Ingredients for gazpacho are simple. |
A common abuse is that bread is omitted. The dish probably originated as a bread soup. According to Wikipedia, it may have come to Spain from the Moors or from Rome, as a soup made of bread and vinegar. Today there are several classic Spanish soups in which bread is a primary ingredient.
Many recipes have Too Many Vegetables. Others actually use commercial tomato juice or add herbs or even Worchester sauce. The result is more a salad than a soup.
I learned to make gazpacho from a Spanish woman and still use a much stained recipe in her hand to make mine. Sara used only a few ingredients to make the soup, then passed little bowls of chopped vegetables (onions, green pepper, cucumbers) and cubes of bread to add as you wished.
Sara's Spanish Gazpacho
Soak a couple of pieces or a heel of French bread in water.
Remove stems from 4-5 very ripe tomatoes. (No need to peel.)
Remove stems and seeds from a green pepper.
Peel 1-3 cloves of garlic. (Three makes it rather garlicky.)
Squeeze the water out of the bread.
Place all of these into a blender (a little at a time, so that it will liquify and blend). Once blended, add "a drop of oil and a drop of vinegar" (I advise about 2:1 olive oil to wine vinegar) and salt. You'll have to add these by taste. I start with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of vinegar, then add a little more after tasting.
Chill. Serve with cubes of bread and vegetables to taste. It will keep several days in the refrigerator and makes a great refreshment drunk out of a glass, too.