Introduction:
Boy, is this a polarizing dish. I can hear the Yorkshire folk of generations gone by saying “cold soup…cold soup, we’re in bleeding Yorkshire, not on Mercury”. Soup is of course traditionally hot, well in Northern parts any way. But when one looks at the history of gazpacho, the cold tomato soup (the modern version is a soup anyway), one can feel the romance of the Spanish labourers in the hot sun creating and partaking in this refreshing and nutritious delight.
It can be no more beautifully detailed than by the Chilean writer Marta Brunet, who was of Catalan descent, when she described the dish as the meal of the Spanish muleteers ( those that drove mules), who:
take with them on their travels an earthen dish, garlic, olive oil, tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as some dry bread, which they crumble up. By the side of the road they crush the garlic between two stones with a little salt, then add some oil. They coat the inside of the dish with this mixture. Then they cut up the cucumbers and tomatoes and place them in the dish in alternate layers with breadcrumbs, finishing with a layer of breadcrumbs and oil. Having done this, they take a wet cloth, wrap the dish in it and leave it in the sun. The contents are cooked by evaporation and when the cloth is dry, the meal is cooked.
Today’s version is a little less romantic, but is a brilliant balance of ingredients that delivers a tomatoey, cucumber-fresh, bitey and exhilarating gustatory delight. It’s also a very healthy meal.
