They invite you to eat. There is a desire to see the host and enough confidence to arrive empty-handed, but the same dose of affection pushes you to bring something special. The most effective – and quickest – is a bottle of wine. But what if you try something else? A gourmet first course? What few expect is to unwrap a bottle of gazpacho, and that is what happens to journalist Llucià Ferrer when he hosts the singer and presenter Carol Rovira for lunch at her house.
The gazpacho chosen is not a common ‘broth’, although this cold soup is the most popular and demanded. The mild version is the only seasonal gazpacho that is found throughout the year in Ametller Origen stores and, regardless of temperatures, its consumption does not stop growing and there is no equinox that can handle it. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, it has increased by 10.1% so far this year.
What is the secret – or secrets – that allows you to make a gazpacho available 365 days a year? Challenged by Rovira, the popular presenter begins a trip through the territory to find out what is special about making his soft version. First of all, the recipe. Personal, non-transferable and with your own name. “It is from Jose, a worker at the house, who devised it when we were still only 10 workers in the workshop,” explains Ramon Just, director of operations at Ametller Origen Obradors.
The one with or without cucumber in gazpacho is the new one with or without onion in the tortilla. A dilemma that does not allow half measures, but with one element in common: no one can resist a quality, homemade product. “The recipe was invented for customers who really liked gazpacho and could not find a mild version on the market like the one they prepare at home,” adds Ramon. Jose hit the nail on the head, and today it is one of the most in-demand products.
We accompanied Llucià Ferrer to the Maresme region, where Ametller Origen grows one of the varieties of tomato that he uses in his mild gazpacho recipe. There Joan Simó, director of R&D and sustainability of the group, reveals the first secret, prior to its preparation. The varieties used are four and their choice is not accidental: “Cherri provides sweetness and color. The pink tomato, the aromas. The pear provides structure, and the tomacó gives it an acidic and vegetal touch.”
Secondly, the way in which it is grown stands out. “It is a hydroponic crop. This means that we can give the plant the right water and nutrients it needs,” explains Simó. We already know what and how it is grown, but when we talk about something as popular as gazpacho, new variables come into play that make a recipe memorable on the palate and we are already entering the realm of gourmet.
“The tomatoes must be as clean as possible because we do not apply any technical treatment or additives. The sanitization tunnel is like a chlorine pool, a key process, because the product can last as long as possible without any extra treatment,” explains Llucià Ferrer, the operations director of Ametller Origen Obradors, in charge of accompanying the presenter through the innards. of the workshop.
From here, the ingredients give way to the recipe and their exact proportions, which meet in the reactor. Just one of these giants can hold 1,400 kilos of product. “Every week we consume about 16,000 kilos of tomatoes, about 7,500 kilos of red and green peppers, and about 1,500 cucumbers,” Ramon lists.
We meet just before packaging, at one of the key moments of production. “It is very important to pack it cold, at three or four degrees of temperature.”
From the moment the resulting vegetable elixir is bottled until it reaches the Ametller Origen shelves, less than 24 hours pass. There is a wide variety of gazpachos, always in season. The version with green pepper and cucumber, the one with beet, the one with cucumber and spinach, the one with apple and avocado, etc. But only mild gazpacho is available all year round for our enjoyment, whether we are hosts, like Llucià Ferrer, or guests who, like Carol Rovira, do not give up eating at home, even when away from home.
