Gazpacho has always been a hard sell for me. In part because it contains every single thing I hated as a child, and also because cold soup? This all changed after I bought a pint of salsa at Rosa's in Tucson, which is the best Mexican restaurant in town and of course it does not give you diarrhea, and discovered that I had forgotten to pick up chips upon arriving at home. Undaunted, I wound up drinking the whole tub of salsa straight from the cup. Since gazpacho is basically salsa with a few European modifications, I figured I could live with it if it was ever pushed on me.
I actually became a fan of the soup in 2010 on a trip to Barcelona, when I tried watermelon gazpacho in a desperate attempt to ward off scurvy after a week of crummy bar food. After dabbling with cherry gazpacho in a nice little cafe in Gerona I was hooked.
This soup is great. It costs about $4 to make, you probably have some of the ingredients on hand, and it is tasty. One major disadvantage is that it's tough to make it a meal since it's basically just blended vegetables, so you might have to get creative with your condiments to stretch it.
Note: You can add garnishes if you want to kick up the flavor a bit. If you want more Mexicany, add cilantro, but basil is also pretty great.
The worchestershire seems weird, but it really works. The Romans had a seasoning they used for everything called garam, which was largely fermented fish (an ingredient in worchestershire sauce). Why is this important? Because fermented fish is how they derive MSG, a flavor enhancer! Do it, it's worth it.
The worchestershire seems weird, but it really works. The Romans had a seasoning they used for everything called garam, which was largely fermented fish (an ingredient in worchestershire sauce). Why is this important? Because fermented fish is how they derive MSG, a flavor enhancer! Do it, it's worth it.
RECIPE
2 1/2 pounds of ripe roma tomatoes, skinned, and gutted
juice from aforementioned tomatoes
2 red onions
1 cucumber
2 small red peppers
1-2 garlic cloves
2/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp good balsamic vinegar (a rich red wine might do if you want to get creative)
1/2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 tbsp smoked paprika or chipotle powder
salt to taste (a lot)
Garnish
avocado
cilantro or basil
Croutons
1 loaf of French bread or baguette
1 tbsp smoked paprika or chipotle powder
1/8 tsp pepper
olive oil
basil or Mexican oregano
Step 1:
Boil water and prep another bowl of ice water. Cut out the stems into the tomato to remove some of the core, then throw the tomatoes in the boiling water for about 20 seconds, rotating them to make sure they are evenly heated. Pull them out and toss them into the ice water immediately and let 'em cool. The skin should peel right off.
Step 2:
Squeeze the tomato guts into a strainer and catch the juice in a bowl.
Step 3:
Chop all the vegetables roughly and add them to a blender along with the oil, vinegar, lime juice, tomato juice and spices. Blend and cool in the fridge overnight.
Crouton Recipe
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the French loaf into slices and tear them into chunks, keeping them as fluffy as possible.
Step 2:
Put them in a bowl and pour olive oil down the sides and toss the bread to coat it, then slowly add the spices and try to cover uniformly.
Step 3:
Toast them until they're crusty and hard with no sponginess.
That's it.
