El Bulli’s Gazpacho

This glorious Gazpacho is from Ferran Adria’s book The Family Meal: Home Cooking and is super easy to make.  Adria is former head chef of the legendary elBulli restaurant on the Costa Brava in Spain.  Nowadays gazpachos are made with food processors and a Chinoise. Traditional gazpachos had more bread, oil and vinegar than those of today. If you like, you can incorporate more water-soaked bread and onion or change the proportion of ingredients, but I think the balance of ingredients in this recipe is perfect.  

Inroduction

About this Recipe

By: Sheridan Rogers

This glorious Gazpacho is from Ferran Adria’s book The Family Meal: Home Cooking and is super easy to make.  Adria is former head chef of the legendary elBulli restaurant on the Costa Brava in Spain.  Nowadays gazpachos are made with food processors and a Chinoise. Traditional gazpachos had more bread, oil and vinegar than those of today. If you like, you can incorporate more water-soaked bread and onion or change the proportion of ingredients, but I think the balance of ingredients in this recipe is perfect.  

Ingredients

  • garlic 3 cloves
  • red onions 2 large
  • cucumber 1, peeled
  • red capsicum (bell pepper) 1, washed
  • very ripe tomatoes 1kg
  • rustic white bread 30g, crusts removed
  • salt and pepper
  • extra virgin olive oil 4 tablespoons, plus extra to serve
  • water 120ml
  • sherry vinegar 2 tablespoons
  • mayonnaise 1 tablespoon
  • croutons 120g

Peel and cut each garlic clove in half. Remove the green shoot inside, if there is one. Fill a small saucepan with cold water and add the garlic. Bring the water to a boil. When the water begins to boil lift the garlic out of the water and into a bowl of iced water to quickly cool it. Repeat this twice, always starting with cold water in the saucepan. Peel the onions, halve them and cut into large chunks.   Cut the cucumber into chunks. Remove any seeds and white membranes from the capsicum and chop into large pieces. Set aside along with the cucumber and onions. Cut the tomatoes into large wedges and put in a bowl with the onions, cucumbers, and capsicum. Add the bread, torn into pieces, then pour over the water. Process everything together using a hand-held blender, or using a food processor. Strain the gazpacho through a fine-mesh sieve or chinoise. Add the oil, vinegar, and mayonnaise, then whisk or blend the soup until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper. There should be a balance of flavours without any particular ingredient taking over the rest and it should be a pinkish hue in colour. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.  Serve the gazpacho in soup bowls with croutons, plus an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.