Beautiful Soup

When Alice, in Wonderland, requests a song of the Mock Turtle, that personage chooses to sing of "Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish,/Game, or any other dish? Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!"

There is a large body of men – we're right in there – who share the Mock Turtle's enthusiasm. For what is as fine on a cold November day as a big bowl of piping hot minestrone, fortified with pasta and vegetables, fragrant with the pungent aroma of freshly grated romano cheese? Don't bother to answer that.

Pity the poor soul who has not yet discovered soup: he is always searching for hors d'oeuvres, entrees, savories and Escoffier-knows-what-else to reassure his appetite. But your true soupman – ah! Let his nostrils tell him that an oversize pot of shrimp gumbo soup is simmering in the pantry, and he will be bothered by no other fiddle-faddle. (For a moment or two he may stray from the paths of righteousness, toying with the idea of ripe stilton cheese, or considering a thin slice of Smithfield ham, but his stream of hungriness will inevitably return to the shrimp-laden broth, rich with rice and okra.)

These days, every soupmaker must be prepared to defend his art against the challenge of thousands of canned, jarred, frozen and dehydrated soups that are stacked on shelves everywhere. The average man, in his kitchenless kitchen, is not likely to turn out such exotica as kangaroo soup or cream of snail soup with curry, but these, and others equally out of the ordinary, are now obtainable in gourmet shops. And even the proudest chef potager will probably concede that several brands of cream of tomato soup as well as some of the canned clear soups like beef bouillon or clam madrilene couldn't easily be improved upon. But for some reason those soups which are neither cream soups nor clear bouillons, like Philadelphia pepper pot or mulligatawny or petite marmite – the main-dish soups – don't seem to take kindly to the can; and it so happens that these hearty soups are the very ones that turn out to be the real attractions at today's informal buffet tables.

Beethoven once said, "Only the pure in heart can make a good soup." Whether you're cardiacally pristine or not, though, you can become a competent soupmaker.

New cooks who are fuzzled by the term "stock" should learn that it's merely the liquid which is produced when a food is cooked in water. To oversimplify perhaps a bit, if you boiled a turnip, the cooking liquid would be turnip stock. When you steam clams open, the juice that squirts out of the shells, as well as the water used in steaming, become clam broth or clam stock. Fresh stock is automatically created every time you boil poultry or meat. Thus the stock for the most exquisite French soup, petite marmite, is the result of boiling chicken and beef in the same pot. When you cook a smoked beef tongue, the cooking liquid may later be used for a rich puree of split peas or lentil soup. Not all boiled meats produce a useful stock, however. When you simmer corned beef, the stock that's left is not useful in soupmaking; it's too salty.

All of the natural stocks such as those just described will usually be enhanced by the addition of a few bouillon cubes or packets of powdered instant bouillon. Concentrated bouillon, by the way, isn't just another new synthetic food, but a respected product that was in vogue in the early 1700s. In those days beef or veal stock was boiled down until it reached the consistency of a hard jelly. In America, hunters setting out on long trips munched on the hard cakes for sustenance on the road. When Captain Cook made his voyage around the world in 1772, his galley was stocked with the same kind of indestructible soup, a specimen of which is on view today in the English Royal United Service Institution Museum.

Instant stocks, however, do vary considerably in quality and strength. Some chicken cubes have a genuine chicken flavor; others are spurious. It's a good idea to experiment until you find a brand that suits you. Normally you need four instant cubes or packets of powder to each quart of water to produce a good stock. When you use all bouillon cubes and water instead of a fresh stock, a few tablespoons of butter melted in the soup just before it's served will provide a certain meat-like mellowness.

A tip for those who would become soup men supreme: never dump whole raw vegetables into a pot. First of all, keep a steady eye on your French knife, (continued on page 97)Soup(continued from page 79) and if you're cutting vegetables into half-inch dice, aim for the half-inch mark each time. Don't have some pieces of the same vegetable large and others small. In many recipes, the vegetables will be sautéed before the stock is added to the pot. This takes time, of course, but a sautéed onion has a richer flavor than a boiled onion, and this perceptible difference is later conveyed to the soup.

One or two marrow bones, sawed in half-inch pieces and added to any soup which is simmered for an hour or longer, will provide a hearty beef flavor.

