Gazpacho - what is it: a soup or a drink?

Gazpacho is the national product of Spanish cuisine. According to legend, his homeland - hot Andalusia, the most famous part of Spain, which includes Cordoba with its famous bullfight and other administrative centers. This dish was eaten once by shepherds, peasants - the poorest sections of the population. Now it belongs to delicacies and is served as an exquisite gourmet dish .

Soup or not soup?

First of all, we will understand: gazpacho - what is it? Judge for yourself: traditionally, this was the name of the dish, consisting of crushed garlic, macerated pieces of bread (mostly stale), flavored with a mixture of vegetable and olive oil and vinegar. For more, the poor simply did not have the money, and they had to live without meat. But such food and hunger quenched, and cheered, thanks to garlic and bread, not bad.

Gazpacho - what is this in our time?

It refers to soups, and to their cold varieties. Described above - this is a classic version of the dish, prepared in the field from the products that were with the Spaniards, pasturing herds or working somewhere out of the house. And already afterwards, having become the property of professional cooks, the recipe underwent some changes. The dish was started to put fresh vegetables - tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet and hot pepper, sugar, salt, some spices. However, the basis of it remained the same: bread, butter, garlic. And no matter how gourmets tried to argue about the consistency of gazpacho: "What is it - soup, garlic snack or thick juice ?!" - it can be called a drink with a big stretch. Especially in modern interpretations. After all, the dish is not only given a creamy consistency, but also put vegetables, cut into slices, into plates. There is all this should be a spoon, and certainly not to drink!

How to prepare gazpacho at home? Gourmet gazpacho with shrimps

However, as they say, what to cook and how - is a private matter for everyone. Here are some delicious soup recipes. Each mistress will be able to cook a mysterious gazpacho. What it is - eaters will decide for themselves. So, 2 kg of tomatoes is required: Bulgarian pepper - 2-3 pieces of yellow or green; Fresh cucumber - 1-2 pieces of small or medium; Shrimps, boiled in advance - 100-120 g; Onions - 1 head; Garlic - 2 slices; A little olive oil, 100 grams of dry bread, salt and black pepper - to taste. All vegetables should be washed, cleaned of pedicels, seeds, peel. Chop the onion, beat with boiling water to leave the bitterness, or marinate it in vinegar for half an hour - this will even improve the taste of the product. This is what cooks do in restaurants. Together with the bread, which you need to soak in the water in advance, all components (raw!) Are cut, put in a blender and crushed to a consistency of puree. Then the soup is seasoned with butter, salt, pepper and placed in the refrigerator for several hours. When served on a table, shrimps are placed in each plate and the vegetables cut in separately beautiful straws - a few cucumbers and peppers. There is a Spanish gazpacho soup you need with crackers. And do not forget to sprinkle with chopped herbs - with tomatoes it goes very well!

Assorted gazpacho

Another option for cooking and serving the Spanish culinary brand is as follows: 5 large tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 2 green sweet peppers, 2 cloves of garlic, a few crusts of black bread and a little oil to grind in a blender, wipe through a sieve to get a completely homogeneous mass. Add salt, vinegar, sugar to taste, if desired, dilute with boiled water. Separately put on small plates chopped tomato slices, circles - cucumbers, straws - pepper, rings - pickled onions. Also chop the ham, cheese, steep eggs. Everyone at the table can put himself in soup the desired number of those products that he wants. Also in the saucers put chopped greens and biscuits of black bread. In plates with gazpacho it is recommended to put cubes of food ice.

Enjoy delicious and healthy food!