Above: a cobbled street in Cadaqués, Spain leads to a small market square on the bay; gazpacho andaluz w/traditional toppings
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Looking back:
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Looking back:
As temperatures climb towards June our Paris kitchen has been the scene of an outpouring of gazpacho, that queen of the cold soups from Spain that magically appears each summer as a primer plato, entrada or even refreshing drink in almost every restaurant, tapas bar and café from the Costa Brava to the Costa del Sol. Sometimes served with ice cubes bobbing on its surface, this simple and refreshing sopa made its way to France and now, as in Spain, it's a seasonal menu staple.
During my time in Barcelona and Cadaqués everyone I knew - including me - kept a freshly made supply cooling in the fridge. So when an industrial facsimile began showing up on supermarket shelves it didn't make sense: with a hand blender, gazpacho took almost as much time to make as it did to open a box and pour, faster than you can say “¡Hace calor!”
But mind you not just any gazpacho would do. All over Spain, at least, it had to be gazpacho andaluz from the sunny south. Less tomato and more cucumber meant a much lighter color than expected. When visiting Italian family in Rome in summer, I'd whip up a pitcherful in the late afternoon at the urging of my Tante Maria, an excellent cook who preferred hers with extra garlic. When I added a dash of cayenne pepper by accident, a version she called “Gestapo," she declared, “This replaces all of the minerals you lose in your sweat!” (She'd also insist that spaghetti al dente with nothing in it but grated parmesan and burro was a "complete food" containing "everything anyone would ever want" for optimum health).
Some prefer their gazpacho sieved until creamy smooth; others, like me, prefer texture. Either way, accompaniments of fried croûtons and assorted chopped raw veggies such as tomato, cucumber, onion and avocado add yet more structure and flavor. - BPJ
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Recipe in June newsletter
During my time in Barcelona and Cadaqués everyone I knew - including me - kept a freshly made supply cooling in the fridge. So when an industrial facsimile began showing up on supermarket shelves it didn't make sense: with a hand blender, gazpacho took almost as much time to make as it did to open a box and pour, faster than you can say “¡Hace calor!”
But mind you not just any gazpacho would do. All over Spain, at least, it had to be gazpacho andaluz from the sunny south. Less tomato and more cucumber meant a much lighter color than expected. When visiting Italian family in Rome in summer, I'd whip up a pitcherful in the late afternoon at the urging of my Tante Maria, an excellent cook who preferred hers with extra garlic. When I added a dash of cayenne pepper by accident, a version she called “Gestapo," she declared, “This replaces all of the minerals you lose in your sweat!” (She'd also insist that spaghetti al dente with nothing in it but grated parmesan and burro was a "complete food" containing "everything anyone would ever want" for optimum health).
Some prefer their gazpacho sieved until creamy smooth; others, like me, prefer texture. Either way, accompaniments of fried croûtons and assorted chopped raw veggies such as tomato, cucumber, onion and avocado add yet more structure and flavor. - BPJ
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Recipe in June newsletter
