Although it sounds like the name of a resistance fighter from W.W.II, it refers to the only time of year to make this dish. Yes, you could make this any time of the year with those red baseballs, that they pass off as tomatoes, but it's like making a beef dish with turkey... it ain't the same thing. I suppose I could have could called it "Summer Gazpacho", but that still doesn't nail down the time when the tomatoes are at their ripest. When the time is right, I will personally drive fifty miles to my favorite produce stand, because I trust their quality, and there is an excellent brew-pub nearby (in the Midwest, where I grew up, doing that as an afternoon drive is unheard of).

The way I like to make this, is by chopping all the ingredients by hand. I generally chop three-quarters of each type vegetable to be used, in a very fine, 3/16 inch dice (except the onion, which I chop the whole thing finely); I then take the remaining portion and chop it somewhat coarser, into a 3/8 inch dice. This can be accomplished in a food processor; I do sometimes, but I think the finished product suffers a bit. For some unexplained reason, it seems to lack the depth of character and flavor. Maybe it's knowing the care that went into the preparation, that makes it taste so much better, but I highly recommend chopping by hand, or at least most of it.

A neat trick I like to do with the tomatoes is; when squeezing out the seeds, squeeze into a strainer over a dish, to collect all the good tomato juice that comes with it.