Do you know that even for some Andalusians it is a somewhat unknown dish?
But deep down it is a recipe that has always been with us: mazamorra is to ajoblanco what salmorejo is to gazpacho. In this post we discover the keys to this delicacy.
In the last decade many Cordovan restaurants and prominent chefs, such as Celia Jiménez, are incorporating in their menus the mazamorra, anancient cold cream based on almonds, bread, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Tourists or the locals themselves began to be surprised by this dish since ajoblanco has always been much more popular as a cold drink. As it contains less water than ajoblanco, the result is a thick and delicious cream, which can be accompanied with different toppings, making it very versatile.
What is the origin of mazamorra or ajoblanco? Well, it is believed that since Roman times something like a "majado" was already being made with these ingredients, since the mixture is highly nutritious, satiating and economical. Nowadays it is a wonderful way to make "cuisine de aprovechamiento". Traditionally it is served with whole grapes, raisins or apples. We can deduce from this that its origin is 100% Mediterranean.
This dish has different variants depending on where we are. "Maza-" means "dough" in Greek (hence comes, for example, marzipan). On the other side of the Atlantic, we find an Argentinian dessert of indigenous origin called "mazamorra", which is a kind of porridge with milk. In Eastern Mediterranean countries, the equivalent of mazamorra is a mashed mixture of legumes, oil, etc. It seems that the only thing that the mazamorras of other places have in common is the light color of the mash.
Isn't it wonderful how the climate of a country or region together with local customs can modify a dish to make it unique?
That is why gastronomy is culture, history and art.