AN Axarquia town has a delicious recipe to combat the sweltering summer heat.
It is no secret by now that gazpacho is an amazingly refreshing soup and the ideal meal on a hot summer day. But it is even better if prepared following the traditional Alfarnatejo recipe, which includes diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, mint, bread, pepper, vinegar, oil and salt.
The word ‘gazpacho’ is said to be of Arabic origin and believed to mean ‘soaked bread’.
The small Axarquia town, with only 500 inhabitants and located 858 metres above sea level, celebrated with Periana – population 3,500 and only 23 kilometres from Velez – the fourteenth edition of their gastronomic festival. Visitors and local residents did not need to worry about not being able to afford the delicious dish, since it was completely free. However, those wishing to take home the beautiful clay bowls used to serve the soup had to pay €1.
Local resident Inmaculada Rodriguez and an army of neighbours were in charge of preparing as many as 800 litres of the typical Spanish cold soup for summertime.
The festival was completed with the sale of delicious Periana peaches. Jose Rodrigez, 69, and Rosario Zorrilla, 63, have 20 trees and hope to harvest as many as 1,000 kilograms of fruit this season. “We used to have 300 trees but we have lost many over the years.” they said. “Peaches were originally brought to Periana by an emigrant that went to Argentina.” they said. All the peaches harvested in Periana come from those first trees but they are still juicy and huge, they added.
Back in 2010, Periana farmers harvested a whopping 200,000 kilograms of peaches.
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