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Gimme Good Gazpacho recipe

post #1 of 39
7/11/10 at 9:35am
Thread Starter 
Those of you who have been to Andalucia in the warmer months will know this dish and how good it can be. I'm thinking of the tomato-based one not the white dish.

Basically it's a chilled tomato dish, a thickish sauce, made with garlic, onions, etc. Recipes vary but I'm looking for something fairly authentic and easy to replicate. On a hot day nothing beats it.
Suggestions?
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post #2 of 39
7/11/10 at 6:06pm
from my friend Janet Mendel, here you go. what makes a great gazpacho is bread, which is used as a thickener and to mellow the garlic. real gazpacho is an orange puree, not a failed salsa.
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post #3 of 39
7/11/10 at 6:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post
from my friend Janet Mendel, here you go. what makes a great gazpacho is bread, which is used as a thickener and to mellow the garlic. real gazpacho is an orange puree, not a failed salsa.

Is that true? If so, I am very happy, because I love gazpacho made like that, but always figured I was eating some affectation.
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post #4 of 39
7/11/10 at 7:03pm
would i lie? how to make gazpacho: soak a slice of bread in water. squeeze out the water and puree the bread and garlic in a blender. Add tomatoes, small piece of cucumber, little onion and maybe some green bell pepper and puree that. with the machine running, slowly add good olive oil. when the mixture turns from red to a kind of golden burnt orange, it's done. Thin as desired with ice water, chill and serve. you can have more cucumber, onion, pepper passed along side as a garnish, and i like a finishing swirl of olive oil, too. that's the rough outline. i like some cumin in mine. and often, a little smoked paprika. depending on the quality of the tomatoes, a little sherry vinegar is nice, too.
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post #5 of 39
7/11/10 at 7:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post
would i lie? how to make gazpacho: soak a slice of bread in water. squeeze out the water and puree the bread and garlic in a blender. Add tomatoes, small piece of cucumber, little onion and maybe some green bell pepper and puree that. with the machine running, slowly add good olive oil. when the mixture turns from red to a kind of golden burnt orange, it's done. Thin as desired with ice water, chill and serve. you can have more cucumber, onion, pepper passed along side as a garnish, and i like a finishing swirl of olive oil, too.
that's the rough outline. i like some cumin in mine. and often, a little smoked paprika. depending on the quality of the tomatoes, a little sherry vinegar is nice, too.

No garlic? A little garlic really helps gazpacho.
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post #6 of 39
7/11/10 at 8:16pm
wow, foodguy's recipe is exactly like my mom's.

garlic is too pungent for what should be crisp and refreshing.
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post #7 of 39
7/11/10 at 8:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post
would i lie? how to make gazpacho: soak a slice of bread in water. squeeze out the water and puree the bread and garlic in a blender.

Quote:
Originally Posted by saint View Post
No garlic? A little garlic really helps gazpacho.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aizan View Post
wow, foodguy's recipe is exactly like my mom's.

garlic is too pungent for what should be crisp and refreshing.

Reading. It's fundamental.
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post #8 of 39
7/11/10 at 9:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodguy View Post
from my friend Janet Mendel, here you go. what makes a great gazpacho is bread, which is used as a thickener and to mellow the garlic. real gazpacho is an orange puree, not a failed salsa.

Is there a reason why she uses white vinegar instead of sherry vinegar?

I would have thought sherry vinegar would be more authentic.
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post #9 of 39
7/11/10 at 10:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire. View Post
Is there a reason why she uses white vinegar instead of sherry vinegar?

I would have thought sherry vinegar would be more authentic.

i guess it's just to her taste. i like a little bit of sherry vinegar. but sherry vinegar does have a nutty edge so she might find the more neutral acidity of wh ite vinegar better. YMMV. it's not a chemical equation.
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post #10 of 39
7/12/10 at 2:33am
Latest Cook's Illustrated has a recipe with some do's and don'ts
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post #11 of 39
7/12/10 at 7:13am
Thread Starter 
great stuff. thanks. I have experienced the dish with garlic, which gave it a nice edge.
A friend has brought back from Spanish supermarkets the pre-made versions in the tetrapak-type bricks, which were pretty good to me.
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post #12 of 39
7/12/10 at 7:32am
There's an excellent recipe in Bruno Loubet's Cuisine Courante - have been using it with variations for the last fifteen years. Not sure if it is 100% authentic, but it is excellent

The bread is crucial; and yes, the consistency should be a puree. Personally I like adding the oil at the end, gently stirring it into the finished soup - as opposed to adding it to the blender. Makes for a nicer consistency
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post #13 of 39
7/12/10 at 8:54am
Anyone who puts garlic in one of those garlic smashers or in a blender needs help. Serious help.
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post #14 of 39
7/12/10 at 12:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by -Norton- View Post
Anyone who puts garlic in one of those garlic smashers or in a blender needs help. Serious help.
explicate.
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post #15 of 39
7/12/10 at 1:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by -Norton- View Post
Anyone who puts garlic in one of those garlic smashers or in a blender needs help. Serious help.

Yeah I'd be interested to know why you hold to this line of thinking as well.

Aside from adding more flavor to dishes, garlic is virtually useless from a nutritional standpoint if it isn't minced or crushed. It has an amino acid in it called allliin that reacts with an enzyme called allinase to form a compound called allicin. Both of the amino acid and the enzyme are found in different parts of the clove and will not form the allicin compound until crushed or minced.

It's this compound that possesses all of the nutritive properties in garlic. Properties that help fight cancer, lower cholesterol, prevents blood clots, and even help manage weight.

So I say mince away. Just don't microwave it. The microwaves actually kill the compound, rendering it nutritionally useless.

As for gazpacho, I know I will sound gauche for saying it, but I prefer mine without the bread. The bread puree always had a subtle pasty-like quality that was just never palatable to me. If the aforementioned Cook's Illustrated recipe is the same bread-less one that I have, then I would heartily recommend it. There's also variations on it that involve chipotle chiles and lime and another one with scallops and shrimp. And I agree that the sherry vinegar is a must.
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