On a hot summer day very few people want to eat burning rich soup. A much better choice would be a cold first course, spicy, mild, not too nutritious, rich in vitamins. All these requirements perfectly meets mouthwatering Spanish soup gazpacho, which is perfect for hot weather.

History gazpacho

Today gazpacho soup made from fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions and garlic with the addition of olive oil and wheat bread. But it was not always. Before the Europeans met with tomatoes in Spain prepared the white gazpacho. The inventors of this soup even think of Roman legionnaires, whose rations consisted of white bread, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. By mixing these ingredients, the Romans gave a hearty soup that had fed well, gave strength and helped to survive the heat.

Another legend says that the soup was invented mule-drivers that are finely chopped vegetables, put them in pots layers added mashed garlic, olive oil and bread. Anyway, gazpacho has long been considered the food of the poor.

After the discovery of the Americas in Spain have become popular new strange fruit - tomatoes. Who first thought of adding tomatoes to the soup of bread soaked with oil and garlic, now unknown. But the idea has been successful: the soup has acquired an attractive red color and refreshing taste. Today, many can not even imagine this soup without tomato.

Spanish character in different variations

Like other popular dishes, gazpacho preparing for a variety of recipes. In a little-known today, white gazpacho put wheat bread, vinegar, almonds and olive oil. Green Gazpacho originally was prepared with cucumber and herbs, and today this kind of added any green vegetables such as green peppers and avocados. At home dishes in Andalusia, in a bowl of gazpacho sure to add ice impaled. Segovia dish seasoned with cumin and basil. In Jerez there is a tradition in the soup add chopped onion rings. Málaga gazpacho prepared with veal stock, add to it fresh grapes and almonds. There is even a hot gazpacho, which, however, but the name has very little in common with the icy tomato soup, which is prepared in Andalusia.

Still, for most fans of Spanish cuisine gazpacho - it is primarily a cold soup of tomatoes with olive oil Olive oil: useful properties   and garlic. Sometimes it is made thick, but usually diluted with water to a liquid state. There is even a tradition of feeding gazpacho in jars as drink.

Basic recipe

Prepare the gazpacho is very simple. We need to take fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, add the onions, garlic, peppers. All the ingredients are finely chopped and crushed using a blender to puree. This puree macerated small pieces of white bread without crusts, and the mixture is crushed again. After that, the next soup seasoned with olive oil and vinegar and diluted with water. It remains to season the dish with salt, pepper and vinegar, as well as give him a "mature" for a couple of hours in the refrigerator.

Sometimes gazpacho prepared without the addition of cucumber, and sometimes go without pepper or without onions. Some recipes do not imply even the use of white bread. But without this ingredient soup loses the right to its own name: the word "gazpacho" in Arabic means "soaked bread". However, modern cooks often add the bread directly into the soup, and served separately in the form of crackers.

Gazpacho for a good figure

Gazpacho - ideal for those who want to lose weight. Fresh vegetables contain a minimum of calories, and olive oil, although it is quite rich in calories, it has the ability to speed up the metabolism, and in addition, improves the condition of skin and hair Hair: structure, characteristics of growth and development . The only disputed ingredient seems to wheat bread, but to put quite a bit of gazpacho. In addition, wheat crackers make a hearty soup, and thus help avoid hunger Psychology and physiology of hunger - the two sides of the same coin .

According to nutritionists, vegetable soups are very helpful to those who are watching their figures. But the gazpacho is doubly useful, because it does not involve the preparation of the heat treatment, which means that the maximum number of vegetables retain nutrients.

Olive oil, garlic and tomatoes - the products that lie at the heart of the Mediterranean diet, a diet that is recognized as the most useful not only for the figure, but also for overall health. Regularly indulging yourself icy soup, you can get rid of the extra kilos and provide your body with all the nutrients that are found in fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers and garlic.

Secrets of a tasty soup

Why Spanish gazpacho so tasty? The secret of this soup - in ingredients. If you try to make a meal out of the pale of greenhouse tomatoes, which for better safety removed from the bushes still unripe, the result is likely to disappoint. Therefore, to avoid disappointment, you should use only the fleshy ripe tomato aroma. Perfect as large pink tomatoes and bright red tomatoes medium size. You can also use a mixture of different varieties, achieving the perfect taste. But in any case it is better to abandon the watery tomatoes, sweet "cherry" and dense elongated tomatoes. And, of course, tomatoes should be fresh, without any traces of mold and rot. Only one spoiled tomatoes can spoil the dish.

Olive oil also should use the best, first cold pressed, with a rich aroma. Vinegar can take an ordinary wine (necessarily natural, in any case, not a substitute), but it is best to use balsamic vinegar. Just a few drops of balsamic give the dish flavor and ennoble the captivating taste of gazpacho.

Maria Bykov

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