Gazpacho

The recognizable tomato version dates only to the 19th century, after tomatoes and peppers (both New World imports) became cheap in Andalusia. The older form was a peasant white gazpacho — bread, water, vinegar, oil, garlic — eaten by Roman-era and medieval field workers in southern Spain as a hot-day calorie drink. Tomato gazpacho is essentially an Andalusian update once the ingredients arrived.

Andalusian field-worker drink-soup, pre-tomato versions go back to Roman times (bread, oil, vinegar, garlic, water). Tomato joined after the Columbian Exchange. Served ice-cold; the bread is the thickener, not a garnish.

A cold, raw soup poured from a jug — tomato red, slightly orange where olive oil emulsifies in. Drinks more than it eats. Cucumber and green pepper sit in the back; sherry vinegar gives a sharp finish. Diced raw vegetables and croutons go on top at the table. Served fridge-cold, not room-temperature; if it's not properly chilled, the oil reads greasy instead of silky.

The bread isn't garnish — it's blended into the soup as the emulsifier. Stale bread crumb traps olive oil into a stable suspension with the tomato water, which is what makes proper gazpacho silky rather than watery on top with oil floating. Modern blender versions often skip the bread to seem light; they separate within minutes. Sherry vinegar over red wine vinegar matters: it's lower-acid and rounder.