(from the healthy alternative to this dept.)
It was the greatest night of my life. I’d been invited to the Captain’s Table. I’d only been with the company fourteen years. Six officers and me! They called me “Arnold.” We had gazpacho soup for starters. I didn’t know gazpacho soup was meant to be served cold. I called over the chef and I told him to take it away and bring it back hot. He did. The looks on their faces still haunt me today! I thought they were laughing at the chef, when all the time, they were laughing at me as I ate my piping hot gazpacho soup. I never ate at the Captain’s Table again. That was the end of my career.
— Arnold Judas Rimmer
Here’s a recipe for gazpacho soup. Here’s another recipe stolen from Wikipedia:
Ingredients:
- 1 lb /450 g tomatoes
- 1/2 lb / 225 g green peppers
- 1/2 cucumber
- clove of garlic
- a few coriander leaves (cilantro)
- 1/4 chile pepper, seeds removed (optional, leave out if you want a milder soup)
- 2 oz / 50 g white bread, 2-3 days old (also optional, leave out for a thinner soup)
- 1/2 mild Spanish onion
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 pt iced water
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Ice cubes
Garnish:
- 2 tomatoes, skinned
- 1/2 green pepper
- 1/4 peeled cucumber
- 2 slices stale white bread, crusts removed
Skin the tomatoes and cut into quarters. Remove seeds and stalks from peppers. Peel the cucumber and cut into chunks. Tear up the bread and soak it in water for 30 minutes and then squeeze it dry. Cut up the onion.
Blend all the ingredients until roughly chopped, not too fine, because the soup should have texture and discernible vegetable bits. Pour into large bowl with some ice, add salt and pepper. Then prepare the garnishes. Dice the bread and fry it in a little olive oil until brown. Chop the other vegetables finely. Serve in separate little bowls on the table, so that guests can sprinkle on their own toppings.
Serve chilled.