Gazpacho Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb /450 g tomatoes
• 1/2 lb / 225 g green peppers
• 1/2 cucumber
• clove of garlic
• a few coriander leaves (cilantro)
• 1/4 chilli pepper, seeds removed (optional, leave out if you want a milder soup)
• 2 oz / 50 g white bread, 2-3 days old (also optional, leave out for a thinner soup)
• 1/2 mild Spanish onion

• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 pt iced water
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Ice cubes

To Garnish:

• 2 tomatoes, skinned
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/4 peeled cucumber
• 2 slices stale white bread, crusts removed

Method

Skin the tomatoes and cut into quarters. Remove seeds and stalks from peppers (obviously!). Peel the cucumber and cut into chunks. Tear up the bread and soak it in water for 30 minutes and then squeeze it dry. Cut up the onion.

Blend all the ingredients until roughly chopped, not too fine, because the soup should have texture and discernible vegetable bits. Pour into large bowl with some ice, add salt and pepper. Then prepare the garnishes. Dice the bread and fry it in a little olive oil until brown. Chop the other vegetables finely. Serve in separate little bowls on the table, so that guests can sprinkle on their own toppings.

Serve chilled, preferably on a hot day and within sight of the sea.

Gazpacho Soup in Fiction

• In the science fiction series Red Dwarf, one character (Arnold Rimmer) recounts a story in which he embarrasses himself in front of senior officers by asking a waiter to serve his cold soup hot.
• In Pedro Almodovar's 1987 movie Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios, different characters help themselves to the soup made by Pepa (Carmen Maura) and instantly fall into a deep and long sleep.

Referenced By