…. Goodness! The warmth of the sunshine really does lift one’s spirits – what a fantastic few days we’ve had of heat!! And with the sun on my face, I really love to create truly sunny flavours to eat outside!
Surely one of the most exciting of these is a delicious summer gazpacho. A traditional Spanish cold tomato soup made with onions, garlic, tomatoes and olive oil, serve chilled – perhaps with ice cubes. There are a variety of toppings including garlic croutons, chopped hard boiled egg, cucumber, chilli oil… the list goes on!
It’s origins are found in Andalusia, southern Spain and it is a truly historic dish – it was thought to have been introduced to wider Europe in the mid-19th century by Napoleon III’s wife, Eugénie de Montijo, who was born in Andalusia and brought it to France.
It is widely available through Europe’s supermarkets in cartons, similar to fruit juice, and I rush to fill my trolley the moment I set foot across the channel. I love to serve a big bowl at lunchtime, under the cool shade of a garden umbrella, with a good drizzle of chilli oil and some bread for dunking. Or it can be part of a pre-supper nibble, served in shot glasses.
My favourite recipe at the moment is from the wonderful ‘Andalusia’ cook book by José Pizarro, who I was lucky enough to see at Toppings Book Shop in Bath last month. He chatted about his culinary adventure through his native Spain, discovering and re-creating traditional family recipes. We sampled a few of these during the evening but the standout was his extremely delicious ‘ strawberry and tomato gazpacho’: 2/3 strawberries to 1/3 tomatoes, with grilled peppers, sherry vinegar, shallots, garlic and olive oil.
Sarah Raven also has a lovely recipe with a red & yellow gazpacho, made with red peppers/tomatoes and yellow peppers/tomatoes respectively – and if you pour it carefully you can create a wonderful bowl of split colours.
May the sun continue shine and may I continue to make and enjoy gazpacho….. !
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