Ajo blanco

Serves 4

• 200g whole, skinned almonds
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled, inner green germ removed if necessary, roughly chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced thickly
• 100g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 500mls ice-cold water, plus a little more if necessary
• 2tsp sea salt
• 300mls extra virgin olive oil [the finer the oil, the better]
• 2-3tbsp sherry vinegar, to taste
• 1 green jalapeno chilli, de-seeded [optional]
• Quince jelly, to serve
• A little extra olive oil
• White pepper

1. Put the almonds in a frying pan and place over a low heat. Shaking them around a bit for a minute or two, allow the almonds to slightly gild; the palest, very palest tinge is all that is necessary, just to accentuate the taste of the nut. Tip onto a plate and leave to cool.
2. Put all the ingredients [apart from the quince jelly, extra oil and pepper] into a large bowl and stir together. Have another large bowl handy, with a fine sieve suspended over it.
3. Now, using a large ladle, decant 2-3 ladles of the mixture at a time into a liquidizer, process until very smooth indeed, then pour into the sieve. Use the back of a ladle to press the soup through into the bowl beneath, forcing out every last drop of liquid.
4. Once finished, add a twist of white pepper then taste the soup and whisk in any further seasonings/acidity/oil you might think necessary to suit your personal taste.
5. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, together with 4 soup bowls.
6. Once cooled, divide the soup into the bowls and add a few tiny dollops each of quince jelly, as well as the tiniest amount of olive oil.