Why is there mango in my gazpacho?

Gazpacho topped with mango-cucumber salsa

GOOD NEWS: For those of you who have yet to try Gazpacho Alcaraz, The Drinkable Salad™, a new product combining Spanish tradition with local South Florida produce in an on-the-go container, you’re in luck. On Saturday, July 13 from 9:30am-12:30pm we will be serving gazpacho shots with a mango-cucumber salsa topping to help celebrate Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s 21st Annual International Mango Festival. The kick of the gazpacho plus the sweetness of the mango should combine for a tasty treat to cool off from the South Florida summer sun. Please come by the tasting room to say hello.

We have come a long way in our quest to find the proper balance between eating healthy and finding tasty options that work well in our fast-paced lifestyle. Gazpacho Alcaraz emphasizes tradition with a family recipe and supports local farms in South Florida. It also has endless health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and replenishing essential nutrients and vitamins after a workout. In short, gazpacho is perfect for the American lifestyle and Gazpacho Alcaraz is making it available to you and your family always fresh, flavorful and convenient.

Within the past few months we’ve been hosting tastings in various South Florida locations. We’re excited about the positive responses from our customers, and the most common comment we hear is that “it tastes so fresh!” Well, we tell them, “It tastes fresh, because it is!” Gazpacho Alcaraz is unique in that it is produced in-house in small batches once a week thereby maintaining strict quality control and ensuring that absolutely no cooking occurs.

Excited to try Gazpacho Alcaraz, but not able to make it this weekend to Fairchild? Not a problem. Please look out for our product in local South Florida restaurants and markets, including The Fresh Market, Delicias de España, Epicure Market, Chocolate Fashion and  Atelier Monnier amongst others. Check out our website http://gazpachoalcaraz.com/, like us on Facebook (facebook.com/thedrinkablesalad) and follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/gazpachoalcaraz) for more information about tastings, product locations and gazpacho. Hope to see you all on Saturday!  Drink on, my friends!

Bring it down baby!

Blood pressure that is.  A newly released scientific study by the University of Barcelona, Spain contends that you should reach out for a daily serving of gazpacho instead of your standard issue blood pressure medication. According to their research, habitual consumption of gazpacho will lower hypertension due to the effect of gazpacho's main ingredients (tomato, cucumber, garlic, olive oil, etc.)  Do you know what else is new? In spite of salt (one of gazpacho's ingredients) "the results of the study describe that arterial pressure of gazpacho consumers is lower than that of non-consumers. The reason may be that bioactive elements of gazpacho counteract the effect of salt ingestion”. Interesting?  Check out Universitat of Barcelona study http://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/menu_eines/noticies/2012/12/047.html

Gazpacho Bloody Mary anyone?

So it's Sunday morning and you've just awoken with a Bloody Mary craving.  Maybe you're poolside lounging around and savoring one.  Or perhaps you're enjoying a rustic mountain view from your backyard deck. Normally, one would run to the pantry looking for a little tomato juice or the typical Bloody Mary mix.  This time, however, when you open the refrigerator door aspiring to concoct a creative cocktail you find something better: A pitcher of homemade gazpacho that you made the day before.  Is a gazpacho Bloody Mary possible?  Judge for yourself.

Summer Gazpacho Bloody Mary
(courtesy of Executive Chef Christian Apetz)

Picture courtesy of Chef Christian Apetz

Ingredients:

10 oz. of Gazpacho Alcaraz or your own homemade gazpacho

One dash of your favorite hot sauce

Squeeze juice from one fresh lime

Ice for shaking

2 oz. Finlandia Vodka or your favorite vodka

½ teaspoon of ground horseradish

2 oz. of good quality lemon sorbet

Freshly ground black pepper

1 celery stalk

2 stuffed green olives

A lime wedge

Pour gazpacho over ice, add vodka, fresh squeezed lime juice and shake well. Strain gazpacho over a pint glass with ice, garnish with celery stalk, olive squewer, lime wedge and a straw. Add one scoop of lemon sorbet on top of drink, ½ tsp. of ground horseradish on top, a dash of your favorite hot sauce and some fresly ground black pepper.  Stir and enjoy on a hot summer day!!!

Gazpacho served at the White House

The First Lady, Michelle Obama, a ferocious advocate of healthy eating and living, delighted her guests this past weekend with some gazpacho prepared by Spanish chef Jose Andres during the luncheon that she hosted for the spouses of the Group of Eight leaders. It's gazpacho slowly making its way into the American way of living? Judge for yourself...http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/12638299-418/story.html

First Lady Michelle Obama, from right, Hitomi Noda, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, and Valerie Trierweiler, partner of French President Francois Hollande, listen to the White House curator during a tour with spouses of the G-8 leaders at the White House in Washington Saturday, May 19, 2012.

