Monday, August 2, 2010

White gazpacho recipe on GrapeSmart

  • Pin It
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

7 comments:

Jackie said...

Such an interesting idea. I've definitely never heard of white gazpacho, although I love the tomato version. I'll have to try when grapes come in season!

Monet said...

I have never heard of this either...but it is so very creative, and I love the photos you took with the grapes on top.

Lori Lynn said...

I like the use of marcona almonds!
The soup looks so nice and summery, pretty garnish too.
LL

Erika Kerekes said...

It's interesting that so many people have never heard of white gazpacho. I must read too many cookbooks. Anyway, here are a few other takes on it:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/white_gazpacho/

http://www.theheartofnewengland.com/food-WhiteGazpacho.html

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/white-gazpacho-recipe

Actually, I should have mentioned that raw garlic is very traditional, but I left it out because I don't particularly like the taste of raw garlic - I find it overpowering.

Lentil Breakdown said...

Were you and Savour Fare in cohoots with the white gazpacho? If not, funny timing.

Erika Kerekes said...

Actually, we weren't! Must just be the season.

marla {family fresh cooking} said...

This gazpacho sounds so elegant. Love this combo of ingredients. Funny how different it is from the tomato based one. Anything with almonds & I am a taker :) xo

Post a Comment