KEY POINTS:
The best Spanish food is regional, and the secret to this simple cuisine is using fresh ingredients.
In spite of all the wonderful dishes in the Spanish repertoire, I still love chilled soups the best, especially in this weather.
Andalusia is the home of that inimitable cold soup,
that liquid salad, that sunshine in a spoon - gazpacho. My first one in Seville came in the form of a finely blended, pink puree, served in a tin mug - delicious and refreshing, but nothing remotely like the textured gazpachos I made in my restaurant in Paris, served with ice cubes in the bottom and grilled bread cubes on top.
The Spanish have many soups with bread as a base, and this is one of them. The bread, if you like, is the family line, so if you make a gazpacho without bread, you are denying its history.
In pre-Roman times, gazpacho was simply a bit of cold water, vinegar, olive oil and garlic with stale bread floating in it, made by shepherds - mountain fast-food. Later, farmers reduced the bread content and added vegetables. Tomatoes appeared when Columbus brought them back from America.
The word comes from the Latin "caspa", meaning leftovers or little something. The classic gazpacho is the Andalusian version, but there are many others. In the gazpacho andaluz, bread is first soaked in water to soften it then blended in the mixer with plenty of very ripe tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, much garlic and good-quality olive oil. Season with sherry vinegar and salt and add enough water to make it the consistency of pouring cream. Serve chilled. That's it.
The full monty has side dishes, or tropezones, of cubed fresh bread and tomato, diced green pepper, finely chopped onion, cubed ham and diced hard-boiled eggs which you plop into the soup at will.
Depending on what region you live in, you might add sugar, parsley, mint or coriander, but the base is always bread, garlic, vinegar, oil and cold water. There's a really bright red one called zoque which uses tomatoes and red peppers. In Huelva, they make a green one, called gazpacho de primavera, in the spring with green peppers, green tomatoes, lettuce, coriander and onion. Malaga makes a white one with almonds, garlic and muscat grapes, and Cordoba makes a red cream soup called salmorejo.
There is also a sort of pure called ajo colorado (red garlic) which involves potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and onion, which is eaten warm with fried corn cakes. Pipirrana is another one - more like a finely chopped salad than a soup.
Here is a fragrant snack: a soft, flat bun toasted on both sides and opened out. On one side, lay slices of cured Serrano ham and, on the other, a thicker version of salmorejo soup, so it's like puree. Drizzle with Spanish olive oil.
SALMOREJO SOUP
Serves 4
1 cup cubed white bread, crusts removed
500g sweet ripe tomatoes, skinned and seeded
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp sweet La Chinata smoked paprika
1/4 cup Spanish extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp Chardonnay vinegar
1. Soak the bread in water and squeeze dry.
2. Place the chopped tomatoes, garlic, salt and paprika in a food processor and pure.
3. With the motor running, gradually add the bread, then drizzle in the olive oil and finally the vinegar.
4. Serve chilled or at room temperature.