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
scorching Spanish summer weather, not to mention preparing soup once 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, 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The chilled, raw soup was originally made by pounding bread and garlic with tomatoes, cucumber and peppers but, nowadays, your electric blender renders this effortless!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 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.
