Originally Posted by
gaobest
I love the onion idea; if salt is to be used for a gazpacho recipe, then does it still need to be rinsed off the onion? Or could the salt for the recipe be used with the onion and then just placed with the rest of the ingredients?
I always rinse the onion as the salt works it’s osmosis magic drawing the onion’s fiercest juices to bond with it. But even rinsed and squeezed, the onion will be a little saltier than before. Saying that, gazpacho does take quite a bit of salt, the difference is going to be negligible.
There are Spaniards who never put onion in their gazpacho recipes, others shovel it in. I’m really happy with this compromise. If you want to be REALLY “fino” (refined), another Japanese technique is to remove the thin film that covers every single layer of raw onion. Another alternative is to dunk onion pieces in lightly salted water rather than applying salt onto them directly, leave the slices for a couple of minutes, pour off the brine and squeeze. Using brine is my own favoured technique when using onion for a salad (particularly potato salad).
Quite a few Spaniards object to cucumber in gazpacho for similar reasons to onion (the term would be “se me repite” - it repeats on me). Some peel the cucumbers, others score the cucumber skins with the sharp end of a fork. One can sprinkle salt on cucumber slices before rinsing away as with the onion (another great addition to potato salad), but there is another Japanese technique which I use a lot when serving cucumbers - take off an end (and just stick to one end so that osmosis encourages liquid migration in just one direction) and “grind” that end in a circular pattern in about a teaspoon of salt. Continue in a circular pattern for about a minute and you’ll see a little puddle of dark green liquid form which you then discard. Just rinse off the end and the tamed cucumber is good to use. You can also peel or partly peel (I take off 50% and leave it striped like a deckchair) the cucumber at this point.
Adding fruits to gazpacho for zing or sweetness may seem heretical, but if you don’t have grade A tomatoes (and I’ll be lucky if I get my hands on many truly GOOD tomatoes in London this summer) then seemingly unconventional additions like peach, raspberries, umeboshi or watermelon can help achieve the desired sweet/sour balance. Frankly, you’ll struggle with substandard tomatoes without a bit of this kind of help.