gazpacho-msg - 12/1/18

A soup or sauce composed of vinegar, bread and garlic. While the modern version with tomatoes appears to be post 1600 AD, there appear to be predecessors which do not use tomatoes.

NOTE: See also the files: garlic-msg, soup-msg, sauces-msg, vinegar-msg, Vinegar-art, tomato-hist-art, almond-milk-msg, fd-Spain-msg.

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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 21:14:48 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Welcome to sca-cooks

ChannonM at aol.com wrote:
> I am trying to find a Smithsonian article regarding the tracing back of a
> Spanish Gatzpacho recipe to the Roman period. Again, if anyone has a lead on
> this I would be indebted to them.

I'm not aware of such an article, but I understood  the word gazpacho to
be derived from Arabic terms meaning "soaked bread", and that the
original form of the dish was one of the bread, garlic, and olive oil
pottages still found in Andalusia.  I believe there was an article in,
of all places, National Geographic some years ago, on this subject. A
good library ought to be able to sort this out pretty easily...

Adamantius


Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 08:04:17 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Welcome to sca-cooks

Huette von Ahrens wrote:
> The only Gazpacho recipes that I have have tomatos as
> a main ingredient, which would not be from any period
> prior to Columbus.  Do you have a Gazpacho recipe that
> doesn't contain tomatos?

Actually, as I recall, most of Spain does, and fifty million Spaniards
(as the saying goes, and in this particular context) can't be wrong.

There appears to be a great deal of regional/local pride and rivalry
between different areas in their concept and presentation of this simple
dish ("Catalonia??? They don't know how to make gazpacho in Catalonia!
Are you mad?")

The essentials appear to be bread soaked to a pap in water, vinegar, or
lemon juice, and salt, garlic, and olive oil. The other ingredients, if
any (and often there aren't) vary from place to place and by season. The
addition of tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet peppers are common, but not
universal. Except, perhaps, in the U.S.A., where the vegetables have
superceded the other ingredients.

It's certainly true that the versions of the dish that use New World
vegetables must post-date Columbus, and this doesn't preclude the
tomato-less versions from _also_ post-dating Columbus, but given the
apparently Arabic etymology for the name, it seems likely the dish is
Pre-Columbian, and probably Andalusian.

Adamantius


Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 08:05:23 EDT
From: ChannonM at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Welcome to sca-cooks

ahrenshav at yahoo.com writes:
<< Do you have a Gazpacho recipe that doesn't contain tomatos? >>

The recipe in question was used by my Laurel, Mistress Dulcinea (ok,
actually, it's Baronessa Maestra Dulcinea Maria Magdalena Von Mulhberg et
Aguilar- I just like to do that :)  It is, as someone has already pointed out,
made with bread crumbs, grapes and almonds and garlic- pretty tasty- I
remember putting it together for the Coronation of Rebecca and Branos. She
hasn't found her recipe (it is in the dredges of her basement), but I am
actually looking for the article in the Smithsonian that links it to an
ancient Roman recipe.

Hauviette


Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 00:30:06 -0800
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: SC - Gazpacho?

THLord  Stefan li Rous wrote:
>I remember us discussion Gazpacho on this list previously. But I don't
>remember anyone saying just what type of food item this "Gazpacho" is.
>I've saved some of the previous discussion, but I've not decided what
>the food is and thus don't know where to put the information. So, if
>someone could describe what this Gazpacho is and how it differs from
>similar food, I'd appreciate it.

I think that by modern American standards, it would be considered a soup.

It usually has bread soaked in vinegar and olive oil and mashed up 
with garlic and salt to form a thick unctuous liquid, into which is 
stirred chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumber.

I asked because there is a "white" gazpacho, without the tomatoes and 
bell pepper, and food myths say this is the original and that it is 
Moroccan or at least Moorish in origin, with the name in Spanish 
deriving from the Arabic for "torn bread". I don't know if this is 
true, however, hence my question.

Anahita al-shazhiyya


From: "Vincent Cuenca" <bootkiller at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 15:34:21 
Subject: [Sca-cooks] re: chilled soup

> Gazpacho would be great, especially with a dollop of sour cream on top, but
> I doubt it's period -- tomatoes and all, you know.  Does anyone know if it
> is?
>
> Madelina

The red gazpacho most people know of is not period.  It uses period
techniques and applies them to non-period ingredients.  However, there is a
white gazpacho from Malaga that is basically almond milk, white grapes, a
little vinegar, bread and garlic.  Refreshing, tart, and unusual.  Also darn
similar to a recipe in de Nola:

Canonada Pottage

Take almonds that have been toasted, and grind them well in a mortar, and
take a large piece of bread that has been toasted; and soaked in white
vinegar, and squeeze it out well by hand, and grind them with the almonds
all together, and when they are all ground together thin it with sweet white
vinegar, and before you stir it put in the mortar two or three bunches of
white grapes and two of black grapes, and then force it all through a
strainer, and put it in the pot, and add sugar and ground cinnamon: and this
sauce should taste somewhat of vinegar, and cook it, and when it is cooked
prepare the bowls and put sugar in each one.

