Fruit gazpacho is a good idea that most people ruin the same way: they throw the fruit in along with everything else and then wonder why you cannot taste it. Martin Berasategui, one of Spain's most decorated chefs, explains that the problem is not the quantity but the timing.

His explanation is unexpectedly technical for something so simple: „In the bowl we have ingredients that are very aggressive, like vinegar, onion, green pepper, and in the test I did putting the cherries in as well, that aggressiveness cancelled out the taste of the fruit.” In other words, the fruit does not disappear because there is too little of it - it disappears because it was exposed for too long to something that overpowers it.

So the whole secret lies in one step that has nothing to do with the recipe and everything to do with patience. The chopped ingredients should rest eight hours in the fridge before blending, and the fruit goes in only at the end. „This step matters, giving the ingredients time to marinate, because that way everything soaks properly and releases a lot of juice,” the chef says.

Cherry gazpacho, Berasategui's recipe

You need: 1 kilogram of ripe tomatoes cut into cubes, 25 grams of onion, 15 grams of green pepper, one clove of garlic, 100 to 150 grams of breadcrumbs, 10 grams of sherry vinegar, 100 grams of good olive oil, 200 grams of pitted cherries, salt. Optional: ice cubes, melon cubes and basil leaves to serve.

Method: chop the tomatoes, onion, pepper and garlic and put them in a large bowl together with the bread. Add the vinegar and the oil, cover with film and leave for eight hours in the fridge. After marinating, transfer everything to a blender, salt to taste, add the pitted cherries and blend. Strain through a fine sieve for a smoother texture and return to the fridge until serving. Serve cold, with a few whole cherries, melon cubes and a basil leaf.

Eight hours sounds like a lot for something drunk in two minutes. But that is exactly the difference between cherry gazpacho and gazpacho somebody threw cherries into. Chop the tomatoes tonight and by tomorrow midday you have something that tastes like a restaurant - and you did nothing more than wait.