Always Refreshing

Gazpacho!! It’s as fun to say as it is to eat. Look for some cool and refreshing recipes below. And ENJOY!!!!! :))))))))))

During the summer, I sometimes get the opportunity to enjoy what some call “liquid salad”.  No, it’s not some new-fangled home brew made with hops and barley (although there is an idea there…) – it’s a famous dish handed down through the centuries in Spain – gazpacho. Served best cold, this dish is jam packed with summer fresh flavor.  I love the tomato versions, and also when a chef adds in watermelon or cantaloupe. Served with crusty bread, I’m good for two or three bowls until Jackie makes me stop. I jumped online and found a little history and some great recipes.  So, as your summer vegi garden begins to produce, be sure to save the tomatoes and cucumbers, onion and garlic and mix up a batch or two.  Be sure to chill it, and eat outdoors, to get the real experience of this amazing summer salad.  Enjoy!  If you have a family recipe, be sure to send it to me (skowalski@khtheat.com ) Thanks to the culturetrip.com, forum.wordconference.com, Wikipedia.org, youtube.com and spain-recipes.com for the info.

Yes, a gazpacho song to listen to while you read … possibly one of the oddest videos ever – by the end you’ll be dancing too!

• This popular soup from the Andalusian area, an autonomous community of Spain, mostly known now for being served cold, has many different influences from Greece and Rome, but also from the Moor’s and Arab culture. Now Gazpacho has become a generic term for a cold soup that has a vegetable or fruit base or both , that has similar spices to the traditional.
• Andalusia was a large farming area for olives and almonds, citrus , vineyards and cork trees. Centuries ago, field workers were given a food ration of read and oil. The stale bread with added garlic, oil and any vegetables pounded in a mortar with added water makes a thirst-quenching soup, in the blazing heat, and was easily assimilated to nourish the body.  Over time, different vegetables and almonds that were available were also added.  This soup evolved into different varieties, the most popular around the world is a tomato-based variety, served cold
• No one really knows where the name came from.  One version says the word comes from a Greek word for a collection box in church where folks would put different shaped coins, even bread.  Others say the word has many Arab sounds in it. Spain was controlled by the Ottomans between the 8th and the 15th century.  Some say the word comes from a Hebrew word Gazaz which means break into little pieces while others say it probably comes from the old Latin word “Caspa” meaning fragments or little pieces. Join the discussion here.
• While it was common for Roman soldiers to carry dried bread, garlic and vinegar to make the basics of this early soup, it was popularized in the Andalusian area of Spain.  In the 8th century it was overtaken by the Ottomans and the Moors from Morocco just across the Mediterranean sea and came over with a soup they called Ajo Blanco.
• Historians speculate Christopher Columbus probably took this soup with him on his voyages from Spain.  When he brought back tomatoes, cucumbers and different peppers is when the soup evolved to its present state. Today, all kinds of things are added such as watermelon and cantaloupe to enhance the flavor.
• A Spanish refrain says, “De gazpacho no hay empacho” – You can never get too much of a good thing or too much Gazpacho. It is great for any meal or snack and the left over can be used as a sauce for pasta.
• Ladies would make this soup in the fields and it would make a perfect soup to quench the thirst of the field workers. This dish they are making is actually for a hot Gazpacho. The tomatoes are being skinned first.
• The tomato, cucumber variety of Gazpacho is probably the most nutritious, being that it is mostly fresh vegetables.

Recipes:

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

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