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COLUMN: Ilse Cooks the Books (Gazpacho)

───   13:07 Fri, 12 Jan 2018

COLUMN: Ilse Cooks the Books (Gazpacho) | News Article
Ilse Smalberger

My husband and I have our own peculiar way of gift-giving over Christmas. Well, some may find it peculiar. To me (and him), it makes perfect sense.


You see, I buy him a gift, usually, a book that I like and I think he might find interesting. This past Christmas, I bought him a coffee table book named Inside Kimberley, by Paul Duncan and Alain Proust.  It's a photographic account of the stunning heritage of Kimberley and its historical buildings.  Now we only need a coffee table to put it on, but that is a story for another day.

Once his gift is sorted, I then buy myself a gift (from him, with his credit card of course!) usually a cookbook I've had my eye on. I wrap it, write the card and put it under the tree and it's time for everyone to open their presents. We both end up with gifts we like (well, which I like!) and that's it.

This year, I bought myself a wonderful book, simply called Mediterranean Cookbook, which features a collection of recipes from Spain, Provence, Tuscany, North Africa and the Middle East.  Even though I have recently found a new appreciation for traditional South African cooking, I cannot deny that it's this type of food I cook and eat the most. 

Olives and olive oil, peppers, garlic, herbs like basil and thyme, aubergines, cheese, tomatoes, lemons, honey, nuts... these are the things that make my heart happy.

Only a few days into the year, I've already cooked from it and I can foresee many a happy time spent in the kitchen trying out its recipes. 

 

MEDITERRANEAN COOKBOOK - GAZPACHO

Ah... summer in Kimberley. The heat is relentless and time spent in the kitchen behind a hot stove is the most unappealing thing you could possibly think of.  Hot meals are also out of the question, but honestly, one can only have salad as a meal so many times. 

Enter, the lovely chilled gazpacho. Gazpacho is a cold tomato soup from Spain and, quite frankly, it's delicious. I know not everyone is a fan of cold soup. I have served that trusty French favourite, vichyssoise (a cold potato and leek soup) at a dinner party once and the reaction was rather lukewarm (pardon the pun!). However, gazpacho is a refreshing meal that cools even the hottest of heads. If you want to make it more substantial, serve some crusty bread alongside it, and finish off your meal with slices of cool, crisp watermelon. Lunch fit for a king!


GAZPACHO (as usual, this is the recipe as given in the book, with my notes in italics)

Serves 4

1 kg of tomatoes (use really ripe ones)

1 small cucumber (or half a big one), peeled and finely chopped (leave a little extra to serve)

1 small red pepper, deseeded and chopped (leave a little extra to serve)

2 garlic cloves, crushed (if you're not too keen on the taste of raw garlic, as I am, only use one clove, but I wouldn't leave it out completely)

4 tablespoons sherry vinegar (I used 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

120 ml of extra virgin olive oil (I used a bit less, around 80mls or so, but let your taste buds decide)

1 hard-boiled egg, white and yolk separated and chopped, to serve (optional I'd say)

Bring a kettle of water to the boil and pour into a heatproof bowl.  Score a cross on the bottom of each tomato, cover it with the boiling water (carefully!) and leave for a minute or two.  Once the skins start to split, pour off the boiling water and refresh under cold water.  Once cool enough to handle, peel the tomatoes, deseed and chop roughly (I didn't bother to deseed the tomatoes although peeling them is a must). 

Place the chopped tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, garlic and vinegar in a food processor or blender. Season to taste and process until smooth. Pour in the oil and give it another blitz. Add a little cold water if would like a thinner soup. Transfer the soup to a serving bowl, cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge. (Lukewarm gazpacho is terrible, so you want to give the soup enough time to really get cold.)

When ready to serve, finely chop the extra cucumber and red pepper. Ladle the soup into pretty bowls, garnish with the cucumber, pepper, and egg and drizzle with another bit of olive oil.

Serve and enjoy!

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