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Home-made soups are so good
for you - all that nourishing stock and chock-a-block full
of vitamins and minerals.
But ... who on earth could
face boiling bones for hours on end during the scorching
Spanish summer weather, not to mention preparing the soup
once the stock is made? I don“t think it would tickle
anybody“s fancy to then have to tuck into a piping-hot
soup!
For this reason, the
Spanish came up with their wonderful, ice-cold soup -
gazpacho - beautifully colorful, packed with goodness,
cheap and simple to prepare, no cooking and ... most
important of all, an absolute delight to drink.
Traditional gazpacho
originates from romantic Andalucia - that large, exotic
southerly region of Spain which is home to such extensive
Arabic influence.
The chilled, raw soup was
originally made by pounding bread and garlic with
tomatoes, cucumber and peppers but, nowadays, your
electric blender renders this effortless! Olive oil endows
it with a smooth, creamy consistency and vinegar adds a
refreshing tang - just what you need when life gets too
hot to handle!
The spicy soup should be
served in true Spanish style with small bowls of
accompaniments - finely chopped peppers, cucumber, onion
... even hard-boiled eggs and croutons, if you feel up to
it! Guests will then sprinkle what appeals to them on the
soup.
Traditional gazpacho is
tomato-based, with most Spanish families having developed
their own, unique recipes. However, nowadays, you will
also find gazpacho recipes that have nothing to do with
tomatoes - white, almond-based gazpachos, fruit-based
gazpachos, etc.
Do you suffer from
insomnia? Could be that drinking gazpacho is the answer,
for in Pedro Almodovar“s 1987 film "Mujeres Al Borde
De Un Ataque De Nervios", various characters help
themselves to the soup and promptly fall asleep!
However, don“t fall asleep
just yet as you haven“t read over the recipe!
Ingrediants for 4 servings:
- 4 ripe tomatoes - 1 onion
- ½ red pepper - ½ green pepper - ½ cucumber - 3 cloves
garlic - 50 g bread - 3 dessertspoons vinegar - 8
dessertspoons olive oil - Water - Salt/pepper - ¼ chilli
pepper (optional)
Garnishings:
- 2 hard-boiled eggs - ½
finely chopped onion - ½ finely chopped red pepper - ½
finely chopped green pepper - ½ finely chopped cucumber
Method:
1. Break up bread and soak
in water for 30 minutes.
2. Skin tomatoes, remove
seeds and stalks from peppers.
3. Peel cucumber, onion and
garlic.
4. Chop onion, garlic,
tomatoes, peppers and cucumber.
5. Place in electric
blender.
6. Squeeze out excess water
from bread and add to blender.
7. Add oil and vinegar.
8. Blend well.
9. If necessary, add
sufficient water for soup-like consistency.
10. Pour into a bowl with
ice cubes.
11. Fridge for a couple of
hours.
12. Serve in bowls, with
garnishings in separate dishes.
Gazpacho is best enjoyed
sitting in the shade, looking out onto an azure sea, blue
sky and golden sun and sands!
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About
The Author
Linda
Plummer is webmistress of the site: http://www.top-tour-of-spain.com
which provides a wide range of information
regarding Spain and the Spanish language.
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