In many of the recipes a very small amount of flour will be added to the sautéed vegetables. The reason for this is not merely to make a thick soup thicker but to give a certain body to the stock which would otherwise be missing. Also, in puree soups like black bean, the small amount of added flour keeps the liquid part of the soup from separating from the heavier puree on the bottom of the pot or soup bowl.

Many a soup is impressively transformed simply by making a few last-minute additions before it's ladled into the tureen. Besides the butter added at the last moment, to which you've already been tipped, try such pepper-uppers as Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper and monosodium glutamate, sprinkled in judiciously, to taste.

The following recipes are sufficient for four man-sized appetites or eight of the other kind.

[recipe_title]Black Bean Soup[/recipe_title]

1 cup black beans

3 tablespoons butter or bacon fat

1 diced onion

1 diced piece celery

1 small green pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons flour

1 large potato, diced

1-1/2 quarts soup stock

1 cup tomato juice

1 bouquet garni

1/4 cup dry sherry or 3 tablespoons bourbon

1 hard-boiled egg

thin slices of lemon

4 sliced frankfurters (optional)

Wash beans in cold water. Cover with 1 pint cold water and soak overnight. In a heavy soup pot melt butter or fat. Add onion, celery, green pepper and garlic. Sauté until the onion turns yellow. Stir in flour. Add the beans, together with the water in which they were soaked. Add potato, soup stock, tomato juice and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil. Skim well. Reduce flame very low and simmer until beans are tender, about 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Stir soup occasionally to keep beans from sticking to pot. Purée the soup in an electric blender. Add sherry or bourbon. Season. If soup is too thick, thin with additional stock. Chop hard egg fine. Pour soup into bowls. Sprinkle with egg. On each portion float a thin slice of lemon.

To eliminate soaking beans overnight, bring beans and liquid to a boil. Boil 2 minutes. Let stand 1 hour. Cook as directed.

Frankfurters may be added to the soup in place of the chopped hard egg.

[recipe_title]Petite Marmite[/recipe_title]

2 lbs. chuck of beef (in 1 piece)

1 small fowl

1 marrow bone

2 peeled whole onions

2 large fresh tomatoes

1/2 small white turnip

1/2 small parsnip

2 pieces celery

2 large carrots

1 bouquet garni

2 teaspoons salt

1 wedge cabbage (enough for about 1 pint when diced)

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

bouillon cubes (optional)

toasted French bread

grated parmesan cheese

fresh chopped chives and chervil (optional)

(We're using the term "fowl" in the accepted poultry-buff sense meaning a very tough old chicken. Unappetizing? Not at all. With long, slow cooking, it imparts that pronounced chicken flavor you need for a marmite.)

At a buffet table the marmite or pot may be quite a large one, not petite at all. For individual service, however, the small earthenware crock is normally used. The fowl and boiled beef contribute their fine flavor to the soup but are not usually served in large quantity. Customarily, most of the fowl and beef are put aside after cooking and enlisted into yeoman service for a later meal – in a salad, a hash or a casserole.

Have the butcher split a marrow bone, removing marrow intact if possible. In a large soup pot put chuck, fowl, the marrow bone, onions, tomatoes, turnip, parsnip, celery, carrots and bouquet garni. Cover with cold water. Add salt. Bring to a boil. Skim well. Reduce flame and simmer slowly until meat and fowl are almost done, about 2 hours. Add cabbage. Cook until meat and cabbage are done. In a separate small pot, cook peas until done. Strain peas. Strain the soup. Cut carrots into crosswise sections. Cut cabbage into dice. Set carrots and cabbage aside. Discard the other whole vegetables cooked in the soup pot. Correct seasoning of strained broth, adding bouillon cubes if necessary. Cut the desired amounts of chicken breast and beef into small diamond-shaped pieces. Cut marrow into 1/2-inch pieces. Drain marrow. Among four marmites, divide the marrow, carrots, cabbage, peas and cut-up fowl and beef. Pour strained broth, scalding hot, into marmites. Pass toasted

French bread and grated parmesan cheese at the table. Fresh chopped chives and chervil, if available, may be sprinkled over soup.

