Gazpacho!

I'll be honest: up until recently I wasn't a fan of the stuff. I think I've figured out the reasons why. Serving size is one. Gazpacho is a bit intense for American super sized portions. It's best served in small bowls. It's really not a meal; it's a starter course, a snack or a side dish. I also have difficulty wrapping my head around the idea of a cold crunchy raw soup. That just doesn't work for me. It's served like a soup, but gazpacho is really a finely chopped salad in a liquid dressing. One that you happen to eat with a spoon. If I think about it this way it makes more sense to me.

And I enjoy it. I like is how it slows me down. I'm generally too quick of an eater. Breaking a meal into several courses works for me because it forces me to slow down a bit and really enjoy myself at the table. Few things slow me down like a bowl of gazpacho on a hot day. A small bowl takes me ten minutes to finish; it refuses to be wolfed down.

It's easy to make bad gazpacho - just use less than perfect veggies and you'll have it. The tomato is most important, but don't neglect the cucumber. Don't use gigantic watery waxed cucumbers, with their horrible giant seeds. Farm fresh kirbys, Persian cucumbers or (in a pinch) those greenhouse English seedless will do. I like red or yellow bell pepper instead of green. If you have a garden use your garden vegetables. If you don't get your ingredients from a farmer's market. Don't even bother making this with supermerket tomatoes or cucumbers. (You can get away with supermarket onion, garlic and bell pepper).

Where can you cheat? Not with chopping the veggies! Don't use a food processor. You want your gazpacho to have little nuggets of crunch, not end up all bruised somewhere along the way a puree. Grab your sharpest knife and chop the veggies into fine little pieces. It only takes a few minutes. A place to cut corners would be using tomato juice as part of the liquid. If your veggies are good a little commercial tomato juice won't undermine the result. The stuff is also pretty heavily salted, so it eliminates the need to add extra salt.

Then there's the matter of serving. It's popular to serve the liquid in individual bowls with each chopped ingredient in it's own bowl. Diners then add how much of each element they want to their own bowl. This is "correct" in that it's frequently served that way in Spain. It's a nice flourish, but I'd rather dispense with it for the improved result when all the flavors have a chance to marry for an hour or so in the fridge.

One more thing: there ought to be no such thing as leftover gazpacho. We're talking tomatoes, cucumber and onion in a salty vinegar based liquid. That will get nasty after a night in the fridge.

This recipe will make two medium sized bowls of gazpacho.

1 perfect ripe tomato, finely diced
1 cup cucumber, finely diced
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
small clove garlic, minced
scant 1/4 tsp ground cumin (too much and it'll taste like salsa)
1/2 cup tomato juice
1/3 cup white vinegar
few drops hot sauce, to taste
drizzle of good olive oil, to finish

Mix together all ingredients in a bowl. Go light on the olive oil so your result isn't too rich. Chill in fridge for 20 min to an hour before serving.
Photo by Cynthia Lamb