Egyptian gazpacho

[onlymark]

That got you looking, didn't it?
It's actually just a quick gazpacho I make, as an amateur, that is liked by my family. I've tried a number of different variations and always seem to come back to the same thing.
The point is, how do you make yours? I'm willing to try all sorts as in the summer it's a favourite dish of ours due to the heat.

Anyway, collect some ingredients, cucumber, tomato, garlic and half an onion -




Plus liberal splashes of olive oil, tabasco sauce and vinegar.
I use malt vinegar which is 'The' vinegar in the UK and used for all sorts of purposes, and is irresistible on my fish and chips. Here in Egypt the closest I can get to it is this salad vinegar. It's nearly the same though for me.
Malt vinegar - (from Wikipedia) - Malt vinegar is made by malting barley, causing the starch in the grain to turn to maltose. Then an ale is brewed from the maltose and allowed to turn into vinegar, which is then aged. It typically is light brown in color.
The olive oil is basic bog standard stuff.




Also salt and pepper to taste plus a small slice of white bread, it seems to give it a bit of 'body' -




Put it all in a blender -




Add two thirds or so of water, as cold as you can get it -




Then whip it up for as long as you want. Obviously the less you do the more chunky it is. I don't like it particularly smooth, I like a bit of texture to it rather than a smooth soup type thing.
Then serve it with whatever you want, usually it's a couple of slices of toast and butter for me -




I can't seem to take to the stuff I always get in Spain that is completely red. It makes me suspicious as to what's in it.

[bixaorellana]

That looks perfect, Mark!

And thanks for that tip about the "salad vinegar". I love malt vinegar and it's on the same aisle as hens' teeth in stores around here.

Also a good point about "red" gazpacho. I wonder if that's something relatively new, since tourism boomed in Spain. Real gazpacho was never red-red. However, for fans of very red, tomato-y gazpacho, here's a tip: use V-8 juice instead of tomato juice. It makes a richer soup.

Many of my gazpachos come out a sort of olive-drab color, since they're made on a whim with what's on hand. I like putting bell or poblano pepper in it, which doesn't make for a pretty color. Also, I use any kind of bread I happen to have.

Lots of cookbooks say to serve it with some minced raw vegetables on the side, which I never do. However, if I have cold roast chicken or smoked fish, I might toss a few bits of that into the bowl when I serve myself.

[bixaorellana]

pee ess ~~ here's one of my on-hand gazpachos at #46: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=recipes&thread=3055&page=2#67485

[onlymark]

No tomatoes?
Ok then.

To the finished product, and when no-one is looking, I like to sprinkle salt and vinegar crisps (chips to you) on the top. But then I'm a heathen.

[bixaorellana]

I probably would have put tomatoes in that version if I'd had any that day, and certainly give you my blessing if you want to make it with tomatoes. It would change the delicate green color, though.

Hmmm. Vinegar potato chips, huh? Those things that come in a bag & are proof of god's existence? I'd try that!

[onlymark]

You have to be quick though otherwise they go soggy.

[Deleted]

I have never made gazpacho, but I might give it a try this summer. The stuff you buy in France is always very red also, even though the other ingredients overwhelm the tomato flavor.

[Jazz]

This is my favorite summer soup. In addition to your basic recipe I add:
red/yellow and green peppers
cilantro/watercress and parsley
the juice of a lemon or lime, or both.

A delicious meal...gazpacho with warm fresh bread, a green salad and a plate of three cheeses.

[cristina]

I made gazpacho at Easter for the first time. I used my mother's recipe which is older than I am but which does call for tomato juice. I'm indifferent about the color the tomato juice adds, other than it makes a festive, or at least pleasing, contrast to my white plates.

Instead of malt vinegar, I use red wine vinegar. Other than those two things, my recipe is similar to yours, Mark. Wait, I skip the Tabasco, but include green bell pepper.

And I confess I do like the diced accompaniments (which include croutons), but I suppose my dish is more an homage to my childhood. Plus, I am partial to a bit of crunch in a salad...and gazpacho is essentially a salad in liquid form.

For the record, I was the only one who liked it when I made it.

