White gazpacho recipe on GrapeSmart

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A few weeks ago, Los Angeles wine writer Arianna Armstrong and her five-year-old son came over for dinner. As she made a salad and I stirred the risotto with black summer truffles, she mentioned that she wanted to write about white gazpacho to go with a piece on Spanish wines for GrapeSmart.net. Did I have a recipe?

I didn't offhand, but I'd read enough to know that white gazpacho breaks all the traditions of the gazpacho we Americans know and love. No tomatoes. Bread and almonds as thickeners. Green grapes. Grapes? Yes. White gazpacho is cold, and it has olive oil and sometimes cucumber, but that's about where the similarities end. Where tomato gazpacho has an acid bite and tastes like liquid salad, white gazpacho is mild, creamy and soft. If you didn't know what was in it, you'd never be able to tell what's in it. It's soft, creamy and mysterious.

I promised Arianna a recipe, so the next night I got out my blender. I tore up some aging crusty bread and put it in the blender, then added some water. In went some Marcona almonds, half a cucumber, a handful of green grapes, olive oil, and a splash of rosé wine. And out came...a mystery.


Read more (including Arianna's wine pairing recommendations): Erika's white gazpacho recipe on GrapeSmart.net