Spanish Food - How To Make Spicy Gazpacho Soup.

Home-made soups are so good for you - all that nourishing stock and chock-a-block full of vitamins and minerals.

But ... who on earth could face boiling bones for hours on end during the scorching Spanish summer weather, not to mention preparing the soup once the stock is made? I dont think it would tickle anybodys fancy to then have to tuck into a piping-hot soup!

For this reason, the Spanish came up with their wonderful, ice-cold soup - gazpacho - beautifully colorful, packed with goodness, cheap and simple to prepare, no cooking and ... most important of all, an absolute delight to drink.

Traditional gazpacho originates from romantic Andalucia - that large, exotic southerly region of Spain which is home to such extensive Arabic influence.

The chilled, raw soup was originally made by pounding bread and garlic with tomatoes, cucumber and peppers but, nowadays, your electric blender renders this effortless! Olive oil endows it with a smooth, creamy consistency and vinegar adds a refreshing tang - just what you need when life gets too hot to handle!

The spicy soup should be served in true Spanish style with small bowls of accompaniments - finely chopped peppers, cucumber, onion ... even hard-boiled eggs and croutons, if you feel up to it! Guests will then sprinkle what appeals to them on the soup.

Traditional gazpacho is tomato-based, with most Spanish families having developed their own, unique recipes. However, nowadays, you will also find gazpacho recipes that have nothing to do with tomatoes - white, almond-based gazpachos, fruit-based gazpachos, etc.

Do you suffer from insomnia? Could be that drinking gazpacho is the answer, for in Pedro Almodovars 1987 film "Mujeres Al Borde De Un Ataque De Nervios", various characters help themselves to the soup and promptly fall asleep!

However, dont fall asleep just yet as you havent read over the recipe!

Ingrediants for 4 servings:

- 4 ripe tomatoes - 1 onion - red pepper - green pepper - cucumber - 3 cloves garlic - 50 g bread - 3 dessertspoons vinegar - 8 dessertspoons olive oil - Water - Salt/pepper - chilli pepper (optional)

Garnishings:

- 2 hard-boiled eggs - finely chopped onion - finely chopped red pepper - finely chopped green pepper - finely chopped cucumber

Method:

1. Break up bread and soak in water for 30 minutes.

2. Skin tomatoes, remove seeds and stalks from peppers.

3. Peel cucumber, onion and garlic.

4. Chop onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppers and cucumber.

5. Place in electric blender.

6. Squeeze out excess water from bread and add to blender.

7. Add oil and vinegar.

8. Blend well.

9. If necessary, add sufficient water for soup-like consistency.

10. Pour into a bowl with ice cubes.

11. Fridge for a couple of hours.

12. Serve in bowls, with garnishings in separate dishes.

Gazpacho is best enjoyed sitting in the shade, looking out onto an azure sea, blue sky and golden sun and sands!

Linda Plummer is webmistress of the site: http://www.top-tour-of-spain.com which provides a wide range of information regarding Spain and the Spanish language.

Spanish Recipes - Tempting Tapas Dishes
Spain is famous for its tapas and, whichever Spanish bar you frequent, in whichever area of the country, you are sure to find them.So, what exactly are "tapas" and where did the name come from?Tapas are, essentially, snacks and the word literally means "cover". The name originates from the card which used to be placed on top of your drink to p...

Advantages of Using Dehydrated Vegetables
I try to keep my pantry stocked with canned food, my refrigerator stocked with fresh food and my freezer stocked with frozen food. I also keep a supply of dehydrated foods on hand. I like dried onions because they are easy to add to soups and stews and they will take the place of fresh onions if I do not have any. Sometimes I do not want to use a w...

Traditional Swedish Pea Soup Recipe
Although rarely served in fine restaurants and almost never appearing on smorgasbords, soups are essential in traditional Swedish cuisine. One soup in particularrtsoppahas a distinguished history.Yellow pea soup has sustained the working class since the age of the Vikings. When Catholicism was the reigning religion of Sweden, rtsoppa, which is stud...

Japanese Cooking
Do you love Japanese food? The funny thing about Japanese food is that you either love it or you hate it. There is no in-between. And chances are, if you hate it, you probably havent really tasted Japanese food yet or havent given yourself a chance to sample it enough. Japanese food is hard to appreciate after only one bite. And sometimes, the idea...

6 Tasty Low Fat Soup Recipes For Cholesterol Patients
Among low cholesterol recipes, soups that are low in fat happen to be very popular. Folks with high cholesterol love to have these soups as they are really tasty. These soup recipes provide a balanced and fat free food and could be of great assistance in dietary control for high cholesterol afflicted folks.These soups to some extent also contribute...

Wild Rice Soup
Maybe you have heard of it and maybe you have made it. I have tasted it and my opinion is that it tastes just like a bunch of store bought soup mixed together with wild rice. Not too bad but I know how to make real wild rice soup and it tastes different. My opinion, of course.First of all I do not like potatoes in my wild rice soup. It is potato so...

How To Cook Lamb Soup - Cook Delicious Carrot Lamb Soup (Chinese Cuisine)
This is a very easy recipe on how to cook lamb soup. However, just a gentle reminder that cooking this soup will require at least three hours. Why? Because this is a chinese-style lamb soup. Just some basic backgrounds, chinese soup basically requires you to cook the soup a little bit longer as contrary to normal western soup. This is because the c...