Porra de Naranja - Orange Porra © Michelle Chaplow |
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Porra de Naranja
Porra is a thick cold soup that, like most cold soups or gazpachos (porras, ajoblancos, salmorejos catana, mazamorra, ardoria, pimentón, aguaíllo etc) is defined in the dictionary as ´A type of cold soup that is normally made with pieces of bread and oil, vinegar, salt, garlic, onion and other spices.´ It is a common mistake to think that gazpacho and porra al tomate are the same.
In the pre-polytunnel past, when there weren´t any tomatoes during the winter, people would make use of other ingredients to give more flavour to the plain taste of the bread, garlic and oil; it was the orange that provided a drop of acidic sharpness or, as it was better called, bitterness.
The growth in popularity of these ´gazpachos´ or cold soups has been so great that, nowadays, it´s normal to see gazpachos on the menu with melon, cherries, beetroot, apples, strawberry or avocado... But we shouldn't forget that gazpacho, like this porra, was made out of necessity and it wasn't always so popular, as per the old saying: ´There is no more of a difference among the working-class and the plebs, as there is between ham and gazpacho´.
This recipe is "The real McCoy", prepared by Arte de Cozina in Antequera.
Ingredients
For four people:
- ½ litre of natural orange juice, from the carton.
- 1 loaf of stale bread (around ½ kilo)
- 1 small garlic clove
- 150cl of olive oil
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
Soak the bread in the orange juice. Blend well and throw in the garlic, oil and salt, mixing it all up until you have obtained the preferred texture.