1 cup water
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 oz Idiazábal cheese, medium dice
1/3 cup Herradura Añejo tequilla
1 white onion, small dice
2 oyster mushrooms, chopped
2 shitake mushrooms, chopped
kosher salt TT
white peppar TT
smoked hot Spanish paprika TT
Combine the water and cream in a small sauce pan and gently warm to a simmer. Add the Idiazábal to allow it to melt for about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a small saute pan over medium heat, to 2 tablespoons spanish olive oil add the onion and a little salt to sweat these to transparency. Add the mushrooms to the onions and saute for about 3-4 minutes until these are cooked through. Add a couple tablespoons of the Añejo to the saute pan and reduce, being careful to not aerate the alcohol vapors and cause a flame (reducing the flame if you're using a gas stove might be a good idea at this point). After a couple minutes, repeat the Añejo addition to the saute pan twice more and again reduce each time.
Once the Idiazábal has mostly melted, pour the liquid in the sauce pan through a mesh strainer and into the saute pan, discarding the remaining bits of the cheese. Blitz the mixture with an immersion blender on low, you don't want a complete puree, just break up the remaining chunks a bit and marry the flavors. Add the remaining Anejo and season with the salt and white pepper to taste. Plate in a small soup bowl and top with a pinch of the Spanish paprika.
The flavor profile is rich, pungent, savory, and earthy with a slight heat on the finish, it feels very old world.
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