In the summer months in Southern Spain you can purchase the peeled prickly pear fruit from street vendors so it was a perfect seasonal garnish to this amazing ajoblanco.
Fava beans have been cultivated on the Iberian Peninsula since medieval times. They are consumed fresh and raw during our May festivities in Granada, or boiled and sauteed with ham and oilive oil, dried whole , or turned into a flour. We had them recently in the Alpujarras prepared whole with an almond sauce and in Portugal they can be served to accompany fish or stewed with meat. One of my favorite recipes is from Morocco, Bessarra, which you can eat at roadside stands through the country. Made from dried fava beans into a puree and seasoned with lemon, garlic, chili pepper and cumin it is a perfect treat for weary travelers. Recently I prepared fava beans my favorite way with sauteed onions, chili peppers, bay leaf, fresh mint leaves and our best olive oil.
MOONINSPAIN 