Gazpacho Soup in Ciabatta Bread Bowls

Dear Devon,

Everywhere you turn in France, you will find good baguettes, so it seems almost unnecessary to single out any particular baker. But the baguettes at Eric Kayser's bakery are phenomenal. The crust is crunchy and thick, splintering into large shards with every bite. The inside is soft, pillowy and wonderfully salted. How can a loaf of bread embody heaven in crust and crumb? A fourth generation Parisian baker, Eric Kayser has absolutely, resolutely perfected the baguette...and all of Paris seems to know.

Exhausted from a morning fighting crowds at the Louvre, we decided to reinvigorate our drained spirits with a light snack at Eric Kayser. Unbeknownst to us, we stumbled across one of the most popular lunchtime spots in central Paris. French people are obviously crazy about le dejeuner. Everything stops in celebration of the midday repast. It's funny to note that even the bakery in Dijon closed. Picture this: A throng of elegantly coiffed men and women in business suits scrambling over one another in their quest for a baguette sandwich. The scene was like a desperate game of musical chairs, only with stuffed baguettes. Tuna salad, grilled chicken, ham and cheese, or roasted vegetable. When the music stops, the loser is left without a sandwich, and must walk dejected down the street to the competing bakery. If words fail to capture the essence of this lunchtime struggle, the Kandinsky painting below, which hangs in the Musée National d'Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou, may help convey the wildness of the scene. Lesson learned: Don't get between a Frenchman and his lunch.

I had been given a copy of Eric Kayser's Sweet and Savory Tarts as a birthday present a few years back. Though the book was much appreciated, I had some difficulty relating to the recipes. Nonetheless, my curiosity was peaked. I had to try some of his delectable creations before leaving France. The experience has left me with nothing but admiration. I had to pack his 2007 release Autour Des Pains into my suitcase on the way back to New York.

I've had a few weeks to study Autour Des Pains. I found the text and images appealing and inventive. Kayser takes bread beyond a platform for cheese and salted meats, transforming this staple into a versatile superstar, comfortable on a coarse wooden table or effortlessly tucked into decadent dessert of roasted persimmons. One of his ideas that struck me was to use hollowed out loaves of bread as soup bowls. I love the idea of drinking soup, and then eating the bowl. It adds a bit of whimsy to your lunch and simplifies the clean up. I had to give it a try. In France the multitude of shapes and sizes of bread makes this soup bowl idea a bit easier to pull off. After much searching, I settled on a medium sized ciabatta. My biggest concern was the integrity of the crust. How long before the soup soaks through the thin walls of the bread bowl? It turns out toasted bread is impermeable to soup, but not to metal spoons.

Kayser gives a recipe for gazpacho. It was definitely hot out, so gazpacho seemed appropriate. I used a recipe that I perfected last summer. My friends have a penchant for gazpacho. After much encouragement, I began to experiment with the soup. I had not been a huge fan of gazpacho, mainly because it tasted too raw and a bit sour. I found that grilling the tomatoes softened many of those harsher flavors. While it's not a true gazpacho and doesn't spare you the hassle of turning on the stove, I think it's a good compromise.

Gazpacho Soup in Ciabatta Bread Bowls
inspired by Kayser, Eric Autour Des Pains Eric Kayser p. 52

2 vine ripe tomatoes
3 plum tomatoes
1/2 yellow onion
1 orange pepper
1 bunch parsley
1/2 cucumber
1/4 cup pecans, toasted
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
1/3 - 1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ketchup
2 cloves garlic

1 Ciabatta Loaf

Halve the plum tomatoes lengthwise. Grill cut side down for about 10 minutes, until nice dark grill marks appear. Set aside to cool.

Roughly chop remaining tomatoes, yellow onion, orange pepper, and cucumber. Place all chopped veggies in the food processor or a blender along with garlic, parsley, toasted pecans, ketchup and salt. Add the cooled grilled tomatoes. With the machine running, pour in olive oil in a steady gentle stream. The amount of water and olive oil depends on the juiciness of your tomatoes. For richer soup, add more olive oil. Process or blend until smooth.

Set a mesh sieve over a large bowl. Working in batches, gently push the pureed liquid through the sieve. You want to strain about 2/3 of the soup. Straining the soup will eliminate a lot of the pulp and seeds while creating an overall soup with a smoother consistency. Whisk in the remaining 1/3 of the soup (unstrained). Combining the two mixtures creates a nice texture and heartiness to the soup. Place in the fridge to cool for about an hour.

Cut off both ends of the ciabatta loaf, so that you have two pieces, each about 4 inches long. The heal of the bread will be the bottom of your soup bowl. Hollow out the bread leaving a 1/4 inch of bread around the crust. Be careful not to pierce the crust. Sprinkle with a bit of olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until the bread is toasty and golden. Set aside and cool.

To prepare, cut two thin slice of bread. Rest the bread bowls on the sliced bread. The flat slices help to stabilize the pointed ends of the ciabatta. Pour the chilled soup into the cooled bread bowls. Serve with basil or a bit of parmesan cheese.