Name: Andalusian Gazpacho
Prep time: 5 min
Ingredients: 4 cups of ripe tomatoes (coarsely chopped); ½ cup of cucumber peeled and coarsely chopped; 1/3 cup or green bell pepper (deveined, unseeded and coarsely chopped); 1 cup of bread (artisan, French baguette cut into cubes); 2 garlic cloves (chopped); 1/4 cup of wine vinegar; 1/3 cup o extra virgin olive; Coarse sea salt to taste

Español

If you’re looking for the authentic, most delicious, best Andalusian Gazpacho recipe, look no more.

I first posted this Andalusian Gazpacho recipe in 2010. At that time, I used to make gazpacho only during summer time. Also, I used to make it with the tomatoes from my prolific Southern California kitchen garden. I remember serving it al fresco with multiples garnishes.

These days I make gazpacho almost all year round with tomatoes from the grocery store. Because now I live in subtropical Miami, I frequently have a big gazpacho jar cooling in the fridge just because… I serve it chilly and plain (without any garnishes.) That’s how good this recipe is.

My gazpacho love story

I can’t remember when I fell in love with this soup. I was born and raised in Venezuela. This is a tropical country where, paradoxically, all soups are served hot. For that reason a cold soup, like a gazpacho or a vichyssoise, was a sort of extravaganza!

In spite of that, I was always curious about this uncooked tomato soup served chilly. I think I also liked the name: gazpacho, so Spanish with that ‘z’, so Andalusian…

There was a time in which all I cared was Spain. I dreamed about dancing sevillanas and became a fan of those cantaoras, fierce singers and performers, the so-called Spanish folklóricas. All I wanted was to look like them, live their passion… Instead of perfume, I used to wear Heno de Pravia (bought at El Corte Inglés, of course) to smell ‘clean and natural’ like I imagined these women would smell…

When I started traveling by myself, I choose to go to Spain on vacation for three years in a row. I even managed to skip one semester while attending Journalism school in Caracas, to go and live in Madrid for a few months… However, I never had gazpacho in Spain because I was never there in summer time.

… and then, it came Almodóvar…

Gazpacho remained a mystery for me until 1988. All happened while watching Pedro Almodóvar’s movie Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. There is a scene where Pepa (Carmen Maura) adds a good amount of sleeping pills in the gazpacho that she made for her ex. OMG! Marisa (Rossy de Palma) finds it in the fridge, drink it and pass out.

The gazpacho plot escalates and one character after the other are nocked out by the cold soup. When somebody says: “this gazpacho has something”, Pepa as if nothing, lists all the ingredients and says the secret is stirring well.

How to make Andalusian Gazpacho

Even if there are many variations, in Andalusia, in Southern Spain, most gazpacho recipes typically include tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, vinegar, bread and olive oil. Before having my Vitamix, I used to strain the gazpacho to get a silkier consistency. Since I blend all the ingredients in the Vitamix, I find straining unnecessary.

To make this recipe you’ll need some kitchen tools that you can easily buy online with my Amazon Affiliate Program:

I hope you like this easy Andalusian Gazpacho recipe as much as I do.

5 from 8 votes