Gazpacho Day

Gazpacho. Jay Cross / flickr.com / 2010 / CC BY 2.0

The 6th of December is Gazpacho Day.

Our traditional concept of gazpacho involves tomatoes, and tomatoes certainly aren’t at their best or cheapest in December in the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, with the sleet, cold rain or snow starting to come in sideways, people in the Northern Hemisphere would probably be more tempted by a Beef and Guinness Pot Pie covered in a pastry crust rather than a chilled vegetable soup.

But never mind, Gazpacho Day it is, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to get at least one light and lively meal in before the weeks of heavy Christmas overeating ahead begin in earnest. Besides, in the southern hemisphere, the first of the summer tomatoes will just be coming into season, so for them the timing for Gazpacho Day is works well.

If Northerners aren’t tempted by the thought of making gazpacho from the December shipped-in tomatoes available at stores at this time, remember that our traditional concept of gazpacho — with tomatoes — is just that, our traditional concept. Recipes for white and green gazpachos are actually far more traditional, and don’t use tomatoes at all. So you could make one of those.

#NationalGazpachoDay

History

In 2004, Emily Nunn of the Chicago Tribune included “Gazpacho Day” on the 6th of December in her list of “silly food holidays”: “December…. Gazpacho Day (6), Cotton Candy Day (7), Pastry Day (9)….” ^[1]Nunn, Emily. Surrender to never-ending glut of silly food holidays. Chicago Tribune. Reprinted in: Kerrville Daily Times. Kerrville, Texas. 22 Sep 2004. Page 3C. Col 1.

Gazpacho with salad. Cherice Montgomery / freeimages.com / 2008