Gazpacho
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gazpacho soup, also known as gazpacho, is a cold, Spanish soup that is popular in warmer areas and during the summer. Gazpacho descends from an ancient Andalusian concoction based on a combination of stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar — a cold breadsoup. With the Columbian Exchange beginning in 1492, the tomato and the bell pepper were brought to Europe.
In the United States and other countries, there exists the common misconception that the fundamental ingredient of Gazpacho is tomato. While tomato is an important ingredient of the most commonly-known form of Gazpacho, it is still the original ingredients mentioned above which define this recipe. In Andalusia, there are many types of Gazpacho, many of them not including tomato at all. One very popular type of Gazpacho is White Gazpacho or sopa de ajo blanco Malagueño made principally with almonds, bread, garlic, vinegar and oil.
A completely different approach for this recipe is gazpacho manchego. As the name implies it seems to have originated from the La Mancha region in Spain, but it is also popular in other areas in the center and southwest of the country. Instead of a cold soup, it is a warm stew. The main ingredients are meat (rabbit in many cases) and bread (a special kind of flat bread), and may also include mushrooms. Therefore, bread is the ingredient that really identifies a gazpacho.
The soup also classically has hard boiled egg as an accompaniment. The garnishes are served separate in little bowls to be added as desired. Occasionally, restaurants in western Spain serve a tomato gazpacho garnished with small cubes of the local ham (e.g. jamón serrano, jamón de bellota, etc...). This is common in Extremadura, where much high-quality ham is produced. On menus in certain Extremeduran restaurants, gazpacho with local ham is called gazpacho extremeño. The ham tends to be added to the soup in the kitchen prior to serving (unlike the other garnishes which are provided in separate dishes and added at the table).
[edit] References in popular culture
- In the episode The Soup Nazi of the sitcom Seinfeld a hispanic customer walks up to the counter and says "Uh Gazpacho por favor" to which the soup nazi responds "Por favor?" The customer then says "Um, I'm part Spanish." The soup nazi then exclaims "Adios Muchacho!"
- In the episode "Me²" of the British sitcom Red Dwarf, Arnold Rimmer reveals the most embarrassing incident of his entire life: an occasion where he was invited to dine at the captain's table and was served gazpacho, which had sent back to the kitchen to be warmed because he didn't realise it was meant to be served cold. All the senior officers had laughed at him, although at the time he thought they were laughing at the chef. He blames his abject failure to rise through the ranks of the Space Corps on this incident, rather than the more obvious culprits: his incompetence, stupidity, and highly disagreeable personality.
- In the Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian", Lisa Simpson becomes a vegetarian after visiting a petting zoo and makes a bowl of gazpacho so the guests at her father's barbeque don't have to eat meat.
- In the Venture Brothers episode "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)", Phantom Limb says, "Revenge, like gazpacho soup, is a dish best served cold, precise, and merciless."
- In the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Fahrenheit 932", a package is sent to Gil Grissom from a prisoner. Captain Brass is eating lunch next to him when he goes to open it, and is alarmed that there may be a bomb in it: "One minute, I'm eating tomato salad. The next, I'm gazpacho.".
- In the LucasArts game Grim Fandango, one of the first series of puzzles you must solve involves getting to the mass gazpacho poisoning which has taken place in the world of the living on Dia de los Muertos.
