Gazpacho

This is one of our deli’s best-selling items in the summer. Two cups may seem like a lot of oil, but the soup really doesn’t have the same rich flavor with any less (we’ve tried). You can, of course, reduce the amount if you like. You can also use any combination of Roma and heirloom tomatoes.

At the 2001 Workshop, Chef Ken Vedrinski astonished guests with a “consommé” made from the strained juice of tomatoes and watermelon. Preparing the dish involved hanging the pureed fruits in a muslin bag overnight to collect the clear, sweet juices—a procedure that might deter many home cooks. Riffing on Chef Vedrinski’s idea, Brian created an easier gazpacho that blends tomato, watermelon, and other summer vegetables so seamlessly that you can’t decipher the contents. The result is a refreshing and original adaptation of the familiar Spanish soup.

I like gazpacho, but the ultimate minimalist version—take a few tomatoes, a red pepper, some onion, oil, and vinegar, and whiz it in a blender—doesn’t always cut it for me. When I confessed this to my friend and sometime co-author Jean-Georges Vongerichten, he suggested I abandon tradition entirely and combine tomatoes with another fruit of the season: cantaloupe. These, combined with basil and lemon—in place of vinegar—produce the mildest, most delicious, creamiest gazpacho I’ve ever tasted. Make sure to use ripe cantaloupe and tomato at the height of the summer for the best results.

Ignacio Blanco is a friend from Galicia, the northwestern corner of Spain. He taught me this delicious (and, yes, traditional, though it is cooked) gazpacho. Best made in August, when all these vegetables are at their peak.

Having eaten countless dishes called gazpacho—both in and out of Spain—I feel less an authority than anyone to define it. Some people would have you believe that all gazpachos contain soaked bread, and indeed many do. Some say it must have vinegar; but I’ve been served plenty of good cold soups called gazpacho that were barely acidic. Others call any cold, drinkable soup that meets the need for both food and drink gazpacho. (A chilled can of crushed tomatoes would meet this definition and, with parsley and garlic, wouldn’t be too bad on a hot day.) I do have a few rules of my own for gazpacho: First, try to avoid green bell pepper. Even if it looks nice, this under ripe fruit adds crunch at the price of bitterness; use red or yellow peppers instead. Second, the raw flavors of uncooked gazpacho really do seem to mellow when you allow them to meld for a few hours or even overnight; while not essential, this is a nice touch. And finally, sherry vinegar (or high-quality wine vinegar) is preferable to balsamic vinegar in gazpacho; not only is it more authentic, but its cleaner flavor provides better balance. See the next recipe for a more complex version of this classic. Or add some cumin or paprika to this one, use tomato or V-8 juice in place of the water, and add fresh herbs—especially basil—as you find them.

I remember a time when gazpacho became very trendy and was on every menu. I decided to come up with a different version—even with a different color. It was José Andrés of Jaleo in Washington, D.C., who made the best Spanish gazpacho I ever tasted, so I borrowed his technique of frying the bread in olive oil. The toasted flavor and richness of the fried bread helps mellow the acidity and round out the flavors of the other ingredients. The shellfish garnish is not necessary but makes the dish a little more elegant and sumptuous.

Gazpacho is traditionally made by adding olive oil to vegetable purée; in this light version, we left out the oil and used only a small amount to cook the shrimp.

This sweet and tangy cold soup is one of Lucid Food’s signature dishes. For catered events, we often serve it in shot glasses as an hors d’oeuvre. A guest once suggested we top them off with vodka, and so a wonderful new take on the Bloody Mary was invented. You can make this recipe a day ahead and reseason it just before serving.

-Gazpacho can be made ahead and frozen. Defrost in the fridge overnight.
-Mayonnaise is an unusual ingredient, but we like the creaminess it adds to the soup.
-For 2 you will need 4 tomatoes, 1 small cucumber, and 1 small red bell pepper. For 6, you will need 12 tomatoes, 1 cucumber and 1 red pepper.

This tangy marriage of fresh tomato, cucumber, pepper, and onion is a summer favorite. The flavor of gazpacho improves if allowed to chill overnight, but thereafter this soup has a short shelf life because the tomatoes sour very quickly. It this best prepared no more than a day or two before it will be eaten.

Celebrate the last of the hot weather with a spirited, chunky gazpacho in the Mexican mode. Tomatoes give the soup their characteristic rich, rounded flavor, and tomatillos—an Aztec and Mayan staple—lend fruity tartness and great body.

Editor's note: This refreshing soup is part of a healthy and delicious spa menu developed exclusively for Epicurious by CuisinArt Resort & Spa on Rendezvous Bay in Anguilla. Cooling cucumber and melons—which are in the same botanical family—are good sources of a wide range of nutrients, including vitamins C and B6 and folate. Fresh herbs provide a burst of flavor as well as powerful antioxidants. Ginger, garlic, and hot sauce have potent anti-inflammatory properties. Starting your meal with a low-calorie, fiber-rich soup like this one can help fill you up and prevent overeating. Note: You can substitute cooked lobster or prawns for the shrimp, or make the recipe vegetarian by omitting the seafood altogether.

Try to buy ripe tomatoes or let them ripen in a paper bag with an apple for two days.

Yellow tomatoes bring a touch of sunshine to this delicious chilled soup, which can be made as spicy or as mellow as you like.

Sunday lunch. From Golden Door in Escondido, California. This soup, from The Golden Door Cooks Light & Easy (Gibbs-Smith), is stocked with a gardenful of vegetables. Look for the brightest beta-carotene beauties — golden corn, sunny yellow peppers, and ripe yellow tomatoes. Because the produce is raw, you're not cooking away any vitamins.

We use ice in this recipe because it gives the gazpacho just the right chill without the soup having to be refrigerated for any length of time. If you don't have precrushed ice, crush about 1/4 cup ice in a blender.

Stars and studio moguls often do their wheeling and dealing at this legendary Hollywood haunt, where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tyra Banks have been seen. Chef Sam Marvin tweaks dishes to anyone's liking (A-lister or otherwise) and purchases the freshest ingredients daily from local farmers' markets. Think of this colorful bowl as an alphabet soup of vitamins, delivering a healthy dose of A, B6, C, and K, not to mention lycopene, a potent antioxidant.

The classic Andalusian gazpacho is found all over the region with surprisingly few variations, except for the addition of cucumber and onion—ingredients that have fallen out of favor with chefs who prefer to allow the pure taste of the tomatoes, Sherry vinegar, and olive oil to shine through.

Sorbete de Gazpacho Sobre
Gelée de Manzana Many of Spain's celebrated chefs have tinkered with traditional gazpachos, transforming them into dishes worthy of the most creative kitchens. A favorite variation is gazpachos (both red and white) made into sorbets and included as part of a tasting menu. This luscious coral-colored sorbet, adapted from a recipe by chef Sergio López Domínguez, of Tragabuches restaurant, in Ronda, looks stunning served over a bed of diced apple aspic and drizzled with caramelized balsamic vinegar. López likes to sprinkle the sorbet with a garnish of finely chopped mojama, a salt-cured tuna. The blend of flavors in the dish works sensationally well, with or without the extra garnish.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional sitting time.

The cool sweetness of this soup is a particularly good match for the tangy grilled chicken with mustard-dill sauce. Serve it with extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 45 min