Worries go down better with soup.
Jewish Proverb
A man may be a pessimistic determinist before lunch and an optimistic believer in the will’s freedom after it.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
Those who are at one regarding food are at one in life.
Malawian Proverb
Most respected cooks and chefs are familiar with an expression used to describe something almost indescribable and often unattainable. It’s a fleeting, mystical equation they are constantly striving for when preparing and presenting food. When it’s present it makes the food taste better, it makes a dining room come alive, it makes the customers happy, it makes the waiters proud to be running plates, it invites tips and makes the restaurant more money. It leaves everyone with a euphoric aftertaste and a sense of satiated completeness. It is probably the only good reason career chefs endure the rigours of commercial kitchen life. It’s referred to as ‘The Love’ and no one really knows what it is. There is no formula, recipe or method for ‘The Love’. You can’t bottle it. It’s either there or it isn’t and it comes in many different forms. It is contagious.
The best way to personally understand or feel ‘The Love’ is to take it back to basics. Handpick your ingredients using (wherever possible) fresh, local produce. Get friendly with your local butcher, fishmonger, fruit and vegetable shop and organic grocery store. Try to avoid supermarkets. I’ve yet to meet a supermarket cashier who is excited about the quality of their tomatoes on the day. Get excited when you find good tomatoes. The same applies to all other ingredients. It will be reciprocated and you’ll be starting to create ‘The Love’. Give yourself plenty of time and create a comfortable working environment. Clean and tidy is always a good start. Invest in good knives and quality cookware. Put some feeling into the food. Any feeling will do. Do not get too bogged down with recipes. Cooking may be a science but it is an imperfect one. Use all of your senses and trust them. Get really excited. Share your creation and feel ‘The Love”.
The first person to show me how to make a traditional Spanish Gazpacho soup was an amazing Andalucian woman called Señora Beatrice. I was a 16-year-old casual cook when she took me aside and gave me my first real lesson in ‘The Love’. She explained that the actual recipe was less important than the ancient tradition and told me I would only understand this when I became a part of the tradition. I was confused but understood that I should not take this lightly. I never forgot that lesson and the day I realised I understood her words was the day I was repeating them myself.
If you follow these instructions, make the Gazpacho and embrace the spirit in which the recipe is presented then you should be creating some ‘Love’ of your own. Enjoy…
Tomato Gazpacho
It does not do justice to this dish to describe it simply as a cold vegetable soup or a juiced salad. It is nothing short of a liquid elixir with no equivalent. There is something about it that tastes like vitality soaked in goodness with a dash of wellbeing. Make it and drink it regularly. Your heart, mind and body will thank you. In Spain there are as many ways of making gazpacho, as there are gazpacho makers. It is one of those dishes, very rarely prepared following a strict, written recipe. The time honoured family tradition of each unique method is passed down through the generations and, of course, everyone’s family makes the best, the only, authentic gazpacho. With this in mind I present you with my version of this very simple, incredibly delicious and seriously healthy concoction.
Ingredients: (Makes 2 litres)
1 kg very ripe tomatoes
250 gm cucumber
250 gm red capsicum
100 gm red onion
150 gm celery
2 cloves garlic
3 pinches sea salt
1 pinch raw sugar
30 ml sherry vinegar
100 gm sourdough bread
30 ml milk
1 level teaspoon bittersweet (agridulce) Spanish paprika
100 ml olive oil
Method:
Wash and dice all of the chilled vegetables, roughly chop the garlic. Mix together in a large bowl with the salt, sugar and sherry vinegar.
Remove and discard the crusts from the bread and shred the remainder into a small bowl. Add the milk and allow the bread to soak in the milk for a few minutes. Squeeze out any excess milk and add crumble the moist bread into the vegetables. Mix well.
Fill the blender jug by 2/3 with en even mix of all the ingredients. Add 1/4 (25 ml) of the olive oil and 150 ml of water to the jug and thoroughly blend until smooth. Repeat the process 3 more times (or until all the vegetables are blended) adding equal amounts of oil and water each time.
If you like your gazpacho very smooth, pass the blended liquid through a fine-mesh, conical sieve, using the bottom of a small ladle to push as much of the liquid through as possible.
Gazpacho should be served chilled. Drink straight from a glass or serve in a shallow bowl with a few droplets of olive oil and freshly ground pepper.
It is customary in some parts of Spain to serve small bowls of finely diced tomato, capsicum, cucumber, onion and celery as an accompaniment, to be added to the gazpacho at the table.
Gazpacho will keep well in the fridge in a sealed container for 3-5 days and seems to improve in flavour after 24 hours. Shake or stir well before serving as the particles can settle over time.
Welcome to the second Sanctuary E-Newsletter. The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you informed of new developments in our constantly evolving Sanctuary model.
The people I meet at the Sanctuary are the most varied group of individuals you could ever meet. They are generally not the type of person that would come to a yoga class in Byron Bay and because of this I find I have to vary what I do in order to establish a connection and help them feel an immediate benefit.
Working with internationally renowned chefs in Europe and Australia, for a number of years, Emma Dennett has returned home to her roots in the Northern Rivers – deploying her stellar training and nurturing talent in her new role as senior chef at The Sanctuary Byron Bay.