Gazpacho 'spanish chilled soup'

Gazpacho

Gazpacho is a Spanish/Portuguese chilled tomato based soup.   There are various recipes but traditionally made from tomatoes, garlic, capsicum, cucumber, onion, vinegar, red wine, white bread and olive oil which is then blended together to form a cold soup.

Gazpacho originates from the Spanish region of Andalusia which is the Southern area of Spain.  Gibraltar in the West shares a border with Andalusia, the region then continues along the coast line of the Mediterranean Sea to the east. Seville or Sevilla in Spanish is the Capital of the Andalusia region.

The recipe of Gazpacho is years old and is thought to have come with the Arabs or with the Romans when they invaded Spain.

Gazpacho today has many different takes, and other cold soups have been created which included watermelon, avocado, cucumber and other variations so Gazpacho today can mean a fruit or vegetable chilled soup.

Gazpacho is very popular in Portugal but in Portuguese it is called Gaspacho so very similar.

Gazpacho is generally consumed in the summer months and used to cool the body, as well as tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers being plentiful at this time.  Stale bread can be used too, so traditionally was a great way of using up old bread.

I imagine with the Mediterranean summers being so hot that Gazpacho can act as a medicine against disease with tomatoes having an antioxidant effect, garlic and onion being a natural antibiotic, vinegar is good at warning off infection too.  With the soup being chilled assisted the body to be cooled internally.