Lately I’ve become more and more obsessed with gazpacho, southern Spain’s cold vegetable soup. This dish had its origin in Ancient Rome where (minus the tomatoes, which are a new world fruit) it served as a kind of vinegar, salt, stale bread porridge for the army. Ancient army food was notoriously nasty and served only the most practical of functions. In this case, some calories and salt replacement in the hot Iberian sun. Nowadays, it’s basically a liquid salad and a whole lot better.

The trio of classic gazpacho from Andalusia is cucumber…

Sweet peppers…

And tomato. In this case I use fresh late summer heirlooms. This is an ingredient driven dish and so it pays to use the best.

I love me some garlic — and so do the Spanish.

A bit of red onion.

And this time I’m experimenting with throwing in a Jalepeno.

Then, because this is a salad, you need olive oil and vinegar to taste. You MUST use Spanish ingredients for the proper effect. Fine Spanish olive oil from Andalusia and Vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar) are the only acceptable condiments. Plus throw in a little salt (and pepper) if you so desire.

Then I pack everything into the Blendtec bucket.

One of the best things about the incredible Blendtec is that it can handle ANYTHING. It’s like the Bas-o-matic.

In about 45 seconds the above is rendered into this.

Chill and serve. Yum. (the black stuff is fresh pepper). This is my “for home snacking” prep and I don’t bother with the presentation.

At a dinner party I have dressed the bowl with cucumber, onions, tomatoes, chives, and olive oil fried bread and then poured the soup in.

Something more like this.

Jose Andres presents it like this at The Bazaar.

Recipe doesn’t really matter so much here, you can pretty much wing it, but if you feel the need, you can use Jose’s recipe. Adjust anything for taste. It’s important to chill the soup well, but it keeps in the fridge for 2-3 days. My little experiment with the Jalepeno worked, but I don’t really think the burn is an improvement. I prefer the garlic and vinegar tang, so next time it stays out.