in #CASE you were curious about - Gazpacho!
Today is National Gazpacho Day
The name gazpacho is of Arabic origin and means ‘soaked bread.’ Note that two of the main ingredients, tomatoes and peppers, were not available until after the discovery of the New World.
José Briz, who wrote a book on gazpacho, also suggests that the word derives from the Hebrew gazaz, meaning to break into pieces, referring to the bread base. In it’s origins, gazpacho was said to be traditionally eaten by workers in the fields, whether they were vineyards, olive plantations, citrus groves, wheat fields or cork farms.
An American cookbook published in 1963 tells us that "gazpacho, the soup-salad of Spain, has become an American food fashion." Author Betty Wason goes on to tells us that in Mary Randolph's “The Virginia Housewife” published in 1824, there is a recipe for gazpacho. The French poet and critic, Théophile Gautier (1811-72) also wrote about gazpacho.
Gazpacho should be enjoyed slightly chilled, but not iced. There should no need to supplement it with a drink, unless you really want to savor it with a glass of dry sherry.
Rumor has it that, before leaving on his first voyage, Christopher Columbus loaded his ships up with barrels of this old mixture.
Gazpacho is traditionally made in a mortar and the bread is ideal when it is about a week old. The bread and vegetable mixture is pounded to a paste, and then you begin to add the tomatoes, then the olive oil, and finally the vinegar, tasting all the time to make sure you’ve got it right. The tomatoes should always go through a sieve so there are no seeds in the finished dish.