GOTTA LOVE GAZPACHO.

Toss your tomato salad into the blender, and whiz up an icy-cold soup that cools the throat with sweetness and the sting of vinegar.

We’ve hit peak gazpacho season in Australia; and it’s time to toss your tomato salad - into the blender.

Gaz is such an easy thing to make. Chop up some tomatoes, red capsicum, cucumber and a bit of garlic, tear up some stale bread, and whiz. Olive oil helps it emulsify into a velvety puree, and the vinegar gives it a kick.

I’ve made it a few times before, but I have a new trick this time that appeals to my sense of logic.

Tradition calls for the stale bread to be soaked in water then squeezed dry. Instead, lay it, still dry, on the base of a bowl. Toss the chopped tomatoes and other vegetables in a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil with sea salt, pepper and grated garlic, dump them on top and leave for half an hour or so.

The salt will help draw out the juices of the tomato and cucumber, which is what you want – liquid flavour – which will soak straight into the bread.

When you come back, use your hands to scrunch it all together until the bread is tomato-pink with all those beautiful juices.

Now, when you whiz it, the bread is already soft, no water required.

It wasn’t always done this way, of course. The traditional gazpacho Andaluz recipe calls for the garlic to be pounded in a mortar, with salt, pepper and breadcrumbs added gradually. Oil is then added drop by drop until you have a thick paste, and the vinegar stirred in.

My oldest Spanish cookbook (Spanish Cooking by Elizabeth Cass, first published in 1957), suggests placing this garlicky paste into the soup tureen. Only then do you add the finely minced tomatoes, onion, cucumber and red pepper.

A little racily (for 1957), she suggests you can use an electric mixer, which will result in a puree. I actually love it as a puree, especially when it gets foamy. In fact, I leave my gazpacho in the fridge overnight, then re-whiz it for 2 minutes before serving, to lighten it up again. (Yes, the food processor needs washing again, but it’s worth it.)

GAZPACHO

• 600 g ripe tomatoes, chosen for flavour

• 1 large red capsicum, seeded

• Half cucumber, peeled and seeded

• 1 tbsp mild onion (eschalot, red onion, spring onion)

• 1 garlic clove, finely grated

• 2 to 3 thick slices of stale sourdough bread, crusts removed

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 to 2 tbsp sherry or apple cider vinegar

Roughly chop the tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber and onion.

Toss with sea salt, pepper, garlic and 1 tbsp olive oil.

Tear bread into pieces (if possible) and place in a bowl, then tip the mixed vegetables on top and leave for 30 minutes or so.

Scrunch the bread and vegetables together in your hands until the bread is softened.

Place in the food processor (with any juices) and pulse to break down into small pieces, then whiz for 30 seconds.

Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil while whizzing, then add the vinegar, starting with 1 tbsp and adding more until it tastes sweetly sharp.

Taste for sea salt and pepper, it can take quite a bit of both.

Whiz for two minutes, then strain through a fine sieve, working the liquid through the sieve with the back of a spoon.

Cover and refrigerate for a few hours.

Serve in chilled glasses or bowls with a few ice cubes, add a swirl of extra virgin olive oil and your choice of garnish. Serves 4 as a soup, a starter or a side.

# Why strain it? That red pepper skin can break down into tiny, tiny bits that you will still register occasionally in your mouth. Strain it for a really smooth, lush end result, or don’t strain it and add to your daily fibre count.

# I wouldn’t bother skinning the tomatoes, as many chefs do. This recipe evolved as something designed to refresh field workers on a hot summer’s day in the Spanish countryside. Nobody’s going to spend all day peeling the tomatoes first.

# While gazpacho should be thick – just thick enough to sustain a slice of avocado or a green olive without it sinking straight to the bottom – it can be too thick. Straining it will loosen it up, but if you want it a bit runnier, add a spoonful or two of cold water just before serving. Or serve with ice cubes, which will eventually melt into the soup.

GARNISHES AND OPTIONS:

# Load with finely diced cucumber and tomato.

# Chunks of avocado are gorgeous.

# Scatter with corn kernels, boiled or barbecued and shorn from the cob.

# Scatter with garlicky croutons and slivers of crisped jamon.

# Serve with a dozen oysters or a pile of prawns alongside.

# Add a dash of vodka – you’re almost at a bloody mary as it is.

# Add a pinch of smoked paprika and a dash of Tabasco, ooh yeah.

# Do as Bessie’s does in Sydney, and serve a small bowl of gazpacho with soft, fresh straciatella cheese dumped inside; cute idea.

# Add pickles! A slinky guandilla pickled chilli or similar.

Thanks for dropping by! And thanks for your comments and suggestions. Special thanks to Terry for washing the food processor bowls a couple of times; sorry about that.

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I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Thank you for sharing your culture, traditions, knowledge, spirit, art, music, humour and food traditions, allowing us all to experience a greater sense of belonging in this ancient land.