The recipe calls it a sauce and says to cook it, but you could probably get
away with not cooking it.

Vicente



Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 15:01:39 -0400
From: Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cold soup recipe
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Francis wrote:
>> I've had a cold almond soup with grapes in it, made by a Western
>> Cooking Laurel so I am sure it is period.
>>
> Surely faith is a virtue, and the provenance you mention might
> constitute a good argument for it, but it _sounds_ a little like  
> some conjecture that modern Andalusian/Malaga gazpacho is a period  
> dish(which it may very well be; I don't know).

Are you confusing white garlic soup, the first "soup" to be called
gazpacho which consisted of mashed garlic, water and olive oil and
served cold? It is an excellent dish. My references are Murcia that is
the province claims to have added grapes to gazpacho not Malaga but then
everyone likes to claim good dishes.

     Actually there is such thing as "soup" at least in Spain until after
the Middle Ages. We have broths, pottages or in this case gazpacho. I
believe you are talking about Almond Milk consisting almonds mixed with
broth and strained. I can't find any Spanish medieval recipe for almond
milk being served cold in basic medieval Hispano manuscripts but as
kitchens tended to be far away from dining halls it was probably cold by
the time it got to the table (ha, ha)!

      Now Almond Milk is of Arab origin and came to England via the
crusades.

Lorna J. Sass in  _To the King's Taste Richard II's Book of Feasts and
Recipes Adapted for Modern Cooking_. New York: The Metropolitan Museum
of Art. 1975,

claims the only known recipe for "Cold Almond Soup" is in a manuscript
from 1467 in the Holkham collection. It  was printed in Mrs. Alexander
Napier's "A Noble Boke off Cokery ffor a Prynce houssolde" in1862 as it
was so commonly known that few bothered to transcribe it (p 116):
p117:

Almonds may be steeped in heated broth or wine rather than in boiling  
water.

0.5 cup blanched almonds (see directions below)
ice water
1 cup boiling water
1.5 teaspoons honey
dash salt

1.      To blanch almonds, boil the nuts in water for 2 to 3 minutes.
Drain. Pour cold water over them. Pop off the skins.
2.      Grind almonds in blender or mortar, adding a few tablespoons of
ice water during the process to prevent the paste from becoming oily. If
you enjoy a crunchy texture, leave them coarse; otherwise pulverize  
them.
3.      Add honey and salt to 1 cup boiling water and dissolve.
4.      Pour liquid over almonds, Allow to soak about 10 minutes,
stirring occasionally.
5.      Strain out almonds if smooth texture is desired.
6.      Store in refrigerator and use as needed. Will last about 3 days.
YIELD: 1.5 cups unstrained; 1 cup strained

   Personally I don't use recipes when making almond milk just follow my
instinct as variations are found in every household. I prefer grinding
almonds in meat broth to grains such as barely water or wine. In general
recipes call for sugar or honey but I don't recall sweetening my milk
perhaps I haven't had any bitter almonds so far! I do add spices like
nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger - those I like. For solid additions of fruit
grapes are good as are melon, pomegranates and apples as per the season.
Meats, poultry or fish can be added instead or vegetables, even legumes.

     Almond milk is a free lance dish. If you like your creation of it
then its good. Depending on the time of year I serve it hot or cold.
Suey

> Adamantius


Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:44:06 -0400
From: Suey <lordhunt@gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Watermelon gazpacho

St Philip wrote:
<<< So, I ate at one of the restaurants at Pennsic, ordered Gazpacho, and
got this. I discussed the possibility of this actually being a period
type of dish wirth Cariadoc and Elizabeth, and with Brighid, since
both Gazpacho and watermelons are period, but we came to  no firm
conclusions. Anybody want to look at the evidence for this being a
possibly period variant? It certainly tasted good ;-)

http://imgur.com/gallery/z1e5h >>>

I do not understand German but medieval "gazpacho" is still found in Valencia today and watermelon cannot be further from the pot. My in-laws are Valencian. The original gazpacho consists of veggies available on the family estate and whatever the lord of the house or his servants hunt early in the morning - mostly rabbit in our case. It is cooked all morning and served with alli-oli and Arab flat bread especially baked by the women from the village nearby, who prepare and bake it in the bread ovens on my father-in-law's estate. We celebrate the "gazpachada" on the first week-end in September - it is a bit like the harvest festival especially as "the family" now consists of some 150 direct descendants of my father-in-law and spouses.

This tradition also coincides with the celebrations of the Moors against the Christians when men dress up and "fight" each other in the villages near-by. During the day is in the evenings we go to watch the parades and "fighting."

By the way, when my kids went to school in the states, their friends were surprised they did not know about cowboys and Indians. They had to explain that in our land its the Moors and the Chrisitans!

Suey

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	gazpacho-msg	Page 2 of 5