Gazpacho Andaluz

Isabel Gonzales in his book Round ricos de Comida, Comida pobre writes:  

Sòlo decis que hay tantos gazpachos como pueblos incluso come familia, pues cada una le da su toque, su punto especial, quie es, desde luego, el mejor. Los gaszpachos veraniegos, ya sean majados o no, pues tutavia hay quien sigue majando y no por ello ha de ser octogenario, se hacen, cuando menos, a base de tomate, pimiento, pan, ajo, sal aceite y vinagre. Segùn los casos, les pueden anadir otros ingredientes. 
(There are many gazpacho many villages or families, everyone gives his special touch, which of course is the best. Gaszpachos the summer, which may or may not be purées without necessarily intended to be an octogenarian, prepare at least with tomato, pepper, bread, garlic, salt, oil and vinegar.Depending on the circumstances, you can add other ingredients.)

This is the queen of cold soups, a salvation for appetite in hot summer days

Ingredients: 1kg of Ripe red tomatoes, 2 green peppers, a cucumber average, a clove of garlic (optional), Mollica Bread or Crackers Corn, Olive oil, a tablespoon of vinegar, 3/4 of a liter of water and salt.


To prepare a Gazpacho Andaluz according to tradition, you should use a mortar; today, however, is much easier to use a blender that, in addition to being faster, makes Gazpacho velvety.

To begin, wash and chop the tomatoes, peppers and cucumber.
In a mortar or blender grind the garlic, then the peppers and cucumber.
But I do not use garlic and Gazpacho is delicious all the same. Stir and thicken the mixture with breadcrumbs soaked in water and squeezed or with crackers finely shredded in your hands. When the mixture is smooth, add oil and vinegar. Salt and blend adding water until you get the density you want. If you use the mortar, you will pass the mixture through a sieve wringing well so to retain cucumbers seeds and the tomatoes skins.

Chill Gazpacho in the refrigerator.
Serve in bowls or glasses, garnished with a few ice cubes and diced cucumber or green pepper.

Note
Different vegetables proportions can vary according to taste.
A very popular Andalusian variation  provides some chopped hard-boiled egg yolk sifted, instead of crackers.

In the 1988 film by Pedro Almodovar Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios they prepares a very hot Gazpacho that causes more than a few funny situations.

This recipe is taken from my book La Storia nel Piatto, in chapter Zuppe e Minestre


I want add that I hardly use oil and garlic that I prefer to replace with with a white onion or a red onion of Tropea both cut very thin.
Furthermore, usually I do not pitch in the blender the cucumber that instead I prefer to add as a garnish, cut into cubes.  Depending on the location, we can also find this Gazpacho garnished with boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, or apples and grapes (see the article by Manuel Vazques Montalban). There are different types of Gazpachos in Spain. Some of these are worm, for winter as the Gazpacho Manchego that is in fact a stew of mixed meats or even the Gazpacho Alicantinos of fish, which are served on a pastry, dry or soft , that is an integral part of the dish with function both of container and bread.  These recipes are very old and popular and Manuel Vazquez Montalban believes they came from an ancient Roman influence. There are other versions of vegetarians Gazpachos, such as Gazpacho Murciano or Gazpacho Andaluz  here described, that are a cold dish eaten in summer.  In their current form, they are certainly newer dishes also considering the massive presence of the tomato but they have ancient roots, probably plurimillenarie, especially in their green versions only (Green Gazpacho): food for poor people, poor peasants, slaves and day threshers.