Creams in summer, the colder the better

BarcelonaWho would eat a bowl of it in summer? The moment we write and pronounce its name, we start to sweat. However, cold creams are the dish of the season: subtle, refreshing, and capable of using up leftover ingredients from other prepared dishes. Creams are a sustainable resource: you have a piece of leek, an onion, and a pear, you add mineral water and a touch of perfume to highlight the flavors, and you've got one to eat with a spoon. In this sense, chef Carme Ruscalleda suggests cooking four traditional creams, classics of local and international cuisine that will always be relevant and, at the same time, allow for personal experimentation, so that each person can finish it with their own personal touch.

When it comes to getting started, there are some basic premises for making creams. "We try to ensure that no ingredient overwhelms the others in quantity," recommends Carme Ruscalleda as she examines the fruits and vegetables at a stall in Barcelona's Mercat de Galvany on a summer morning. "We must add just the right amount of salt, pepper, and touches of garlic, pepper, and onion, which are the aromas that envelop the dishes, although if they are unbalanced, they will cause us to remember them for hours," explains the chef. Then there's respect for colors: "Starting with classic creams, if we want to experiment, we must keep in mind that they are either white or red. So we can swap a vegetable ingredient for a summer fruit of one color or another," notes Ruscalleda, vice president of the Catalan Academy of Gastro. She then explains how to prepare the four creams.

Salmorejo recipe

What would we do without salmorejo and gazpacho? "Now we see them as very much our own, but I still remember the culture shock it caused at home when a woman from Córdoba told her mother she bought tomatoes to prepare this dish," recalls Carme Ruscalleda. "For my mother, eating tomatoes with a spoon was anti-cultural, because in summer they were destined for preserves and salads," she adds. In the kitchen, salmorejo differs from gazpacho in that it is more generously topped with breadcrumbs and extra virgin olive oil. "These two ingredients give the recipe an elegant creaminess, while also giving it a more substantial dish," explains the cook, who points out that her mother once made it with an electric mixer, a device her grandmother considered "as extraordinary as going to the moon."

The ingredients are pepper, garlic, and tomato. From here, you can experiment with strawberries, cherries, and peaches. "If we add them, then they should be equal parts tomato and strawberries, or tomatoes and cherries, or tomatoes and peaches." Cooking is about constant experimentation, but "also about getting it right," emphasizes Ruscalleda. Thus, in salmorejo, the tomato rules, which is toned down if any fruit is added. Onion and garlic should be measured. "The bread and extra virgin olive oil will provide the velvety texture that a salmorejo should have, while in gazpacho, we prefer a rock 'n' roll edge." A final tip to finish: "I usually remove the seeds from the tomatoes because I think they add a woody flavor," emphasizes the chef from Sant Pol de Mar.

Vichyssoisse recipe

The exotically named "burnt" dish. It's prepared with leeks, white slivers intertwined with each other; it has a lactic note, and the potato ties the ingredients together to give the dish elegance. "To make Vichyssoisse, it's very important that the amount of potato doesn't overpower, because it only needs to have a touch that emulsifies the recipe," explains Ruscalleda, who recommends adding summer fruits, but always white ones, such as apples, pears, or melons. "If we add them, the amount of leek used should be halved."

If there is any leftover from the day we prepare it, Vichyssoisse It can be stored in the refrigerator and eaten the next day. She recommends making it with fried bread cubes, for example, which add a crunchy touch to the sponginess of the liquid leek. Another thing you can add is a sautéed leek's green threads; a way to use everything.

Ajoblanco recipe

To the standard recipe for ajoblanco, a cream of Andalusian origin, like gazpacho and salmorejo, chef Carme Ruscalleda suggests adding white fruit: "When it's grape season, eat the fruit from the vineyard along with the cream, which is based on blanching the grapes" on the plate. Like all creams, they can be eaten, once made, by adding other ingredients that provide crunchy textures, whether or not you need to dig in. Continuing with this, although ajoblanco isn't as popular as gazpacho, it shares the same nutritional qualities as this other dish: eating garlic is good for "improving circulation, due to its sulfur compounds, which prevent blood clotting," says nutritionist Marc Vergés. The less we chop it, the better. "If we want to take advantage of its beneficial effects, we should eat it every day," adds Vergés. For the bad breath it causes, one of the reasons why people don't eat it, there is a solution: "Eat chopped parsley," he says.

Oliaigo recipe

Carme Ruscalleda learned the recipe from a customer at Sant Pau who was born in Menorca. She explained the original recipe and the variations. "The conversations I have, with the customers who came to the restaurant, but also in general, always revolve around cooking," she recalls. The fact is that the chef considers oliaigo the height of vegetable elegance. "I would say it's a pleasure for the senses," and even more so when the fig season begins, in August, and especially in September, when the fruit can be eaten with soup or cooked. Her final tip is that if you don't like chunky creams, you can blend them to make a smooth consistency. And if there's any leftover, the chef recommends using it to blanch on thin toast. And eat it with bread, which is a family tradition.