A soup of a different color

“He sopped his soup for supper.” This simple sentence offers a lesson in food and language history.

In the old English language, to sop meant to place a thick slice of bread in a bowl and pour broth over it. The bread absorbs or “sops up” the liquid making it easier to eat with a spoon. Eventually that which was sopped became known as soup.

In England a simple soup was commonly eaten at the end of the day. The meal became known as a souper, which evolved to supper.

A cold soup under ordinary circumstances would be considered a criticism. When it comes to gazpacho, cold is what it is supposed to be. The word gazpacho derives from an Arab word meaning “soaked bread.”

Outside of Spain, gazpacho is a cold soup consisting of finely chopped raw tomato, cucumber, green pepper, garlic, onion, broth and often vinegar and olive oil. Before Spanish explorers brought tomatoes and peppers from the New World, gazpacho contained a variety of other ingredients, including almonds, melons, grapes, peaches and other fruits.

This traditional Old World White Gazpacho makes a refreshing first course for a meal on a very hot day. I often pair it with a chilled seafood salad as an entree.

Do not be confused; the soup is not white in color. In culinary terms, white is often used to denote that it does not have tomatoes. For example, clams in a red sauce has tomato; clams in a white sauce is made without tomato and has butter and white wine but does not have any ingredients that give a white color.

Old World White Gazpacho

8 servings

1 bulb garlic

2 cups cold water

2 cups coarsely chopped cucumber, without seed or peel

2 cups of French bread, cut into cubes and trimmed of crust

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon or more salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1 green onion

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves

2 cup seedless green grapes, halved

12 cup slivered almonds

8 wedges of fresh lime

Slice away about 1/4-inch from the top of the garlic bulb. Tightly wrap the bulb in foil. Roast garlic in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until garlic is soft. Allow the garlic to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and squeeze the garlic into a blender jar, discarding the garlic peel. Add the water, cucumber, bread, oil, lime juice, salt and white pepper. Puree until smooth and creamy. If necessary, add more water. The texture should be the thickness of heavy cream. Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator and chill 1 to 4 hours.

Trim the root from the green onion and finely mince the white part and 3 inches of the green stalk. Stir the onion, mint and cilantro into the chilled mixture. Add the green grapes and almonds and chill again for 1 hour. Serve in chilled soup cups or goblets with a wedge of lime on the side.




