Ask anyone what they think of gazpacho, and they’ll say it’s the chilled, more delicate cousin of boring old tomato soup. But it wasn’t always made that way: gazpacho originated in Andalusia, a region of Spain, probably way back in the Middle Ages. Back then it was made out of a combination of stale bread, oil, vinegar, and water all pounded together with a mortar and pestle. At that time, Spain was part of the Islamic world, so the name gazpacho comes from an Arabic word for “soaked bread.”Nowadays, the primary ingredients are tomatoes/tomato juice, bell peppers, and cucumber, which get transformed into soup via a blender (you can use a mortar and pestle if you want to be really traditional about it). We know you’re hungry, so let’s all celebrate National Gazpacho Day this December 6!