"Light" Andalusian Gazpacho (a la Beatriz Taillefer)

This past Saturday our dear friends Beatriz Taillefer and Eduardo Guille celebrated a beautiful wedding in Malaga, Spain and we soooo wished we could have been there.  About 17 years ago our dear friend and artist extraordinaire, Beatriz, came to visit us from Malaga and shared with me what I call a light Andalusian gazpacho recipe.  Malaga is on the southern coast of Spain, in Andalusia.  This coast, also known as the Costa del Sol, is the land of the sun, of joyful and easy going people, and is well known in the world for its touristy beaches like Marbella, Estepona, Torremolinos and Fuengirola, amongst others. To me this region is the epitome of easy living, laughter, sunny days and incredibly healthy and refreshing food. Having been with my husband many times to Malaga on visits to Beatriz and her family, the Taillefers, I can now say that the gazpacho that we have enjoyed at their home and their childrens' homes was one of my favorites. So today, I will share with you the recipe that Beatriz shared with me so many years ago; even if it's a slight variation from the traditional Andalusian recipe:

Ingredients for a "light" Andalusian Gazpacho:

• About 2 lbs of very ripe plum tomatoes, washed and cut (skinned will be optional)
• About 1 cup of cucumbers, washed and partially peeled (you may peel them completely but the belief is that by leaving some skin, they will be easier to digest)
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves 
• About 1 to 1 1/2 cups of ice cold water (this depends on how you want the consistency)
• Salt to taste (I put about 3/4 tsp to 1 tsp)
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

In a blender at full speed blend all ingredients until desired consistency.  Refrigerate immediately and let it cool in a glass pitcher for at least 4 hours before serving. Enjoy it on a glass, or as a first course in a bowl. You may always garnish with diced cucumbers, tomatoes, onions or even croutons. Cheers!

Do you have any favorite gazpacho recipes? Share them with us.

You can see my friend's Beatriz Taillefer's portfolio at www.beatriztaillefer.artelista.com/en/ and Eduardo Guille's portfolio at www.eduardoguille.artelista.com/en/

Bea and Eduardo in their civil ceremony last week in Malaga

Gazpacho Tip: How to wash tomatoes

Does the temperature of the water we use to wash our tomatoes matter? I used to not think so.  However,  as I have learned in the last few months, water temperature matters. The wash water should be several degrees warmer than the pulp temperature of the tomatoes to avoid drawing water and disease organisms in the tomato. Therefore, if your tomato is at room temperature (which is the case in most instances) the water you use to wash them should be lukewarm. Rubbing the tomato under running water will be better than just letting the water run over them. And another thing, do not soak the tomatoes.  Under more than one foot of water they will float right up to the surface. If the water is colder than the tomato it will be absorbed into the fruit and so will any microorganisms that could have been on its surface from the store, from the farm etc...

To read more about safely handling produce and vegetables visit this USDA brochure at http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/pdf/best_practices.pdf  made for school cafeteria personnel. Look at page 4 for a chart on handling different fruits and veggies.

Gazpacho as a post training recovery drink? Why not?

My husband, during one of his trips to Spain, cycling in the mountains of Madrid

An avid cyclist and gazpacho drinker, my husband has been drinking gazpacho for years after his arduous 50 mile cycling rides. He walks into our kitchen at 10:30 in the morning with the typical post ride look of contentedness and exhaustion.  He immediately opens the refrigerator door, grabs the glass pitcher full of gazpacho, pours himself a huge glass, and drinks it.  Growing up in Spain, I never thought of gazpacho as a recovery drink. When I think of gazpacho, I see it more as a snack that you drink in between meals,  as "the meal" instead of a salad or as a first course before a meal. Why have gazpacho instead of your typical recovery drink?  I did a bit of research on the subject and this is what I found out:

• First, gazpacho contains Lycopene -- a vital anti-oxidant that helps in the fight against cancerous cell formation as well as other kinds of health complications and diseases. It takes as little as 540 milliliters of liquid tomato product to get the full benefits of Lycopene (about a daily glass of gazpacho).
• Second, gazpacho is a great source of carotenoids, folate, copper, vitamin B-6 and manganese. The latter is involved in wound healing and the formation of bone and cartilage. You can read more at the LiveStrong website:http://www.livestrong.com/article/546499-gazpacho-soup-benefits/#ixzz1tZhc5J6u. 
• Thirdly,  the salt (preferably sea salt) contained in the gazpacho aids the replacement of  the electrolytes lost during exercise. Electrolytes are minerals, primarily salts, which exist in your blood and which carry electrical impulses (such as muscle contractions) between cells. They are important to bodily processes that involve your heart, nerves and muscles.  
• Finally, an 8 oz glass of gazpacho has only about 90 calories, yet it's loaded with all the aforementioned vitamins and minerals. Thus, it has a small caloric content, yet it packs a big punch.

Next time, before grabbing a bottle of your favorite post workout drink think of grabbing a glass of, why not? Gazpacho!