Now that summer is upon us, good tomatoes abound, and green tomatoes can easily lead you to an iridescent green gazpach version.
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The word “gazpacho” often evokes images of a seductive, cold soup with fresh red color from sun-ripened tomatoes as well as freshness from cucumber and paprika. If there is one dish that is the very symbol of the southern Spanish, gastronomic landscape, it is this. And there they have been making it for centuries.
Today, many people leave out bread when making gazpacho. In the original version it was impossible, because it consisted of only garlic, vinegar, water and bread. Some sources say that the etymological origin is an Arabic word derived from soaked bread. And surely it is that the soup comes from Arab culture and was spread by the Romans. They loved to refresh themselves with dishes spiced with copious amounts of vinegar.
Only after the tomato became known in our world did the soup become as we know it today. It colors the way I like to make gazpacho.
- Read Henrik J. Henriksen’s recipes further down in the case.
Although the vegetables should be raw, it can be delicious to burn some (or all) of them in a dry pan. It produces a little sweetness and depth in all the freshness. Especially onions, peppers or chilies (if you use it) like to have a go in the frying pan, but tomatoes can also benefit from this treatment. Cucumber, on the other hand, has nothing there to do.
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