Hola!
to be honest: this is not – in its exact formulation – among the top ten of the FAQ I get. I chose it as the first “Francisco Answers” post for a simple reason: I liked it.
First of all, I am afraid many of you have not had the pleasure of getting to know any of both “Siesta” or “Gazpacho”. A shame that we need to correct. Here come the definitions.
Gazpacho:
A cold soup made out of vegetables, most of it tomatoes. It contains also cucumber, pepers, onions, olive oil and of course garlic. I will not reveal all ingredients or details. Especially, I won’t reveal the secret recipe from my mother. Maybe in another ocassion. It is a traditional dish in Andalucía, especially popular in the long and warm summer season. Do not be surprised if you find small bits of vegetables or “croutons” (congratulations to my fellow Frenchman: They made it again, they managed to give an exquisit and unpronounceable name to a simple piece of bread cut in a cube). Find more about it in wikipedia, or even better, in a visit to Spain! Ah: don’t try to find my mothers recipe in Wikipedia. Won’t be that easy ;-)
Siesta:
One of our most successful panish exports. Rightly so. Also, one of the words that Spain has made universally understandable. It is a 
short nap (at least meant to be short ;-) in the early afternoon. As you know, we love to eat rich lunches. After a Spanish lunch, especially in many of the warmer months we enjoy, your body screams for a small rest. Give it to him! It is deserved. After all, you need to digest, realax and get ready for the rest of the day. Take a nap and then sip a “cafe cortado” (Please remind me that we need to talk about coffee on a separate post). Mi querida Wikipedia has a pretty good english definition of Siesta, which I recommend if you really want.
So what is the bottom line?
Quite simple. And this is one of the reasons why I liked the question: Honestly, why choose when you can have it all? Gazpacho is perfect in the summer, so is Siesta. 
My true recommendation is: Eat Gazpacho for lunch as a first dish. It will refresh and calm your appetite in the warm season. Have it along with a glass of “The Spanish Quarter” Chardonnay-Albariño, equally refreshing, crisp and tasteful. Once you finish lunch, have a Siesta. Make it a habit. 30 minutes. Believe me, once you start, you will love it. And pass it on! It is your mission. “Siestify” your environment a bit. Maybe this won’t help us making this a better planet, but definetly a little bit more relaxed…
Salud!
Francisco
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
March 16, 2009 at 3:29 am
danmihalache
Today’s a date to celebrate: today I make 20.000 days; there are few ages that I consider to be very important: 10 years, 10.000 days (at 27 years) and 1.000.000.000 seconds (at almost 32); if you try to calculate other – in any time unit you can’t find others so round; at 1 you’re to young to understand at 100 to old to care; in weeks, months (you make 100 months at 8.3) you can’t find so wonderful times; I celebrated all of them.
I was (and am) very busy but I’ll try to call you more frequently.
Hear from you,
Dan
March 16, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Francisco
Felicidades Dan!
you know what is dangerous about that interesting practice? In Spain we have a habit: When it is someones birthday, we pull the ears of this person (literally) as often as it is his/her birthday. This may make it quite difficult at ages above 30, especially if you are a popular person. But, man, with your way of counting, you better have a good health insurance ;-)
Pues nada: Feliz 20.000 días! Note, that if you were a fish, this would be called your “Jules Verne anyversary”.
Salud!
Francisco