Málaga, · Andalusia Techniques

The oldest of the Andalusian cold soups — predating tomato-based gazpacho by centuries, and in its nut and bread structure clearly revealing its Moorish ancestry. Ajoblanco is made from stale bread, raw blanched almonds, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and ice water — blended to a smooth, creamy white soup that is simultaneously austere and intensely flavoured. Traditionally served with muscat grapes or sliced melon. The Moorish DNA is undeniable: almonds, bread, acid, and cool service. This is the food of Al-Andalus preserved in the white villages of Málaga's interior, particularly around Archez and Cómpeta.

One of the most unusual soups in Spanish cooking — a warm fish broth stabilised with mayonnaise, producing a creamy, emulsified, warm-cold experience that defies easy categorisation. The name deliberately invokes gazpacho (the cold soup) but the technique is entirely different: a fish broth is made and brought to serving temperature, then mayonnaise is whisked in off the heat to emulsify without scrambling. The result is silky, slightly sharp from the vinegar in the mayonnaise, and rich. Gazpachuelo is a fisherman's dish from Málaga — made on the boats with potato, fresh fish, and whatever oil and vinegar the crew had. The mayonnaise version is the more refined urban adaptation.