Gazpacho!

We have one of Neil's sons staying with us for a few days and so we have been out and about. Yesterday we had a late lunch and a siesta, in keeping with Spanish tradition and then ate out at Meson Pepa's, a typical Spanish restaurant in the village.

A traditional meal starts with a salad, then you have your starters, then your main course, followed by dessert and finally coffee and liquers....... and it's eaten over a couple of hours.....or more and is accompanied by a variety of drinks, beers while you are waiting, wine with the meal, brandy with the coffees - for us, anyway.

So, in keeping with tradition we had a mixed salad to start - and Pepa's do a good salad - bed of lettuce, loaded with tomato, cucumber, onion, grated carrot, sweetcorn, tuna, boiled egg,olives and little peppery pippy things.

Then we had Gambas ajillo - garlic prawns. The prawns here are really good and there were plenty to share.

We each had a different main course, veal, rabbit & pork and shared some patatas a lo pobre, these are sliced potatoes done in oil with peppers and garlic, and a platter of verduras a la plancha - grilled vegetables. Here in Spain, anything 'a la plancha' means it's grilled and anything 'al horno' means it's been oven baked.

Anyway, to the Gazpacho. While we were eating our main course the chap sat at the table next to us got this large glass of what looked like Mango smoothie brought to him, with a little dish of chopped cucumber and green peppers, which he tipped into it along with some squares of bread - and this just didn't look right.

So, in my best Spanish, I asked the waited what it was? Gazpacho, he answered. Now, I had seen lots of packs of Gazpacho on the supermarket shelves and even seen it in restaurants, but I always thought it was pinky red, not Mango yellow! And, as far as I am aware I have never tried it.

A few minutes later, one of the waiters brought over a bowl of Gazpacho for us to try with the little dish of chopped peppers, etc and cubes of crouton style bread. For those of you that don't know, it is a soup served cold and is an Andalucian dish, and we are in Andalucia so it should be good - and it was. It is a tomatoe based soup and I can only assume the yellow colour was because they had used yellow tomatoes rather than fully ripened red ones. The recipe originated in Andalucia, a big tomato growing area and is now widely consumed throughout Spain and Portugal, especially in the summer as it's really very refreshing.

The whole meal was fabulous, and the Gazpacho - a real treat.

So, for those of you who may want to try it, here's a recipe we shall be putting to the test:

yield: Makes 6 servings
active time: 30 min
total time: 1 1/2 hr

Yellow tomatoes bring a touch of sunshine to this delicious chilled soup, which can be made as spicy or as mellow as you like.


1 navel orange
4 medium yellow beefsteak tomatoes (1 3/4 pounds), coarsely chopped
2 large yellow bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 (3/4-pound) cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce such as Tabasco, or to taste Garnish:
diced cucumber; diced yellow bell pepper; chopped fresh chives

Cut off and discard peel, including white pith, from orange with a sharp knife, then cut orange into 1-inch pieces. Stir together with remaining ingredients and 1 teaspoon salt.
Working in batches, purée in a blender until smooth, about 30 seconds per batch, then force each batch through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Whisk, then season with salt and chill, covered, 1 hour. Whisk before serving.

Cooks' note: Gazpacho can be chilled up to 1 day.

Copied from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Yellow-Gazpacho-243271