Gazpacho

A cold soup made mostly from tomatoes, stale bread, and vinegar, gazpacho is a typical dish from Andalucia, in the southern Iberian peninsula. Being served cold, it is very refreshing and perfect for hot climates. It is usually served with toasted or fried bread, boiled eggs, and sometimes raw ham depending on the local or family tradition. 

As with any traditional dish, it exists in many variants, with different proportion of ingredients, of which this particular recipe is a mere example. Feel free to vary based on your taste, or what is available. Usually, the proportion between vinegar, peppers, and cucumber will determine the balance between sweet and sour, while the amount of bread will determine the thickness.

Time to prepare: 1 hour
Difficulty: easy
Utensils: Cutting knife, spoon, sieve, two large bowls, mixer (or mortar, cheese grater and vegetable mill), frying pan (or oven with a cooking tray)
Adaptable: yes
Vegetarian: yes
Vegan: yes
Dish origin: Andalucia, southern Iberian peninsula
Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 3 loafs of stale bread (about 300 grams, when the crust is removed)
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 cucumber
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Vinegar (about 1/2 cup)
• Olive oil (about 1/2 cup)
• Salt

Preparation (with mixer)

1. Remove the crust from the stale bread and save it for later while breaking the inside into small pieces and soaking it with water
2. Cut the vegetables into pieces, then blend them in the mixer
3. Use the sieve to filter the liquid part into one of the bowls, using the spoon to press all the juice apart from the pulp and the peels. You may have to repeat this step a couple times so all the juice is separated from the pulp and the peels. Save the pulp and the peels in a bowl: you can make vegetable patties with them
   
4. Put the juice back into the mixer, squeeze the bread, add it to the juice, adding half a cup of oil, vinegar and salt (to your taste), and blending until you reach a creamy texture
   
5. In a frying pan, toast the bread crust in a spoon of olive oil; if you have a oven with a baking tray you may toast the bread on the tray after having poured some oil on it

Preparation (no mixer)

1. Remove the crust from the stale bread, save it, and grate or crush in the mortar the rest into very fine breadcrumbs (the finer the breadcrumbs, the more creamy the texture of the soup will be), using the sieve to filter out the larger chunks
   
2. Cut the vegetables into pieces, then grind them with the vegetable mill into one of the bowls
   
3. Use the sieve to filter the liquid part into the other bowl, using the spoon to press all the juice apart from the pulp and the peels. You may have to repeat this step a couple times so all the juice is separated from the pulp and the peels. Save the pulp and the peels in another bowl: you can make vegetable patties with them
   
4. Add the breadcrumbs, half a cup of oil, vinegar and salt (to your taste) and stir well
   
5. In a frying pan, toast the bread crust in a spoon of olive oil; if you have a oven with a baking tray you may toast the bread on the tray after having poured some oil on it