[recipe_title]Manhattan Clam Chowder[/recipe_title]

1 doz. large chowder clams

2 ozs. salt pork

2 minced cloves garlic

1 diced green pepper

1 leek, diced

2 medium-size onions, diced

2 pieces celery, diced

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup canned tomatoes, chopped fine

1 teaspoon leaf thyme

1/2 teaspoon marjoram

3 cups diced potatoes

2 tablespoons minced parsley

1 tablespoon catsup

1 tablespoon chilli sauce salt, pepper

With a vegetable brush, scrub clams under cold running water. In a soup pot, cover clams with cold water. Bring water to a boil. Remove pot from flame as soon as shells are just beginning to open. Overcooking will toughen clams. Remove clams from pot and set aside. Strain and reserve the broth, avoiding any sediment in bottom of pot. When clams are cool enough to handle, remove meat from shell. Chop the tough skirt of each clam extremely fine. Cut the remainder of the meat into small dice. Set clam meat aside. Chop salt pork very fine. Sauté in a large soup pot. Bacon fat, vegetable fat or butter may be substituted for the salt pork. When fat is melted, add garlic, green pepper, leek, onions and celery. Sauté until onion turns yellow, not brown. Stir in flour. Add the strained clam broth, tomatoes, thyme and marjoram. Bring to a boil. Skim well. Reduce flame and simmer very slowly about 1 hour. Add potatoes and parsley and simmer slowly until potatoes are tender. Add catsup, chili sauce and salt and pepper to taste. If clam flavor seems weak, add 1 bottle of prepared clam broth or bouillon powder to taste or both. Just before the soup is ready to serve, add the chopped clam meat.

[recipe_title]New England Clam Chowder[/recipe_title]

Follow the Manhattan Chowder recipe, omitting tomatoes, thyme and marjoram. When soup is removed from fire, add 1 pint scalded half and half (milk and cream in equal amounts).

Chicken Mulligatawny Soup

2 lbs. chicken backs and necks

1 peeled onion

1 piece celery

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

4 sprigs fresh dill

4 springs parsley

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium-size onion, diced

1 leek, diced

1 piece celery, diced

1 small green pepper, diced

1 medium-size clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons curry powder

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1 cup diced eggplant

1/2 cup diced peeled apple

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup quick-cooking rice

1/2 cup sweet cream

Cover chicken backs and necks with cold water. Bring water to a boil. Discard water. Again cover chicken with cold water, 2 quarts this time. Add bay leaf, rosemary, dill, parsley, and the whole onion and piece of celery. Add salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce flame and simmer until chicken is very tender, about 1 hour. Taste broth. If it needs additional strength, add instant chicken cubes or powder. Skim fat from broth. Strain broth. Separate chicken meat from bones and skin. Cut chicken meat into small dice. Set aside for later use.

Melt butter in a soup pot. Add the diced vegetables and garlic. Sauté until the onion turns yellow. Add flour, curry powder and coriander. Mix well. Add the strained chicken broth. Simmer slowly 1 hour. Skim when necessary. Add eggplant and apple. Simmer, keeping the pot covered, until the eggplant is tender.

In a separate saucepan combine 1/2 cup boiling water, salt and quick-cooking rice. Remove from flame, cover, and let the rice stand in the water 5 minutes. Add the rice to the soup pot. Add sweet cream and the diced chicken. Slowly bring the soup to a boil just before serving. Correct seasoning.

[recipe_title]Polpetti in Brodo(Italian Broth with Meat Balls[/recipe_title]

2 1/2-inch-thick slices long Italian bread

2 beaten egg yolks

2 teaspoons minced parsley

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash nutmeg

dash pepper

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

2 quarts chicken broth, fresh or instant

1 cup very small size fine Italian pasta

1/4 cup minced parsley

Soak the bread in cold water 15 minutes, squeeze gently to remove excess water, tear into very small pieces. In a mixing bowl combine the bread with egg yolks, parsley, beef, salt, nutmeg, pepper and parmesan cheese. Mix very well until no pieces of bread are visible. The mixture should feel quite moist. If necessary, add several tablespoons cold water. Shape into tiny balls, the size of marbles, no more than 1/2 inch in diameter. Set aside.

In a wide soup pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add meat balls and pasta. Cover the pot and again bring toa boil. Simmer slowly until meat balls and pasta are done, about 10 minutes. Add parsley. Correct seasoning. Serve with grated cheese at table.

