Ajoblanco — Andalusian Chilled Almond Soup

If the almonds are skin-on, blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute, transfer them to cold water, and slip off the skins with your fingers; brown skins will turn the soup gray and leave a bitter taste. Drain the blanched almonds. Remove the germ from the center of the garlic cloves, where most of the sharpness is.

Put the almonds, garlic and salt in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of water. Process until a paste forms and the almonds release their oil, making the paste glossy; this may take 2–3 minutes. Rushing this step will leave the soup gritty.

With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil in a thin stream; the soup will visibly thicken and turn glossy. Add the apple cider vinegar and process for 10 seconds more. If you pour the oil in all at once, the emulsion will fail and droplets of oil will remain on the surface.

Adjust the consistency with the remaining ice water: ajoblanco should pour from a spoon but be noticeably thicker than water. Pass it through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the almond pulp. Chill in the refrigerator, then divide among bowls and top with halved grapes and a few drops of olive oil.