Ask 40 cooks the correct way to make a classic recipe and you get 40 different answers. Many of them will go on to insist their way, and only their way, is right. Indeed some seem to have made a career out of it.
And so it is with gazpacho – that cooling red soup that seems so right on a baking summer's day. Spanish friends, and even families, argue as to the perfect mixture of tomatoes, green peppers and cucumber, to the inclusion of bread and whether contemporary versions are fun or an aberration. Even the texture is up for heated discussion. And then I come along and change the green peppers to red because I don't like the green ones (more accurately, they don't like me). The green peppers in many aSpanish soup don't appear in mine because I find them indigestible. I use red and yellow ones instead.
I am far from a kitchen pedant, and enjoy the fact that there are local or familial variations of a classic and no one single recipe. Indeed, not all gazpacho is even red, as some forms don't contain the tomato one could assume lies at the heart of this chilled summer soup. White gazpacho, ajo blanco, originated in Málaga, and contains almonds and grapes, but no tomatoes. You start with shelled almonds, a clove or two of garlic and salt, working them in a blender or with a pestle and mortar, until finely ground. At this point you introduce bread that you have soaked in water and squeezed almost dry, olive oil in a steady stream while the motor runs or a friend pounds with the pestle, and the vinegar, water and a few green grapes. The result, a smooth soup of palest ivory, is elegant. A few drops of olive oil on the surface is all the embellishment needed, though some add cubes of toasted bread.
The consistency of a gazpacho is down to personal preference and local tradition. Most teeter on the edge of a coarse purée, but it's rarely a smooth soup. No matter how much you chop and blitz it is always more interesting for retaining a faint element of crunch from the raw ingredients, otherwise you might as well go the whole hog and turn it into a smoothie. Those that never see the inside of a blender can be particularly welcome, the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers chopped very finely giving more of a fine salsa than soup.
A version I like involves puréeing two-thirds of the mixture, stirring in the remaining coarse and crunchy third at the end. In Spain, your gazpacho may come in a glass rather than a bowl, but I really like the chunky versions, and even more so when they include croutons. Use either recipe below, but chop the ingredients finely instead of using a blender. Or give them a brief ride in a food processor. If you intend to chop by hand, be prepared for a lot of juice to make its way off the chopping board.
Whether you take the rough route or the smooth, you will need a little vinegar in there. First choice is generally red, but a sherry vinegar is favoured by Moro, lending depth and mellowing the rawness of the peppers. Add it a spoonful at a time, tasting as you go. Sugar is altogether a more controversial addition, but one worth considering if the tomatoes call for it. A teaspoon or two is generally enough.
Bread, soaked in water, then squeezed out with your fist, is included in some recipes. Spanish friends don't add it to theirs, but some insist it is essential. A few slices pads out expensive tomatoes and uses up a stale loaf, but it is also worth considering for the velvety texture it brings to the party. Some regard its presence as essential; others, like myself, unnecessary. We are, of course, all right.
Gazpacho
I like to add a little serrano ham to my soup at the last minute. Two or three cubes or ashredded slice or two is enough in each.
Serves 6
tomatoes 6, large but not beefsteak
red peppers 3
yellow peppers 3
red onion 1
cucumber half
spring onions 3
garlic 2 cloves
sherry vinegar 2 tbsp
smoked paprika 1 tsp, mild
olive oil 1 tbsp
caster sugar 2 tsp
Cut a small cross in the end of each tomato, then put them in a heatproof mixing bowl. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and leave them for a minute or so. Lift each one out with a draining spoon and slip off the skins. They should come away easily.
Cut each tomato in half, discard the seeds and core, then put them in a blender. Chop the peppers and add them to the tomatoes with the onion, peeled and chopped, and the roughly chopped cucumber. Remove most of the green shoots from the spring onions, then roughly chop the white part and add to the tomatoes with the crushed garlic.
Blitz the mixture until it is at the consistency you like. It's obviously up to you. Only you know how thick you like your soup. Now start to season to taste with salt, the sherry vinegar, smoked paprika, olive oil and sugar. Start with the amounts in the list, then tweak to your liking.
Watermelon gazpacho
A refreshing soup for a very hot day. Serve it thoroughly chilled.
Serves 6
red peppers 3
yellow peppers 2
watermelon 600g, unskinned weight
cucumber half
red onion 1 small one
grapes 500g, green or red, or a mixture
Chop the peppers, both red and yellow, and put them into a blender. Chop the watermelon and add it, removing the seeds with the point of a knife as you go. Peel the cucumber, chop it roughly and add it to the peppers. Peel the red onion, cut it up a bit and add it to the peppers, then blitz the mixture to a coarse purée.
Pour the mixture into a serving bowl and add a handful of ice cubes. Remove the seeds from the grapes and blitz them in the blender, then serve separately, or swirl them into the soup before serving.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or visit theguardian.com/profile/nigelslater for all his recipes in one place
