For Soup That Refreshes

In blazing 90-degree weather, many people turn to the beloved traditional king of summer soups: Spanish gazpacho. But while Spain may be the cold-soup capital of the world, other warm places offer their versions of refreshing chilled soups.

And Washington boasts chefs who specialize in food from just such warm-weather locales: Puerto Rico, Mexico, India and the American South, for starters.

The executive chef at the downtown restaurant Zola, Frank Morales III, originally hails from Puerto Rico, where as a child he enjoyed Sopa Fria de Mango y Ron. It's "a delightful sweet soup prepared with fresh, ripe mangoes and rum," Morales says. "When we were kids, my parents would leave out the rum. Today, I do enjoy the jolt from the rum in the soup."

Joshua Linton, sous-chef at Oyamel in Crystal City, specializes in Mexican cuisine. His favorite is a chilled avocado soup. "It is a creamy, but light and refreshing, soup," he says. "I add a crab garnish to it to offer an interesting contrast of flavors and textures." Add a side of bread, and this soup makes a perfect light lunch.

Chef K.N. Vinod, owner of Indique Heights in Chevy Chase, grew up in southern India. At his restaurant he serves chilled Moru Rasam, a soup prepared with buttermilk that is his adaptation of a drink from his childhood. "It is not a traditional soup per se, but my mother would make it all the time and store it in earthenware to keep it cool. Buttermilk is a very common drink in southern India -- a perfect antidote for the hot summer days," Vinod says.

Christopher Clime, chef de cuisine at the Louisiana-style seafood restaurant Acadiana downtown, shares his contemporary take on a butterbean soup from Georgia. It's a recipe he picked up in the South in the early '90s, when he cooked at a private mansion. "I learned to prepare this soup there from a chef friend, who served it both warm and chilled," he says. "Use the best smoked bacon you can find for this -- it really enhances the flavors."

And finally, the beloved gazpacho: Chef José Andrés, owner of several D.C.-area restaurants, grew up in the north of Spain in Asturias, a region without a chilled-soup culture. But his wife, Patricia ("Tichi"), is from Cadiz, deep in the Andalusia area of southern Spain, which he says is the heart of gazpacho country.

"I used to be a soda addict, drinking four, maybe five cans daily," Andrés said. "Then I tried her gazpacho and left sodas behind. We always have a pitcher of cool gazpacho in the refrigerator, and whenever I am thirsty, that is what I reach for." Today he serves his wife's rendition of gazpacho at his restaurant Jaleo. "It is one of the reasons I married her," he jokes. "I needed the recipe."

Some tips from the chefs:

· Use the best and freshest ingredients possible to obtain maximum flavor.

· Consistency is critical. "Passing a chilled soup through a strainer will give you a supremely smooth soup with silky texture," advises Andrés. Says Clime: "A cold, creamy soup should have the texture more of a sauce and less of a traditional warm soup so it is not cloying in taste. Do the ladle test: The soup should adhere to the bottom of the ladle the way a sauce would. That is the correct consistency."

· Chilling a soup will often mute the taste of the seasonings. "Always season the soup at the temperature at which you will serve it," says Morales. "Refrigerate, and then before serving it, taste it again, because the flavors may change, and you may want to add a pinch or more of some seasoning."

Monica Bhide last wrote for Food about five Asian takes on shrimp.