Spanish Food - How To Make Spicy Gazpacho Soup (by: Linda Plummer)

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The chilled, raw soup was originally made by pounding bread and 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! 


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.