Arjamolho

You’ve been to Spain? You’ve had the gazpacho smoothie, you’ve had the chefs genius alter the soup with beetroot, strawberries, avocado, and any other fruit or vegetables that assures them that they have the touch that can make you forget the traditional and never go back. This cold soup is what you would want and expect from the gaspacho family. Take old bread, add chopped green peppers, minced garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt, ripe tomatoes that have been peeled and seeded and add ice cold water. Stir through oregano. Taste. You can make it as acidic or garlicky as you like. If you’re living in a hot country make it the night before and eat it for breakfast. What makes this different from gaspacho is you don’t blend it but if you like it that way then you can - no one will judge.

A few years ago a put a soup on the menu during summer also from the Algarve called Vinagrada. Old bread soaked in vinegar and ice cold water with salt and olive oil. That lunch four tables ordered it. It pleased me that I could serve a pheasant dish, a dish that I’d read people who worked on the fields would eat for breakfast could be served in a restaurant. The waitress told the story. The soup told the rest. What I like also about this soup and the variations are you can use what you like - make a cold soup for you. Want to add ham, chopped egg, basil, coriander, chopped anchovies, chillis, leftover poached chicken - Do what you want. Here’s the basic recipe for Arjamolho:

250g old bread (I keep the crusts on)

1 litre ice cold water

1 large ripe tomato (seeded, peeled and diced)

3 cloves of grated garlic

1 pepper (green or red)

100ml olive oil

25 ml good vinegar

Oregano to serve

Mix everything together and chill for at least one hour.