A classic Spanish soup, with its own Guinness world record. Not only is Gazpacho delicious, it surely knows how to be famous. Gazpacho is more of a chilled drink than a soup, served in frosted glasses or poured over ice, and can be served as a starter, main dish, or tapa. A real treat in the summer heat.
Not only are Gazpacho a must-try delight, but it's also incredibly easy to make and only gets better if you make it in advance. The perfect dish to make with your over-ripe tomatoes.
What is Gazpacho?
Gazpacho is a cold tomato soup, made from various raw vegetables, olive oil, vinegar and water. The vegetables usually consist of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions and garlic, but different seasonal vegetables and herbs could be added as well. Its colour varies from pale orange to red, depending on whether the tomatoes that are used are more or less ripe. Stale bread is often used to thicken the soup and make it more substantial as a meal, or bread could be used to dip in the soup. Different toppings are sometimes added as well.
Gazpacho can be served as a starter, main dish, or tapa and is usually served ice cold in the hot summer months. Traditionally, Gazpacho was made by pounding the vegetables in a mortar with a pestle, but nowadays a mixer or blender is used to make the soup extra smooth. Today, Gazpacho is available to buy premade in stores in many places around the world. Perfect as a light lunch or a midday snack. Healthy, and most of them low in calories, this soup is a good option if you don't want to bother with making your own.
The History of Gazpacho
Gazpacho is sometimes called Andalucían Gazpacho, which refers to its believed origin, the autonomous region of Andalucía in the south of Spain, even though it is still uncertain. In Andalucía, there is an abundance of olive oil and fresh vegetables, perfect for making Gazpacho. That's one of many reasons why the soup is likely to have been invented here.
Gazpacho is likely to predate the founding of the region of Andalucía and was either invented during the Arabic or Roman reign, but still probably in the same region as today's Andalucía. The main ingredients back then were broad bean flour, oranges and almonds and did not include tomato among its ingredients until the colonization of America.
Guinness Book of Records, the world's biggest Gazpacho
There is a Guinness book record for the largest Gazpacho ever made. This record was set in 2019, in the city of Almería, in southeast Spain. The Gazpacho was made as a fundraiser for the Association of Children with Disabilities of Almería (ANDA) and the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC). Unica Group company, which held the event and holds the record, raised a whopping 18,252 euros for the two organisations and more than 10,000 people gathered at the event. The Unica Group company record is 9,800 litres of Gazpacho. To say the least, a heck of a lot of vegetables were needed to make this enormous soup.
If you ever wish to recreate the world record-holding Gazpacho, this is what you need to put on your shopping list:
6,000 kilos of tomato
300 kilos of red pepper
200 kilos of onion
200 kilos of cucumber
1400 litres of water
550 litres of virgin olive oil
350 kilos of ice.
And don't forget to invite 10,000 people and get enough cups for everyone...
Recipe for normal-sized Gazpacho
If you're not planning on breaking a world record, but still want to enjoy a glass of cooling Gazpacho, this is the recipe to go with. Super easy to make and feeds 4 people. Make the Gazpacho at least a couple of hours before serving or preferably the day before to bring out the flavours. If you wish to make it a more filling soup, just add some white bread or pieces of baguette to the blender.
You need:
100 grams of fresh onion
2 garlic cloves
1 small cucumber
2 small red bell peppers
1 kg ripe tomatoes
½-1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
How you make it:
Chop all the vegetables, onions and garlic into cubes and add to a blender. (If you wish for a milder taste, fry the onion and garlic before adding them to the blender)
Blend until the soup is smooth.
Add salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar and taste. If the soup is too thick, you can add some water to loosen it. If you wish the soup to be thicker, you can add pieces of stale bread to the blender.
Place the soup in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight.
Serve cold or poured over ice.
Optional topping
There are different toppings and ingredients you can use to make your soup thicker and more filling as well as to bring some extra flavours to the soup. Using bread as a thickener is a common and popular choice or you can add boiled egg, serrano ham, canned tuna or just some basil to bring something extra to the dish. Either serve the soup cold, straight from the refrigerator och poured over some ice to make it super fresh. The soup is usually served in a glass or a chilled ceramic cup to keep the soup extra fresh, but you can use a deep dish as well if you want to dip some baguette or slices of bread in the soup.
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