gazpacho

Gazpacho

Gazpacho with blended ingredients
Origin
Place of origin	Spain
Region or state	Andalusia
Dish details
Course served	Appetiser
Serving temperature	Cold and dry
Main ingredient(s)	Tomato
Variations	Salmorejo

The Gazpachos Manchegos originated in La Mancha, before today's typical gazpacho, according to data from the XII century.^[1]

Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the southern region of Andalusia. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain, neighboring Portugal (where it is known as gaspacho) and parts of Latin America. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its refreshing qualities.

History

Gazpacho has ancient roots. There are a number of theories of its origin, including as an Arab soup of bread, olive oil, water and garlic that arrived in Spain with the Moors, or via the Romans with the addition of vinegar.^[2] Once in Spain it became a part of Andalusian cuisine, particularly Seville, using stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar, similar to ajoblanco. ^[3] Tomato was added to the recipe after it was brought to Europe after the Columbian Exchange which began in 1492. The dish remained popular with field hands as a way to cool off during the summer and to use available ingredients such as fresh vegetables and stale bread.

There are many modern variations of gazpacho, often in different colors and omitting the tomatoes and bread in favor of avocados, cucumbers, parsley, watermelon, grapes, meat stock, seafood, and other ingredients. Gazpacho has become an almost generic term for chilled vegetable soup.^[4]

Ingredients and preparation

In Andalusia, most gazpacho recipes typically include hard bread, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, vinegar of wine, and salt. Some may also include onion.

The following is a typical method of preparing gazpacho:

1. The vegetables are washed and the tomatoes, garlic and onions are peeled.
2. All the vegetables and herbs are chopped and put into a large container (alternately, the tomatoes may be puréed in a blender or food processor, pounded with a mortar or strained and de-seeded with a food mill)^[4]
3. The soaked bread is then added (optionally)
4. Some of the contents of the container are then blended until liquid, depending on the desired consistency.
5. Chilled water, olive oil, vinegar and salt is then added to taste.
6. The remaining contents of the container are added to the liquid, then briefly puréed until there is some texture remaining for garnish. (optional)
7. Garnishes may be made with fresh bell pepper slices, diced tomatoes, or other fresh ingredients.

Traditionally gazpacho is made by pounding the vegetables using a mortar and pestle. This method is still sometimes favoured as it helps keep the gazpacho cool and avoids the completely smooth consistency, and foam, created by blenders and food processors.^[4]

Gazpacho with diced ingredients.

In addition to the blended vegetable ingredients, it is also usually accompanied by different garnishes. These include the same vegetables the soup already contains, chopped up, as well as croutons.^[5] The garnishes are served separately so the consumer can add them to the soup themselves. When making the salmorejo variety from Cordoba, chopped hard boiled egg and ham (e.g. jamón serrano, jamón ibérico, etc.) will be placed on top. In Extremadura, gazpacho with local ham is called gazpacho extremeño. This time, the ham tends to be added to the soup in the kitchen prior to serving (unlike the other garnishes which are added at the table).

Gazpacho may also by served with ice cubes if it has not had enough time to chill before serving.

Variations

Gazpacho recipes can vary greatly in terms of ingredient composition, texture and viscosity. This usually depends on the geographical location as well as family traditions.

Similar cold raw soups such as salmorejo and ajoblanco, are also popular in Andalusia, although not as widespread as gazpacho.

A completely different dish to traditional gazpacho is gazpacho manchego. As the name implies, it seems to have originated from the Spanish region of La Mancha, but it is also popular in other areas in the center and southwest of the country. Rather than a cold soup, it is a meat stew. The main ingredients are rabbit and flat bread, and may also include mushrooms.

Arranque Roteño

A popular variation comes from the town of Rota in the province of Cadiz. During the times of drought there wasn't enough water to make gazpacho. Arranque has the same ingredients as gazpacho only that it requires less water, making arranque into a gazpacho cream.

In popular culture

• In "Me²", an episode of the BBC sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, the character of Arnold Rimmer reveals that an incident involving gazpacho soup ruined his career; he was attending the Captain's Dinner aboard the ship Red Dwarf and asked for his soup to be re-heated. The resulting embarrassment is considered by Rimmer to be the worst moment of his life.

See also

• Vichyssoise
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, in which gazpacho is a major plot point

References

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Gazpacho

External links

• Andalusian Gazpacho Recipe