Gazpacho

Ingredients

Soup

• 1.2 kgvery ripe tomatoes (pear or ramallet), quartered
• 1green Italian pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 150 gcucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1small garlic clove, green germ removed
• 80 gstale country bread, crusts off, soaked in water 10 min and squeezed
• 120 mlextra virgin olive oil (Picual or Hojiblanca)
• 30 mlsherry vinegar (vinagre de Jerez)
• 8 gfine salt
• 100 mlice-cold water, to adjust

To serve

• 50 gcucumber, in 3 mm dice
• 50 ggreen pepper, in 3 mm dice
• 50 gtomato, deseeded and diced
• 2 tbspextra virgin olive oil, to finish
• 4ice cubes (optional, for very hot days)

Directions

1. Use tomatoes that are genuinely ripe, heavy and fragrant. Everything about this soup depends on them, and pale winter tomatoes cannot be rescued with seasoning.
2. Soak the stale bread in cold water for 10 minutes, then squeeze it out firmly. The bread is not filler: it gives the soup its body and helps the emulsion hold.
3. Blitz the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, garlic and bread on high for 2 full minutes, until completely smooth and the colour lightens to a pale coral.
4. With the blender running, pour the olive oil in a thin, steady stream so it emulsifies into the purée. Rushing it splits the soup and leaves oil floating on top.
5. Add the sherry vinegar and salt and blend 20 seconds more. Taste: it should be sharp and salty at room temperature, since chilling flattens both.
6. Pass the soup through a fine chinois or a food mill, pressing hard with a ladle, to remove skin and seeds. Andalusian gazpacho is smooth and silky, not rustic and pulpy.
7. Adjust with ice-cold water to a texture that just coats a spoon, then chill for at least 3 hours until it is properly cold, around 6–8 C.
8. Whisk before serving to bring the emulsion back together, pour into bowls or glasses, and scatter the diced vegetables over with a last thread of olive oil. In Andalusia it is as often drunk from a glass as eaten with a spoon.

Technique

• Gazpacho predates the tomato: the original Andalusian version was bread, garlic, oil, vinegar, salt and water pounded in a wooden mortar, and tomatoes only joined it in the 19th century.
• Sherry vinegar, not wine vinegar, is what makes it taste Andalusian. It is sharper and more aromatic, and the amount should be adjusted to the sweetness of the tomatoes.
• The soup must be strained. The difference between good gazpacho and a smoothie is the chinois.

Substitutions

• No sherry vinegar: use good red wine vinegar with a few drops of lemon juice, though the depth is not the same.
• Stale bread can be omitted for a lighter, gluten-free soup, but blend in an extra 20 ml of oil to compensate for the lost body.
• The green Italian pepper can be replaced with half a green bell pepper; do not use red, which makes the soup taste sweet and jammy.

Variations

• Salmorejo from Córdoba, thicker and orange, made with far more bread and no cucumber or pepper.
• Ajoblanco from Málaga, the white pre-tomato gazpacho of almonds, garlic and bread, served with muscat grapes.
• Gazpacho de sandía, blended with watermelon for a sweeter summer version.

History

Andalusian bread-and-oil soup of Roman and Moorish descent; tomatoes and peppers were added only after they arrived from the Americas.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gazpacho?

Gazpacho is a soup & stew from Spain: chilled raw tomato, pepper and cucumber soup from Andalusia. Andalusian bread-and-oil soup of Roman and Moorish descent; tomatoes and peppers were added only after they arrived from the Americas.

How long does Gazpacho take to make?

Gazpacho takes 20 min of preparation and 3 hr chilling of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Gazpacho?

Yes, within limits. No sherry vinegar: use good red wine vinegar with a few drops of lemon juice, though the depth is not the same. Stale bread can be omitted for a lighter, gluten-free soup, but blend in an extra 20 ml of oil to compensate for the lost body. The green Italian pepper can be replaced with half a green bell pepper; do not use red, which makes the soup taste sweet and jammy.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gazpacho?

The soup must be strained. The difference between good gazpacho and a smoothie is the chinois.