Ajopollo Almeriense

Ajopollo is Almería's garlic-and-almond majao, the mortar paste that turns a plain pot of potatoes or fish into cocina de cuchara, spoon food, with real body. Garlic, almonds and day-old bread are fried in olive oil, then pounded with saffron until the mixture becomes golden and spoonable. The almonds and fried bread mark the Almerían base; leave either out and you've made another garlic sauce. There is no chicken in it, despite the name. That's one less thing to shop for.

The frying decides it. Cook the garlic, almonds and bread separately because each browns at a different speed, and stop while everything is golden. Garlic or almonds taken too dark make the whole mortar bitter, and no amount of broth will mend it. Pound them while they're still warm, adding the almonds before the bread so the nuts release their oil and the bread becomes the binder. The Margin beside this one says only: "Gold, never brown."

Ordinary blanched sweet almonds work if Almerían almonds aren't sold where you live; the paste will be a little firmer and less buttery, so allow the extra spoonful of liquid. A plain day-old baguette stands in well for pan de pueblo, country bread. Saffron grown outside Spain is fine if the threads are fragrant, but yellow coloring and turmeric are not substitutes. No hace falta haber pisado España. Add the paste to a simmering guiso for its final minutes and it thickens without flour. Siempre sale, si lo sigues: it turns out if you follow it.