Here's a picture of my very red gazpacho from Easter. (I might have eaten some before I took the picture.)

[Don Cuevas]

I like it with chunky garnishes, too.
Have any of you made "Ajo Blanco", as I think it's called? It's a "white" gazpacho, with almonds, bread and garlic. I have not yet made it.
www.spain-recipes.com/ajo-blanco.html

Another recipe:
www.alimentias.com/final/recetaampliado.php?id=11

I don't know; it looks kind of creamy and bland; but if it has plenty of garlic in it, it's got to be good!

[cristina]

I went and checked my (only) "go-to" cookbook for Spanish recipes - for when my Mom isn't available - and it seems the water vs. tomato juice thing depends on whether or not you have flavorful tomatoes to start with.

Since I haven't had a flavorful tomato in at least 20 years, I will continue to add tomato juice and deal with the fact that my gazpacho is quite red.

As for white gazpacho, DC, I have never had it but been long intrigued. One recipe I have calls for grapes. Obviously a different dish than the traditional gazpacho, but could be delicious.

[cristina]

Mark,
I just took a more serious look at your photo in the OP. You are missing at least 6 cloves of garlic!

[bixaorellana]

I believe the white gazpacho is traditional, at least in some part(s) of Spain. The recipe is included in every Spanish cookbook I've ever seen, including quite old ones. Don Cuevas's first link says that the recipe probably originated with the Moors :: that was long, long ago.

A couple of quibbles about that link :: it says to use a food processor instead of a blender. 20 ounces of water spinning in a food processor is a bad idea.

It says the recipe is of "medium" difficulty. I assume they're referring to the difficulty of cleaning up the mess that oozes out of the processor bowl.

Since we're talking about alternate styles, some of the soups in this thread might be judged to be in the gazpacho spectrum: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/4099/summertime-soups

[Deleted]

Yes,have to have garlic. I also add cilantro and or flat leaf parsley. (watercress sounds good too!). And lemon juice right before serving.
The flavorful tomato is the big,big factor. Yours look pretty good Mark,are they Romas?

[onlymark]

Are they Romas? No idea. They're labelled 'Local Tomatoes' at the supermarket. And they do have quite a bit of taste to them.

Peppers are a good idea, but none of us are actually too keen on them. Maybe if I blend them up we wouldn't notice. I'll have to try that.
I've no problem with red gazpacho but unless I do it myself I'm always a bit hesitant as to where they got the nice new shiny red colour from, like a chemical colouring. My wife and daughter funnily enough wont eat raw tomato, this is the only way to make them other than use purée stuff in cooking, so maybe I'll add more and see what happens.

Croutons are good, sometimes I'll cut up fine a bit of spring onion and sprinkle that on as well. It all depends if it's quick thing or a special occasion.
I'll also add more garlic depending on who is eating it. The photo above is for me and the kids, so not too much then!
The white gazpacho sounds good, I've never heard of it but I'll also possibly miss out on the grapes. Too expensive here for a start. But definitely worth a try.

[gertie]

I have a gazpacho recipe a friend's Italian mother gave me, it is very like this one with one exception. In place of the bread, a few leftover cooked Italian white beans were used and the soup was topped by the leftovers of a crusty loaf of bread. That sure looks good, Mark, surely my lunch invitation was lost in the mail?

[onlymark]

It's an open invitation. No need to mail it, just turn up.

[Deleted]

I know some people who truly don't like tomatoes. In many,many instances though,it is because they have never tasted a 'real' tomato. There is absolutely no comparison between what many groceries offer up as tomatoes that are hothouse grown,oft times anemic and lacking in the juice a real home grown tomato offers which renders them tasteless and lacking in the texture of a real tomato.

[Don Cuevas]

Now, to totally mess us up, I present the Gaspacho Moreliano, a concoction of finely chopped tropical fruits, typically mango, pineapple, jícama; all doused with orange juice, lime juice and optionally, chile negro molido and crumbled queso fresco.


Web ad for local gaspacho place: gaspachoselguero.com/direccion.html

Better yet, an illustrative video. None of this bears much resemblance to Gathpacho Andaluth.


(If you get an error message, click through to YouTube itself.)

