History

Almond-thickened sauces are one of the clearest inheritances the caliphate left in Córdoba's cooking. Before roux and before cream, kitchens here thickened liquid by pounding fried bread and blanched almonds in a mortar with saffron and garlic, a technique that runs through medieval Andalusi manuscripts and survives on tabernas cartas today. The same base sauce carries meatballs, chicken, salt cod or hard-boiled eggs depending on the house. Ermita de la Candelaria, cooking in a converted hermitage, keeps the meatball version on its carta as a house plate.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Nuts, Egg

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 35 minTotal 1 hr 10 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 300g minced pork
  • 300g minced beef
  • 1 egg
  • 50g breadcrumbs
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Chopped parsley
  • Plain flour for dusting
  • Olive oil
  • 100g blanched almonds
  • 2 slices stale bread
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled
  • A pinch of saffron threads
  • 150ml dry Montilla-Moriles fino
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Mix the two minces with the egg, breadcrumbs, minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Roll into balls the size of a walnut.
  2. Dust the meatballs in flour and fry in olive oil until browned all over. Set aside.
  3. In the same oil, fry the almonds, the bread slices and the whole garlic cloves until golden, then lift out.
  4. Pound or blend the fried almonds, bread, garlic and saffron with a ladle of stock to a smooth paste.
  5. Deglaze the pan with the fino, let it reduce by half, then whisk in the almond paste and the rest of the stock.
  6. Return the meatballs, simmer gently for 25 minutes until the sauce thickens, and check the seasoning.

Tip from the editors. Fry the almonds slowly. They colour in seconds at the end and burnt almonds make the whole sauce bitter.

Where to eat albóndigas en salsa de almendras

Albóndigas en salsa de almendras in Córdoba

Ermita de la Candelaria ★ 4.4

€€€ AndalusianCentro

Ermita de la Candelaria cooks inside a converted hermitage in Córdoba, almond-sauce meatballs and honeyed aubergine under a Sol from the Repsol guide.

OrderThe albóndigas in almond sauce, a direct descendant of the Andalusi kitchen.

TipThe building is a former chapel, so tables are few; book a midweek lunch if you want the easiest table.

Directions

Taberna Regina ★ 4.1

€ AndalusianSanta Marina

Taberna Regina has held its corner of a quiet Córdoba plaza since 1904, off every standard walking route and open mainly for the midday service.

Why locals goIt sits on a small plaza that no standard Mezquita-to-Corredera walking route passes, and it trades mostly at lunchtime, five days a week.

TipThe taberna shuts Monday and Tuesday and opens for dinner on Friday and Saturday only, so time a midweek visit for the midday service.

Directions

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