Gazpacho is a Spanish soup, served cold, that originates from the Spain’s Southern region of Andalucía. It is consumed widely throughout Spain and Portugal, along with many Latin American countries. It is essentially a liquid salad that can be served slightly chilled, but not ice cold, either with pieces of vegetable, or more commonly, pureed until smooth.

The are several rumoured origins of Gazpacho, one of which is that it began as a soup during the Middle Ages, a time when Spain was part of the Islamic world.

Another popular theory is that it originated from the soldiers of the Roman Empire, who carried bread, garlic, salt, olive oil and vinegar whilst marching across the roads of the Empire. Each soldier would mix these ingredients to his own preferred taste. Legend also has it that, before leaving on his first voyage, Christopher Columbus loaded up with barrels of this mixture on his foray into the New World.

Due to its filling nature labourers of old, working in vineyards, olive plantations and fields, were given rations of bread and oil for their meals. The bread, which had been soaked in water, was pounded to make a simple soup. In order to flavour the soup the oil was added along with garlic and salt. Whatever fresh vegetables were available at the time were also added, thus gazpacho served to provide nourishment, quenched the thirst, and was effective in sustaining the labourers working in the hot sun.

Whilst tomato, peppers and cucumber are important ingredients of the form of gazpacho that most people are familiar with today, the original gazpacho did not include these. One main reason for this is that tomatoes were unknown in Spain until after the discovery of the New World. Furthermore, particularly in Andalucía, there remain several types of gazpacho that do not contain tomato, most notably ‘white gazpacho’ also known as ‘ajo blanco malagueño’, from the Province of Málaga, which is made principally with almonds, bread, garlic, vinegar and olive oil. These ingredients are identical to the ‘ajo blanco’ made during the previously mentioned Middle Ages.

Across Spain there are regional as well as provincial variations on the core ingredients of gazpacho. In Andalucía, the Province of Granada has its own unique recipe; ‘Gazpacho de Granada’ is made by pounding garlic, cumin, salt, peppers, and tomatoes, with olive oil added until creamy, then the water and bread go on top. Another Andalucían variety is ‘Gazpacho de Antequera’, made with homemade mayonnaise blended with lemon juice and egg whites and pounded garlic and almonds.

Gazpacho is routinely served as a starter, but can provide a nourishing and refreshing snack at any time of day. Due to its popularity, it can now be bought ready made from supermarkets.

Gazpacho recipe:

1 kg ripe tomatoes
1 chopped onion
1/2 cucumber
1 red bell pepper, seeded, diced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt
4 cups stale bread
1 cup of water