Porra Antequerana
Electus

Best recipe review

Nice garlic dip

3.9/5

Reminds me of holidays.

Paul R Smith
Servings:Serves 4 - Several people as a tapa
Calories per serving:406
Ready in:15 minutes
Prep. time:15 minutes
Cook time:None
Difficulty:Easy
Recipe author:JuliaBalbilla
First published:16th August 2013

Porra is a member of the gazpacho family, but is not a soup. It is much thicker and is invariably served as a tapa.

Antequera is about 50 km inland from Málaga and "Antequerana" seems to be the generic name for this dish, but bars and restaurants in that part of Spain sometimes name it after their own particular town or village. See below for La Porra Archidonesa, a piece of free verse


Ingredients

Printable 🖨 shopping 🛒 list & 👩‍🍳 method for this recipe

Method

  1. Soak the breadcrumbs in water for a few minutes - but see the poem below!. If you are using tinned tomatoes, the juice is excellent for soaking.
  2. Squeeze the breadcrumbs to extract as much liquid from them as you can and put them in a blender or food processor with the garlic. Pulse for a few seconds to ensure that the garlic is finely chopped.
  3. Add the oil, paprika, tomatoes and vinegar or lemon juice. Blend thoroughly until the mixture is smooth and thick. Add salt to taste and chill briefly.
  4. Meanwhile, chop the ham quite finely and drain and mash the tuna (if using). Chop the eggs into smallish pieces.
  5. Pour the porra mixture in small bowls and place the ham, tuna and eggs on top of it in separate places. Do not mix them in.

Serving suggestions

Serve with pieces of crusty bread and small breadsticks. Eat with a fork, not a spoon.

Variations

There are many, many variations of porra, eg. sometimes a skinned roasted pepper is added or the paprika left out. However, you must ensure that the proportion of bread, tomatoes and oil are the same as above and that you do include some garlic, even if it is only one clove. To make Porra archidonesa, omit the paprika and add a skinned roasted green pepper.

Eggs and ham are always added as a garnish.

Chef's tip

For extra richness, a dash or two of olive oil can be added to the surface.

Serrano ham is available in most supermarkets, including "budget" supermarkets such as Lidl's. If you are unable to get it, substitute with another sort of dry-cured ham. Do not use ordinary boiled ham.

Whilst porra is officially a tapa, it would also make an excellent first course. Do not serve too much though as it is rather filling.

A poem: La Porra Archidonesa

by Miguel Salcedo Hierro translated from Gazpachos, Sopas y Ajos Blancos by Enrique Mapelli López, Editorial Arguval (Málaga) ISBN 8495948702

In a round ‘dornillo’ 1

one throws salt and one or two garlics2

a large green pepper

and three peeled tomatoes.

All of this you begin to crush

together with smashed pieces of bread;

without soaking the latter

-for that is for bad porras-.

to it one adds little by little

light olive oil

and a large dash of vinegar,

that is to give it a sharp edge.

One beats, beats, how one beats ...

And we give ourselves a rest

when all is merged

when all is thickened.

To the porra of Archidona

we will go, spoon in hand!

Footnotes
  • 1 A dornillo is a type of wooden bowl
  • 2 I think this means 2 cloves rather than 2 bulbs of garlic

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