[recipe_title]Minestrone Florentine[/recipe_title]

1 cup white pea beans

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 minced clove garlic

1 diced onion

1 piece celery, diced

2 quarts soup stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 carrot, diced

1 very small zucchini, diced, peeled or unpeeled

1 medium-size potato, diced

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 teaspoon rosemary

1/2 teaspoon oregano

2 whole cloves

2 ozs. small Italian pasta (macaroni rings)

1/2 head cabbage (small)

grated cheese

The word minestrone is derived from an Italian word meaning "to give out," after the ancient custom at monasteries. Weary travelers would be given a portion of soup ladled from a big iron pot dangling over the open hearth.

Minestrone is a proletarian one-course-meal soup (like the French bouillabaisse); as such, you can exercise invention without sacrificing authenticity, since it is traditionally made with vegetables in season, with the dominant character of tomato always present to give it its distinctive flavor.

Soak pea beans in a quart of cold water overnight. In the morning, add salt to the water. Bring to a boil, and simmer slowly until beans are tender. Add more water, if necessary, to keep beans covered during cooking.

In another pot heat olive oil. Add garlic, onion and celery. When the onions are yellow add soup stock, tomato paste, carrot, zucchini, potato, parsley, rosemary, oregano and cloves. Simmer slowly until vegetables are very tender. Add pasta. Cut cabbage into dice. Add the cabbage to the pot and cook until pasta and cabbage are tender.

Divide the cooked beans in half. Mash one half of the beans in an electric blender or by forcing them through a food mill or colander. Add the mashed beans and the whole beans together with their cooking liquid to the soup pot. Bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes. Season to taste. If the finished soup is too thick, add stock to bring it to the desired consistency. Serve with grated cheese.

[recipe_title]Philadelphia Pepper Pot[/recipe_title]

2 small leeks, diced

1 onion, diced

2 pieces celery, diced

1 green pepper, diced

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 1/2 quarts stock

1 bouquet garni

3/4 lb. honeycomb tripe, diced

2 large potatoes, diced

1/2 cup fine size egg noodles

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup finely minced parsley

4-oz. jar pimientos, diced

Sauté the diced vegetables in butter until the onion turns yellow. Add flour and mix well. Add stock and a bouquet garni. Bring to a boil. Add honeycomb tripe. Again bring to a boil. Skim well. Reduce flame, and simmer until tripe is tender, about 2 hours. Add potatoes, noodles, broken into small pieces, pepper, parsley and pimientos. Simmer slowly until noodles and potatoes are tender. Thin soup with additional stock if necessary. Season to taste.

[recipe_title]Shrimp Gumbo[/recipe_title]

juice of 1 lemon

1 lb. shrimp

1 large onion diced (preferably red)

1 leek, diced

1 piece celery, diced 1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons flour

10-oz. can tomatoes, chopped coarsely

1 bouquet garni

1/2 teaspoon creole seasoning

3 chicken bouillon cubes

10-oz. package frozen okra

1/2 cup quick-cooking rice

The flour in this recipe is a thickner. The original thickening agent for gumbo filé. It may be added only after the soups is a product called gumbo filé. It may be added only after the soup is removed from the fire, or it will turn gluey and ropy. If it's available on your neighborhood spice shelves, buy it.

In 2 quarts boiling salted water to which the juice of a lemon has been added, put shrimp, allowing 3 to 5 minutes boiling time. Remove shrimp from pot, saving the cooking liquid. Shell and de-vein shrimp. Cut shrimp into very small dice. Return shrimp shells to cooking liquid. Continue to cook for 20 to 30 minutes longer or until stock has a pronounced shrimp flavor. Strain shrimp stock.

In a large soup pot sauté the diced vegetables in butter. When onion is yellow, add flour, mixing well. Add the shrimp stock, tomatoes, a bouquet garni, creole seasoning and bouillon cubes. Simmer slowly 1 hour.

In a separate saucepan cook okra, following directions on the package. Drain the okra. Wash very well in cold water and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Soak quick-cooking rice to which 1/4 teaspoon salt has been added, in a 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes.

Add the shrimp, okra and rice to the soup pot. Season to taste. Your guests should be wildly enthusiastic: unless, that is, you've been serving soup to nuts.