[gertie]

Careful there, Mark, you've no idea how much I love gazpacho! ;D

[hwinpp]

I'll try doing it with my hand held mixer and a deep bowl. Unfortunately I don't have the machine Mark uses.

[bixaorellana]

HW! As someone who has your best interests at heart, I feel I can say this to you:

Go buy a blender!

www.expat-advisory.com/forum/asia/cambodia/hard-find-items-where-buy-things-phnom-penh/jug-style-food-blender-smoothie-make

www.alibaba.com/product-free/104023541/Blender.html

[hwinpp]

Ha, ha, ha!

Nice link, Bixa! ;D ;D ;D

I actually was out for drinks last night with 'Kid Khmer'

Should have asked him then. Ok, so they're affordable and available here, I'll get one.

[onlymark]

gertie, it'll be in the fridge waiting.
A big jug full.

[spindrift]

Here is a Gazpacho recipe from my days in South Africa.
It tastes wonderful.

6 large ripe tomatoes
Half spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper , seeded
half cucumber, seeded
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil!
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
half pint chicken consomme
finely chopped chives or parsley
salt, pepper, Tabasco

Gazpacho accompaniments (forget what they are, croutons though)

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and chill.

[Don Cuevas]

Wikipedia.org on Gazpacho (partial C&P):

Garnishes may be made with fresh bell pepper slices, diced tomatoes, or other fresh ingredients.
Traditionally, gazpacho is made by pounding the vegetables using a mortar and pestle. This method is still sometimes favoured as it helps keep the gazpacho cool and avoids the completely smooth consistency, and foam, created by blenders and food processors.[4]
(I dislike foamy gazpacho. I need chunky.-DC)

Gazpacho with diced ingredients.
In addition to the blended vegetable ingredients, it is also usually accompanied by different garnishes. These include the same vegetables the soup already contains, chopped up, as well as croutons.[5] The garnishes are served separately so the consumer can add them to the soup themselves. When making the salmorejo variety from Cordoba, chopped hard boiled egg and ham (e.g. jamón serrano, jamón ibérico, etc.) will be placed on top. In Extremadura, gazpacho with local ham is called gazpacho extremeño. This time, the ham tends to be added to the soup in the kitchen prior to serving (unlike the other garnishes which are added at the table).

[bixaorellana]

I keep forgetting to post this ......

A couple of weeks ago I made the standard, classic gazpacho, except that I added a few raw cactus pads (nopal). Even though I knew they were in there, I could not tell. The flavor is very mild & slightly sour. I did it partly because I had a huge supply of very fresh nopal and partly because it's supposed to be good for you.

Many people here claim to have had cases of diabetes reversed by nopal therapy, which I think is just the raw paddles blenderized to drink -- not appealing. Apparently, there is real evidence that nopal can be helpful in certain cases: www.nopalusa.com/nopal/studies.html

[tillystar]

I think it may be soon time to crack out a gazpacho, thanks for the reminder!

I love a classic one, but nice and smooth no crunchy bits, sorry Don No tabasco, just sherry vinegar, or red wine vinegar if we have none.

I do like a chopped, boiled egg on top.

[Don Cuevas]

Not a gazpacho, really, but I'm presently making a roasted sweet red pepper soup with oven dried tomatoes, seasoned with sea salt, Pimentón de la Vera agri-picante, garlic, and fresh thyme. Peeling the peppers may be a challenge. I will whirl the soup in a blender or else use the immersion stick blender. It would be nice to have some crema (creme fraiche) with which to garnish it, but all we have is natural yogurt. I could get some crema tomorrow. I'm thinking of serving the soup cold, or at tepid room temp. Mini-croutons and snippets of fresh basil?
(I'm also taking photos of the process.)

[bixaorellana]

It's definitely gazpacho weather here and I'm enjoying various versions every few days.

I've long since diverged from the supposedly classic gazpacho, choosing instead to make "blenderized different raw vegetables soup". What I like about my BDRV soup is that I can dispense with using bread for texture and also incorporate vegetables chosen for their specific vitamin content, such as beets and carrots.

To use those hard root vegetables, cut them into pieces and whirl them first, along with the water needed to grind them sufficiently.