A thick cream which is served in individual ramekins as a starter, to be eaten with a spoon. It also makes a good party dip, accompanied by bread sticks and vegetable dippers. To turn it into gazpacho, just thin with water and serve with the usual accouterments of chopped onions, cucumbers, green peppers and bread crumbs.
Montilla-Moriles, located in the south of the Andalucian province of Córdoba, is one of the historical wine regions of Spain. The wine here has certain similarities with the Sherry of Jerez, but usually has suffered from the comparison.
Visitors will notice that the most characteristic element of the Los Pedroches landscape are the holm oak trees. The majority of these villages are small and sparsely populated who have fought to conserve their heritage and traditions. Some form part of the Ruta de los Castillos, including Belalcázar, with the Castillo de Sotomayor; Santa Eufemia, with the medieval fortress at Miramontes; and El Viso, with the Madroñiz fortress.
Alto Guadalquivir offers a varied natural environment ideal for lovers of outdoor sports such has hiking, climbing and canoeing, amongst others.This area also offers visitors an interesting gastronomy, with delicacies such as game, olive oil and honey. Handmade products made from wrought iron, vegetable fibres, leather and ceramics are also available, made traditionally by locals.
The Guadalquivir river-bed is wide enough for small islands which today are only inhabited by birds. Long ago there used to be flour mills, of which some remains can still be seen to this day. The one near the north river bank was called Molino de la Albolafia.
South of Cordoba, the N331 threads its way through the undulating fields known as La Campiña, dominated by vineyards and vast olive groves. Surrounded by vineyards, Montilla is famous for its excellent wine of the same name; visit one of its bodegas to try it for yourself. Ten kilometres south of Montilla is Aguilar de la Frontera, worth a stop to see its unusual octagonal square.
The Río Guadalquivir flows slowly westwards towards Seville through the fertile heart of Cordoba province, with some interesting towns situated on the river plain.
The countryside of Cordoba province is extremely varied, from rolling plains around Cordoba city, the Guadalquivir basin and south to Seville province, to forbidding mountain ranges with jagged peaks in the north and west. Dotted around the province are many pristine whitewashed villages with Baroque churches, Moorish castles and flower-festooned courtyards.
The Sierra Morena is an area of sparsely populated rolling hills that run across northern Andalucia, creating a natural barrier between Extremadura to the north and Andalucia. Few tourists venture into these wild and remote pine- and oak-clad hills, with its landscape, atmosphere and village architecture more typical of adjacent Extremadura or Castilla La Mancha than the rest of Andalucia, to which it belongs.
