Bowl of chilled gazpacho soup with tomatoes and cucumber on a rustic wooden table

Early American Republic · United States

Mary Randolph's Gazpacho

Name: Mary Randolph's Gazpacho
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped; 1 cucumber, peeled and diced; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 slices stale bread, cubed; 120 ml olive oil; 60 ml vinegar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 480 ml cold water

From The Virginia Housewife · Mary Randolph · 1824

Verified from original source

An early American interpretation of Spanish gazpacho with tomatoes and cucumber.

Historical note: Put some soft biscuit or toasted bread in the bottom of a sallad bowl...

History

Mary Randolph's gazpacho, published in The Virginia Housewife (1824), represents one of the earliest American adaptations of Spanish gazpacho. Randolph's version was a bread-based soup served hot, contrasting with modern cold preparations. Her recipe reflected Virginia's elite culinary culture, where Spanish and international influences reached plantation households through trade connections and imported cookbooks. The dish demonstrates early American interest in European cuisines, though Randolph's interpretation diverged significantly from Andalusian traditions. Her gazpacho included onions, tomatoes, and bread soaked in water, seasoned and served warm—likely influenced by 18th-century Spanish cookbook descriptions rather than direct experience of authentic gazpacho blanco.

Sources

Randolph, Mary. The Virginia Housewife. 1824
Hess, Karen. The Virginia House-wife by Mary Randolph: Historical Notes and Commentaries. 1984
Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. 1999
Weaver, William Woys. A Quaker Woman's Cookbook: The Domestic Cookery of Elizabeth Ellicott Lea. 1982
Trubek, Amy B. Haute Cuisine: How the French Invented the Culinary Profession. 2000

Serves

Prep

20m

Cook

Difficulty

Easy