Does America not like cold soup? It’s hot out, and even though I’m on the record as someone that would eat hot soup regardless of the weather, I’m not currently in the mood for a chowder. But outside of your local tapas joint or a variety of other pedigreed restaurants, it’s a bit hard to find chilled soup on a menu. That’s too bad, because there are few things better for the summer heat than a good gazpacho.
Emphasis on good — the ones you do find are often mediocre, and I suspect that if gazpacho was more popular in the US, you’d see a preponderance of refrigerated salsa-like slurries. A proper gazpacho is, of course, nothing near the texture of salsa or red sauce, and its color is not particularly red either; rather, it should be a deep rusty orange and impeccably, velvety smooth. This is when gazpacho transcends janky food-processed purée and becomes something else entirely: a perfect emulsion of tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and peppers, a liquid shot of summertime.
The crucial points are as follows: heavy up on the tomatoes and cukes, while showing restraint with the onion and pepper (a cubanelle, ideally). You can add some day-old bread for texture, but only a small amount and only after the first blend. If you’d like almonds or herbs in there, go for it, but I like making this with a focus on the vegetables — you can add those as toppings later. You also have to add a metric ton of very good olive oil; leave any hesitations about olive oil use at the door, because you’ll need to use a lot to nail the proper flavor and emulsion.
Finally, and most importantly, strain. This is the key to perfect texture. Blend your vegetables, strain through a fine mesh sieve, blend them again with the bread, and maybe even strain again. Then emulsify with olive oil while running an immersion blender. This all gets chilled overnight in the fridge; you’ll be forgiven if you can’t wait quite that long, but it should be cold one way or the other.
Oftentimes gazpacho is paired with croutons; this can be great, but I actually prefer a heap of chopped basil and some un-crouton-ed bread to sop it up. However, it works just as well as beverage; gazpacho this good qualifies for a champagne flute.
Gazpacho
Ingredients
3-4 medium size red tomatoes, very ripe
3 small cucumbers, peeled
1/4 red onion, roughly chopped
2-3 cubanelle pepper strips
1/4 cup pieces of stale sourdough bread
High-quality extra virgin olive oil
Handful of thinly sliced basil for garnishing
Instructions
Roughly chop all the vegetables. Salt them and let them sit for about an hour.
Blend the vegetables along with any liquid they release. Strain well in a fine mesh sieve, making sure to only discard the very solid parts.
Return the vegetable purée to the blender and add the bread. Blend until completely smooth. Strain again if necessary. Salt to taste.
Add the mixture into a tall container. Start blending with an immersion blender, and slowly stream in the olive oil. Continue adding the olive oil until the soup is very emulsified, with the texture of a very loose vinaigrette. It should be liquidy but still cover a spoon; smooth, shiny, and velvet-like, almost airy. Add more oil if it is not yet at that stage. The color should be a deep orange.
Chill overnight, covered in the fridge. Serve in a bowl or glass, along with chopped basil and a drizzle of olive oil.