In The Centre #17 | Chilled Cucumber and Cantaloupe Melon Soup
Because a classic gazpacho could be deadly
Where I am it has been, and soon will be again, gazpacho weather.
Except classic gazpacho no longer sits well with me, because I recently read something written by my great grandmother, who spent most of the first twelve years of her life in El Puerto de Santa Maria; her Dad working at the time as the British partner of a sherry business.
“Our corner site of the palacio gave us two frontages; and what "front seats" our balconies afforded when processions passed or King Alfonzo II visited the town! I can see the unlucky king now with his pale face and black side whiskers, as he sat in a "victoria" greeted with flowers and pigeons thrown down from the draped and garlanded balconies by the senoras, while their menfolk shouted from the pavements and the birds flew up and about in a charming confusion of sound, colour and movement. Poor Alfonzo was then a widower, Mercedes, his queen, having died from the chill she caught from eating gazpacho. How fearful we children felt when summer brought gazpacho to the table and the cooling, seductive dish of bread, cucumber, tomatoes, pimiento, vinegar, oil and salt with water compounded a salad that revived the most jaded appetite. We had listened to the servants' hushed talk of how the gazpacho had been poisoned that killed poor Mercedes, the Queen.”
I’m just going highlight the key bit for you, in case you skimmed it:
King Alfonzo XII of Spain was a widower, his wife “having died from the chill she caught from eating gazpacho.”
HAVING DIED FROM EATING GAZPACHO !!!
Could this be true? Is this tried and tested relief from a heatwave not actually to be trusted?
Obviously I had take a deep dive. So one balmy night last week I opened my search engine plus a (chilled) bottle of wine and tucked in.
Below for paid subscribers are the results of this crucial research; a few ideas for refreshing soups, salads and drinks; plus a recipe for a cucumber and melon soup (which has not yet seen me off). Join us??
