Gazpacho and Salmorejo

Both begin as bread, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and tomato blended cold, and both predate tomatoes, having existed as white soups of bread, garlic and oil long before the Americas. The difference is proportion. Gazpacho includes cucumber, pepper and onion, uses less bread and more water, and is thin enough to drink from a glass, often served with diced vegetables on the side. Salmorejo, from Cordoba, uses far more bread and oil and no other vegetables, producing something thick enough to hold a spoon upright, orange rather than red, and it is served topped with chopped hard-boiled egg and jamon serrano. Cordobeses are firm that the two are not variants of each other. Both are summer food and rarely appear in winter.

What you actually see

• The thin gazpacho - a drinkable soup with cucumber, pepper and onion.
• The thick salmorejo - a dense bread-heavy cream from Cordoba.
• The salmorejo topping - chopped egg and jamon over the surface.
• The summer season - both served cold and mainly from June onward.

When to go

June to September, when they are on every menu in Andalusia; outside summer they appear less often and are sometimes served from a carton. Cordoba is the place for salmorejo and Seville for gazpacho.

Honest expectations

Bar versions vary enormously and some are made from commercial cartons, which is obvious once you have had a good one. Both are heavy on raw garlic and vinegar. Salmorejo's egg and ham topping makes it unsuitable for vegetarians unless requested without.

Nearby

Cordoba, Seville and the Andalusian towns all serve both, with regional variations in every province.