Monday, August 16, 2010

On Gazpacho


My appreciation for Gazpacho was kindled by my experiences working Garde Manger station at Lark Creek Inn. After lunch, during Summer months, it was my job to go out to the shed where cases upon cases of heirloom tomatoes were stored. I had to pick out the ones that were about to go rotten but were still just barely salvageable. We took these and made Gazpacho with them. Frugal, but also delicious.

The following recipe serves well for this dish ... know that, as with all such traditional dishes, styles and ingredients can vary quite widely.

Ingredients

* 10 oz of bread
* 21 oz. of tomato
* 2 cloves of garlic
* 2 onions
* 2 red and green peppers
* 1 cucumber (optional)
* 7 tablespoons of oil
* 2 tablespoons of vinegar
* 1 1/2 tablespoon of water
* Cumin (optional)

Preparation

In a big mortar mash the cumin, the garlic and the soaked bread, in a plastic bowl mix the chopped onion, the chopped tomato, the oil, the vinegar, the salt and the contents of the mortar, mash it with the mixer and add very cold water to mix everything. Add salt and strain it. Keep it in the fridge until served.

Serve with the tomato, the cucumber, the pepper and the toasted bread cut to dices.

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