The Cucumber Prep Step You Can't Skip Before Making Gazpacho

A cooling dish made with fresh cucumbers, garlic, tomatoes, and olive oil, Mexican gazpacho is a breeze to prepare. Just place all your ingredients into a bowl and whizz them up using an immersion blender to create a refreshing pale green soup. However, there are a couple of steps you can't skip when preparing those cukes — always remove their skin before halving them lengthways, and scooping out the seeds to make a soup with the best texture and flavor.

Fail to peel the skin of your cucumber and you could end up with a gazpacho that tastes bitter and unpalatable due to the presence of a biting substance called cucurbitacin. This compound develops in the outer skin of a cucumber when it's placed in conditions where it doesn't receive enough water or light. Believed to safeguard cucumbers from pests, this bitterness is concentrated at the top and bottom of the vegetable, which is why some people swear by topping and tailing them before using them in salads. Removing the skin when making gazpacho ensures that your cold soup has a bright and refreshing flavor that's free from those unwanted bitter compounds. Simply slice off the top and bottom before peeling the skin with a vegetable peeler to avoid pulling the cucurbitacin down its length.

Once you've gotten rid of the peel, you'll need to combat those pesky seeds in the middle. Slit your cuke lengthways and use a small spoon or melon baller to scoop out the watery seeds and create a little valley running along it. While you can leave the seeds in if preferred, your soup will have a thinner consistency due to the extra moisture that sits in the central channel of the cucumber. Using only the pale green flesh of the cucumber and eliminating the seeds and membrane will give rise to a dish with a beautifully smooth texture with plenty of body. If you find that your soup is still too textured, pass it through a sieve before dishing it up and garnishing with diced cucumber, tomatoes, and herbs. A sprinkle of sugar will remedy a bitter gazpacho so don't be disheartened if it still tastes acerbic. You could also consider adding strawberries to your gazpacho to balance out any bitterness and lend it a summery upgrade.

Gazpacho is a healthful vegetarian dish as none of the vitamins or minerals in the tomatoes and cucumbers are lost via cooking. As each ingredient is used in its raw state, using the best vegetables you can find will lead to the tastiest soup. Having said that, plenty of flavor will also come from the fresh garlic, herbs, and vinegar blending up with the veggies.