The secrets to prepare your ideal Andalusian gazpacho

This soup from South Spain is with no doubt one of the most famous in the world, and has the particularity that it’s served very cold. For this reason, a gazpacho is always a very tasty and refreshing starter for the summer. As the variations of this recipe are infinite, it’s important to learn the secrets that will allow us to prepare the ideal gazpacho according to our preference.

These amounts are approximate and vary according to the personal taste, so in this post I want to review some concepts that help everyone make the adjustments to obtain their ideal version of gazpacho.

But also, when we talk about traditional dishes, so rooted in popular custom, it’s impossible to establish an “official” recipe. This is specially true in Spain and in other Mediterranean countries, where not only will each family claim to have the best recipe, but also, some people can be deeply offended by any “desecration” of their recipe perpetrated by some daring cook. And if you think that only football or politics arouse insane fanaticism, I invite you to prepare a bucket of popcorn and read the comments on the internet on the cooking recipes…

After this disclaimer, let’s continue with the preparation and tips.

The preparation of the gazpacho:

Wash the vegetables and cut them into rather small chunks. At this point, we could just blend them and season, but a few simple extra steps will highly improve the result.

Put the cut vegetables in a bowl. Salt, cover and let rest in the fridge for at least an hour, ideally for a whole day. When blending, add a generous tablespoon of olive oil and a little vinegar, and continue for 3 or 4 minutes. If preferred, pass the mixture through a fine strainer to filter the shells and seeds, thus obtaining a lump-free gazpacho. Add water depending on the final desired consistency. Reserve in the fridge for a few hours, to be able to serve very cold.

Tips and tricks:

1. Although the amounts are only indicative, a certain proportionality should be maintained as indicated above. The tomato is the absolute protagonist of the recipe, and must be present in about two thirds of the total vegetables. The secondary artist is the cucumber, and therefore its quantity will be greater than the rest of the other ingredients.
2. The riper the tomatoes, the better. The ones that are very hard and used for salad are less juicy, and therefore less flavorful in this recipe. And those of “plum” variety generally give a more pleasant result.
3. Some ingredients can be unpleasant for our digestion and some usual tricks can help us are: peel the cucumber, replace the common onion with spring onion, reduce the amount of pepper, discard the garlic germ if it’s very green, or even don’t use any garlic at all if you prefer.
4. By adding the oil while blending, we manage to emulsify it within the gazpacho.
5. Red pepper can be used instead of green, but this implies adding a touch of sweetness that the first has, instead of the bitter and slightly spicy point that the second gives. It’s also possible to use some of both of them.
6. Depending on whether we are looking for a thicker or more liquid consistency, we can respectively blend the vegetables together with some moisted bread, or add more water.
7. To honor the purists, adding bread is theoretically typical of another similar Andalusian soup, called „salmorejo“, and not of gazpacho.
8. It’s difficult to establish an exact amount of oil and vinegar, so it is better to put a little of each and rectify later. On the other hand, considering that the vinegar is much stronger and dominant, it’s reasonable to use less quantity in relation to the oil.
9. Personally, I like Picual-type olive oil and Sherry vinegar for this recipe.
10. Adding ice is an acceptable solution only if you have no other option, but the quality of the gazpacho will be much better after waiting in the fridge. In any case, the main rule is that it has to be served very cold!