Day 23: Cherry Gazpacho

May 20, 2022

Cherry Gazpacho? What’s that? Never heard of it? A few years back, neither had I. But here I am making litres of the stuff.

I first tried Cherry Gazpacho right here, at El Monastrell, the very same restaurant where I’m now working as a chef.

Funny how things have worked out.

A few years back, I was a customer eating this delicious soup in beautiful surroundings, now I’m making it, facing a wall in the kitchen.

But I’m not complaining. This side of the swing door I get to see all the back-stage secrets.

It’s Day 23 already. This 100 Day Chef Stage is flying by.

Over the past three weeks I’ve learnt how to make paella, orange rice, sous vide hollandaise, torrijas, manchego cheese kinder eggs and sea-urchin tapas.

Today, I’m tasked with making the Gazpacho de Cerezas (Cherry Gazpacho).

And I thought I’d share the recipe with you, firstly because it’s so delicious and secondly, because I can’t seem to write anything very interesting today.

Maybe I’m recovering from Burn Out?

But I’ve been dragging through my mushy brain trying to muster something up, but it’s not working, so I think it’s best to let the food do the talking.

But before I disappear to the sidelines, I do have a few quick tips:

Uno: Wait for Summer
This Gazpacho is going to taste so much better when the cherries are ripe, and it’s a really hot, sunny summer’s day. I realise in England, the window of opportunity is not a big one, and you might need to turn up the central heating to make it work.

Dos: Buy a cherry pitter
You can punch out the stones easily and quickly with a cherry pitter/stoner. (They’re also good for pitting olives.) This saves time and prevents you wasting cherry pulp.

Tres: Feel free to mess with the ratios
This recipe calls for you to swop out some of the tomatoes in a traditional gazpacho recipe for cherries.
But, how many cherries you add is up to you! It depends on how tomato-y or cherry-y (are these words?) you want your Cherry Gazpacho.

Martin Berasategui, the ten michelin-starred chef from San Sebastian, uses an 80:20 tomato to cherry ratio. The result is a classic tomato gazpacho with just a hint of cherry.

In El Monastrell, they want the cherry to dominate, and so opt for an equal 50:50 split. The result is a beautiful dark-red soup that tastes of primarily of sweet cherries, the tomato disappearing way into the background.

Cuatro: Finishing touches
At the restaurant, they use liquid nitrogen to turn goat cheese into a frozen powder, which they use to garnish, sprinkling on top just before serving, because well, this is Michelin, and they like to do stuff like that.
But you really don’t have to.
Crumbled goat cheese works like a dream. Serve chilled and top with a fresh, cold cherry and you have one impressive starter.

So, without further ado, I will sign off from this week’s OK, and leave you with one very delicious recipe to try. Let me know, if you do.

Cherry Gazpacho with Goat Cheese

Serves: 8
Prep Time: 30M

Ingredients

500g cherries (ripe)
500g tomatoes (ripe)
100g breadcrumbs
50ml olive oil
half a garlic clove (crushed)
salt (to taste)
sherry vinegar (to taste)
goat's cheese (crumbly)
whole cherries (for topping)

HOW TO MAKE IT

Wash and pit the cherries
Chop the tomatoes into chunks.
Crush the garlic with the back of a knife.
Add the cherries, tomatoes and half the amount of garlic to a Magimix (or any blender) and blend until the colour deepens to a deep cherry red.
Add the breadcrumbs and blend for a few more minutes
Add the olive oil in a slow trickle and blend for another couple of minutes.
Taste and season with sea salt, sherry vinegar, and add in the rest of the garlic if you dare. Then place in the fridge, in an airtight container for at least 2 hours.
To serve, pour into bowls and crumble goat cheese over the soup. Add a drizzle of olive oil. And if you haven’t eaten them all, a fresh, cold cherry!

Day 23: Cherry Gazpacho

Cherry Gazpacho? What’s that? Never heard of it? A few years back, neither had I. But here I am making litres of the stuff.

Uno: Wait for Summer

Dos: Buy a cherry pitter

Tres: Feel free to mess with the ratios

Cuatro: Finishing touches

Cherry Gazpacho with Goat Cheese

Ingredients

HOW TO MAKE IT

The journey so far:

Day 7: The Pursuit of Excellence (+ Recipe: Rabbit and Snail Paella)

Day 12: Learn to Experiment (+ Recipe: Orange Rice Pudding)

Day 16: Hollandaise, the easy way.

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