Saturday, February 5, 2011

Traditional 'Spain' Gazpacho
















Not sure I should be posting this with all the cold and snow, but I have so many posts left from our trip in September. Oh how I still long for Spain. I still feel the sunshine on my face as we sat in the open air cafes...

Once we arrived in Segovia we ate at a small cafe outside our hotel, and had a great view of the Roman Aqueduct that still stands strong in the city center.  One of my favorite meals to eat is Gazpacho. I had read that our version was nothing like their Spanish cold tomato soup.

I ask the waiter if he could tell me how they make it, and in his English he said it was a pheasant food by tradition and so simple to make. Okay, he did not tell me, but it was plain to see.














One of my 'Food Around The World' cookbooks said this basic version of gazpacho is the one most prevalent in Spain. One taste and you will feel as if you are in the countryside surrounded by olive trees, red tiled roofs and good wine.

Traditional Spanish Gazpacho

10 oz of bread
21 oz. of tomato
2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
2 red and green peppers
1 cucumber (optional)
7 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons of vinegar
1½ tablespoon of water
Cumin (optional)

In a big mortar mash the cumin, the garlic and the soaked bread, in a plastic bowl mix the chopped onion, the chopped tomato, the oil, the vinegar, the salt and the contents of the mortar, mash it with the mixer and add very cold water to mix everything. Add salt and strain it. Keep it in the fridge until served.

Serve with the tomato, the cucumber, the pepper and the toasted bread (small dice).