🇵🇹 Portugal · Alentejo

Gaspacho alentejanoPortuguese gazpacho

Name: Gaspacho alentejano (Portuguese gazpacho)
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4-6 servings
Cuisine: Portugal
Ingredients: 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled; 1 tsp coarse sea salt, plus more to taste; 500 g (1.1 lb) ripe tomatoes (chucha or coração-de-boi / beefsteak), peeled, seeded, finely diced; 150 g (5 oz) cucumber, peeled, seeded, finely diced; 150 g (5 oz) green bell pepper, seeded, finely diced; 1/2 small onion, very finely chopped; optional, see notes; 60 ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil; 3-4 tbsp wine vinegar, red or white; 1 tbsp dried oregano, rubbed between the palms; 1.5 l (6 1/3 cups) very cold water, plus a handful of ice cubes; 200 g (7 oz) day-old pão alentejano or other dense wheat bread, in small cubes or thin slices

A cold Alentejo soup of chopped (not blended) tomato, cucumber, green pepper and garlic with oregano, vinegar and olive oil, in iced water with pieces of day-old bread added at serving; often accompanied by fried fish.

Origin and history

A cold summer soup of the Alentejo, made from raw chopped vegetables, garlic, vinegar, oil and water with the bread of the week. Portuguese recipe collections keep it distinct from the blended Andalusian gazpacho. Chef Leandro Carreira notes that gaspacho is common to the whole Iberian Peninsula and suggests it may descend from a vinegary chopped salad brought by the Moors; the form and companions vary from one municipality to the next.

Make it at home

Makes: 4-6 servings
Total time: 30 min
Hands-on: 25 min

Ingredients

Metric US

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp coarse sea salt, plus more to taste
500 g1.1 lb ripe tomatoes (chucha or coração-de-boi / beefsteak), peeled, seeded, finely diced
150 g5 oz cucumber, peeled, seeded, finely diced
150 g5 oz green bell pepper, seeded, finely diced
1/2 small onion, very finely chopped; optional, see notes
60 ml1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3-4 tbsp wine vinegar, red or white
1 tbsp dried oregano, rubbed between the palms
1.5 l6 1/3 cups very cold water, plus a handful of ice cubes
200 g7 oz day-old pão alentejano or other dense wheat bread, in small cubes or thin slices

Method

1. Pound the garlic with the coarse salt in a mortar to a smooth paste.
2. Scrape the paste into a large bowl or tureen and stir in the olive oil and vinegar with a spoon until they blend.
3. Add the tomato, cucumber, green pepper and onion (if using). Keep the pieces small and separate; do not blend or mash them.
4. Pour in the cold water, crumble in the oregano and stir. Taste: it should be clearly sharp with vinegar and well salted, since the bread will soften both.
5. Chill for at least 30 minutes so the vegetables flavour the water.
6. Just before serving, add the ice cubes and the bread, stir once and ladle into bowls while the bread is still a little firm.

Notes

Total time: 30 min, plus 30 min chilling.
Unlike Andalusian gazpacho, nothing is puréed: the vegetables float in a seasoned cold water, and the bread goes in at the table so it drinks the broth without dissolving.
It is a summer meal in the Alentejo and is rarely eaten alone. Typical companions are fried horse mackerel (carapaus fritos), fried small fish, grilled sardines, or slices of presunto (cured ham) and chouriço.
Recipes change from village to village. Some cooks add thinly sliced onion or a red pepper; ham goes on top in Mértola and olives in Sobral da Adiça; some finish it with fresh coriander or black olives.
In the Algarve the same cold soup, called arjamolho, is eaten with grilled sardines.
Use the ripest tomatoes you can find; the tomato is what colours and sweetens the water. Peel them by scoring and dipping them in boiling water for 20 seconds.
The seasoned water and chopped vegetables keep for a few hours in the fridge. Add bread and ice only at serving time.
Related cold soups: Andalusian gazpacho (blended) and ajoblanco.

Adapted from Câmara Municipal de Cuba, Receituário tradicional (Gaspacho), Leandro Carreira, Portugal: The Cookbook (Phaidon), and e-konomista, "Gaspacho alentejano".