4 Refreshing Soups to Help Cool off This Summer
4 Refreshing Soups to Help Cool off This Summer
Quick simple traditional recipes to tantalize the tastebuds
As the weather warms up, there is nothing more refreshing than a cold creamy soup to cool the cockles. Gazpacho, perhaps the most famous of the Spanish chilled soups, is a popular summer go to, but its lesser-known siblings are just as delicious and certainly worth the little effort involved.
Many think of Gazpacho as a liquid salad, and they’re right. All the ingredients, except lettuce are there: tomato, red bell pepper, cucumber, vinegar, and oil. But it’s important to get the balance of ingredients right. If you do, it’s perfection in a bowl. If not, you’re in for a disappointment.
Gazpacho goes back hundreds of years, evolving with the peasants in the fields of Andalusia who needed to cool down in the hot afternoons. However, the gazpacho we know and love today is a more recent invention. Before the discovery of tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers in the Americas in the late 15th, early 16th centuries, gazpacho was a simpler affair. In fact, it can be traced to Roman times when soldiers carried dried bread, garlic and a little vinegar and oil with them to throw together in a simple soup. It was also the Romans who introduced almonds onto the peninsular and the delectable ajo blanco was born.
Let’s look at four of the most popular and easy cold soups to make, starting with the original, ajo blanco, a creamy almond and garlic soup thought to originate in Malaga, that can be adjusted to a more or less garlicky flavour, depending on your tastes. Personally, I can never get enough garlic, but I will restrain myself for this recipe.
AJO BLANCO - Almond and Garlic Soup
(almonds must be pre-soaked at least 8 hours)
1 cup of blanched almonds soaked overnight (preferably Marcona almonds, but if these are not available, any will do)
2 slices of stale white bread
1 clove of garlic (but feel free to add more according to taste)
1-2 tsp sherry vinegar or apple vinegar.
I apple, peeled (green is better if you have the choice, because of its tartness.)
Salt to taste
I cup of water (less if you are adding ice cubes, then just a splash will do.)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil. (important that it be flavourful and of good quality.)
Garnish with green grapes. (this is optional but they give a delicious sweetness and crunch to the soup.)
Whizz all the ingredients up together. If you have a blender where you can drizzle the oil in slowly, this will help add to the emulsification and creaminess of the final result.
GAZPACHO
The word ‘gazpacho’ probably comes from the Mozarab word caspa which means, ‘small pieces, fragments’, referring to the pieces of bread and vegetables in the soup. It’s also been suggested that the word comes from the Hebrew gazaz meaning to 'break into small pieces' – again the bread reference.
Traditionally bread and garlic would be pounded in a mortar with some salt, oil, water and vinegar added. Today, the non-purist will throw it all in a blender. The philistines may even remove the onion and bread, add extra garlic and toss in a few large cubes of ice in the blender, as I do. The following is my favourite recipe. If this one doesn’t do it for you, there are many variations found online. 😊
3 medium sized sweet tomatoes
1/2 cup of peeled and chopped cucumber.
One large clove of garlic
Half a red bell pepper (capsicum)
1 flat tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 or 5 large cubes of ice.
Whizz it all together and garnish with croutons or chopped veg of choice.
SALMOREJO
Traditional Salmorejo originates in Cordoba, Andalusia, once again in the south of Spain where temperatures can reach the late 40s C in summer. It is similar to gazpacho but tends to be a little thicker and creamier with the popular addition of ham and chopped boiled egg. It makes a filling and refreshing lunch, and again, is quick and easy to prepare.
This is such a basic soup with few ingredients, but the following recipe is easily adjusted to flavour and consistency.
3 or 4 large tomatoes
The day-old guts of a white bread roll or 4 slices of day-old white bread.
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
Flat tsp of salt to taste
1 hard-boiled egg, peeled and chopped
¼ cup chopped serrano ham
As with the gazpacho, whizz everything except the egg and ham in a blender. If you can, add the oil little by little to help give the soup a creamier and smoother texture.
Garnish with the ham and egg.
MANGO GAZPACHO
Last, but certainly not least, the mango gazpacho is sweet but with a slight tang and oh soooo refreshing. Fresh sweet mango can be hard to come by in some places (certainly where I live, anyway), so frozen mango is a great substitute, especially as it helps chill the soup without having to add ice or refrigerate a few hours.
2 large chopped fresh mangoes or 2 cups of frozen mango
1/3 cup chopped yellow bell pepper (capsicum)
1/3 cup peeled cucumber
1 clove garlic
1 medium tomato
Juice of one lime
Juice of one mandarine (or small orange)
I flat tsp salt
1 flat tsp sugar
1 tablespoon sherry or apple vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Mint leaves to garnish.
Whizz all the ingredients together. Garnish with mint leaves.
The great thing about this kind of soup, is that you can substitute the mango with your fruit of choice, for example, melon, watermelon, grapes, or strawberries.
A few tips to make life easier:
The quality of the products makes all the difference. You can’t make a good gazpacho with flavourless tomatoes.
Virgin olive oil is the only option, sorry. Don’t try to be sneaky and think vegetable oil will do. It won’t.
Garlic is different in every country. Spanish garlic is strong and has a great deal of flavour, whereas the English garlic needs a few more cloves to even notice it’s there.
Vinegar is also important. I tend to put balsamic vinegar in my gazpacho because that’s all I keep in the cupboard, but sherry or cider vinegar is probably better for these recipes, especially for the ajo blanco and mango gazpacho.
There are many who prefer to put bread and onion in their gazpacho, but personally, I find the garlic gives it enough kick and bread makes it too thick. If you like bread, a few croutons as garnish give a great texture and crunchiness to the dish.
Please let me know if you try any of these recipes and what you think. :)