Gazpacho

Andalusia's cold tomato soup: ripe tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, garlic, sherry vinegar and olive oil blended to silk and served ice-cold: the ancient bread-and-water soup that became the most refreshing dish in the world

Origin: Andalusia, Spain

From the journey of Tomato.

Gazpacho is one of the oldest surviving dishes in the European canon; and its pre-tomato form predates Columbus by centuries. The original Andalusian gazpacho, inherited from the Romans and adapted by Moorish cooks during the eight centuries of Islamic rule in Spain, was a cold soup of stale bread soaked in water and vinegar, pounded with garlic and olive oil, and sometimes extended with wild herbs. It was field workers' food; portable, sustaining, requiring no fire. The tomato arrived in Andalusia around 1600 and transformed this ancient bread pap into the dish we know: the bread retreating to a thickening agent (and later disappearing entirely from some versions), the tomato becoming the centrepiece, the soup turning a vivid red. Modern gazpacho, the Andalusian version standardised in the 20th century, uses ripe tomatoes, cucumber, green bell pepper, garlic, sherry vinegar, salt and the best olive oil available, blended to a smooth or semi-smooth consistency and served very cold. The bread, when included, thickens and rounds the soup. The sherry vinegar is non-negotiable: it is the acid spine of the dish, adding a depth that plain wine vinegar cannot replicate. Gazpacho is now Spain's most famous cold dish and one of the world's great summer foods.

Ingredients

Soup

1 kg very ripe tomatoes (the ripest, most flavoursome available), roughly chopped
1 medium cucumber (about 200g), peeled, deseeded, roughly chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, deseeded, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
50 g stale white bread, crusts removed, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes and squeezed dry (optional, omit for a lighter soup)
3 tbsp sherry vinegar (Jerez vinegar, do not substitute with wine vinegar)
80 ml best extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
1.5 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste

Garnish

1 small cucumber, finely diced
2 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
1 slice white bread, cubed and fried in olive oil until golden (croutons)

Method

Combine tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, garlic, and squeezed bread (if using) in a large blender or food processor. Blend on high for 2 minutes until completely smooth.
With the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a thin stream; as if making a vinaigrette. This emulsifies the oil into the soup and gives it a creamy body. Add the sherry vinegar and salt.
Taste and adjust: more sherry vinegar for brightness and depth (it should have a gentle, wine-like acidity), more salt, more olive oil. The soup should be bold and intensely flavoured; it will dilute slightly when served cold.
Pass through a fine-mesh sieve or fine colander, pressing firmly with a ladle to extract all the liquid. Discard the solids. For a more rustic soup, skip the sieving; but the smooth, sieved version is the classic.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours; ideally 4 hours or overnight. Gazpacho must be served very cold; its flavours sharpen and clarify as it chills.
Serve in chilled bowls with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the diced cucumber and tomato garnish, and croutons on the side. In Andalusia, a small glass of gazpacho is often served as a cold drink; pure, without garnish.

Notes

The ratio that works: 1kg tomatoes to 200g cucumber to 1 medium pepper. More cucumber makes it watery; more pepper makes it bitter. The sherry vinegar is the irreplaceable element: its oxidative, wine-like depth is what makes Andalusian gazpacho taste unlike the bland, commercial versions sold in cartons.

The Gastrographer

Name: Gazpacho
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: 1 kg very ripe tomatoes (the ripest, most flavoursome available), roughly chopped; 1 medium cucumber (about 200g), peeled, deseeded, roughly chopped; 1 medium green bell pepper, deseeded, roughly chopped; 2 cloves garlic, peeled; 50 g stale white bread, crusts removed, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes and squeezed dry (optional, omit for a lighter soup); 3 tbsp sherry vinegar (Jerez vinegar, do not substitute with wine vinegar); 80 ml best extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve; 1.5 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste; 1 small cucumber, finely diced; 2 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced; 1 slice white bread, cubed and fried in olive oil until golden (croutons)

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control