Now Playing in Your Dining Room! Super Soups of 1974!

Soup—The Spectacular, full-bodied, this-is-all-you're-going-to-get, meal-in-itself soup—seems to have fallen on meager times. It appears to have been taken over by those gray-humored souls who make handwoven neckties and plant beans by astrology. The rest of us are lucky to get something out of a can—flavored with the carcass of an alien tomato and redolent with the savors cooked up in a test tube. It is as if the right people had said nuts to soup. A grave mistake.

Consider: There are really very few things to eat. The meats we commonly use can be counted on one hand, the fowl on another. And there aren't many vegetables (peas (continued on page 208)Super Soups(continued from page 140) again?) nor many seafoods. To achieve variety in our meals, we must combine, flavor and invent.

So to neglect one whole category of the menu is, at the least, absurd. Yet when was the last time you had a big soup and only that—with perhaps a salad and some fruit—and called it a real meal? The reason for the decline lies possibly in the fact that the great wave of immigration from Europe that brought with it, from Sweden to Sicily, such an immense diversity of the dish has now subsided into the third and fourth generations—and a taste for powdered mashed potatoes.

Let this be the moment for a revival. Here following you will find a selection of the hearty soups—hot and cold, fish, flesh, fowl and vegetable—that should enable you to stage your own soup spectacular.

Seafood Soups

[recipe_title]Fish Boil[/recipe_title]

(Serves four)

[recipe]2 pounds fresh fish, cleaned and cut[/recipe]

[recipe]4 slices lemon[/recipe]

[recipe]4 slices orange[/recipe]

[recipe]1 pinch saffron[/recipe]

[recipe]Salt, black pepper[/recipe]

[recipe]6 cloves[/recipe]

[recipe]1 clove garlic, chopped[/recipe]

[recipe]1 pinch thyme[/recipe]

[recipe]3 tablespoons parsley, chopped[/recipe]

[recipe]2 large onions, quartered[/recipe]

[recipe]2 large tomatoes, quartered[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 cup olive oil[/recipe]

[recipe]1 bottle dry white wine[/recipe]

[recipe]Water[/recipe]

[recipe]12 fresh clams, shucked[/recipe]

[recipe]12 uncooked shrimps, peeled[/recipe]

In a large pot put fish, lemon and orange slices, saffron and a good dash of salt and pepper. Add cloves, garlic, thyme, parsley, onions and tomatoes. Pour in olive oil, wine and enough water to cover all. Bring to a fast boil and continue boiling for 15 minutes. Add clams and shrimps and boil another 5 minutes. Serve in large soup bowls with hot French bread.

[recipe_title]Scallop Soup[/recipe_title]

(Serves four)

[recipe]1 pound scallops[/recipe]

[recipe]Juice of 1 lemon[/recipe]

[recipe]3 cups chicken broth[/recipe]

[recipe]1 quart half-and-half (half milk and half cream)[/recipe]

[recipe]3 tablespoons butter[/recipe]

[recipe]White pepper[/recipe]

If bay scallops are used, they can be left whole. If sea scallops are used, cut them into quarters. Pour lemon juice over scallops and let stand for half an hour or longer. Bring chicken broth to a boil and add scallops with lemon juice. Simmer for 2 minutes and then add half-and-half, butter and a few grinds of white pepper. Stir well and simmer for 5 or 6 minutes more.

[recipe_title]Crab Soup[/recipe_title]

(Serves eight)

[recipe]1 pound crab meat, fresh or frozen[/recipe]

[recipe]6 cups chicken broth[/recipe]

[recipe]4 tablespoons cracker crumbs, finely ground[/recipe]

[recipe]1 cup heavy cream[/recipe]

[recipe]White pepper[/recipe]

Carefully pick over crab meat. Heat chicken broth in large pot. Add crab meat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in cracker crumbs and combine well. Then pour in cream and add a generous grind of white pepper. Stirring well, combine all and allow soup to cook for several minutes until hot.

Cold Soups

[recipe_title]Cold Chicken Soup[/recipe_title]

(Serves six)

[recipe]21/2 cups chicken, cooked and diced[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon dried dill[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 cup minced onion[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon salt[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon sugar[/recipe]

[recipe]Freshly ground pepper[/recipe]

[recipe]3 tablespoons sour cream[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon French mustard[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon lemon juice[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon vinegar[/recipe]

[recipe]2 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 dill pickle, diced[/recipe]

[recipe]4 cups chicken broth[/recipe]

[recipe]Split of champagne[/recipe]

[recipe]1 cup crushed ice[/recipe]

In a large bowl place tarragon, dill, onion, salt, sugar and a grind of pepper. Mash well. Add sour cream, mustard, lemon juice and vinegar; stir. Add chicken, cucumbers, pickle and chicken broth. Chill well in refrigerator, preferably overnight. Just before serving, pour in champagne and crushed ice.

[recipe_title]Cold Shrimp Soup[/recipe_title]

(Serves four)

[recipe]3/4 pound shrimps, cooked and chopped[/recipe]

[recipe]1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped[/recipe]

[recipe]1 large onion, grated[/recipe]

[recipe]1 sweet red pepper, seeded and chopped[/recipe]

[recipe]3 tablespoons buttermilk or sour cream[/recipe]

[recipe]21/2 cups chicken broth[/recipe]

Place shrimps, cucumber, onion and sweet pepper in separate bowls. Buttermilk is the classic ingredient of this soup, but if you prefer, use sour cream. In any case, mix one of the two with chicken broth. Refrigerate everything for at least four hours. To serve: Give each guest a bowl of broth and let him make his own mixture; that is, take as much of shrimps, peppers or whatever as he chooses.

Vegetable Soups

[recipe_title]Corn Chowder[/recipe_title]

(Serves six)

[recipe]1/4 pound salt pork, finely diced[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 cup minced onions[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 cup minced green pepper[/recipe]

[recipe]2 cups fresh or canned corn[/recipe]

[recipe]2 cups water[/recipe]

[recipe]2 cups milk[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 cup chopped parsley[/recipe]

[recipe]1/8 teaspoonsblack pepper[/recipe]

[recipe]2 dashes Tabasco[/recipe]

Fry salt pork until crisp and brown. Remove and reserve. Pour off most of the grease from the skillet and in the remainder sauté onions and green pepper, stirring occasionally, until wilted. In a large pot place all ingredients except salt pork. Bring to a boil and simmer slowly, covered, for 20 minutes. The chowder may be served two ways: as is, with the bits of salt pork sprinkled on top, or it may be puréed in a blender—two or three cups at a time. As a purée, it can be served either hot or cold. Always remember to sprinkle the salt-pork bits on top.

[recipe_title]Cuban Black-Bean Soup[/recipe_title]

(Serves four)

[recipe]2 cans black-bean soup[/recipe]

[recipe]1 bowl minced onions[/recipe]

[recipe]1 bowl cooked rice[/recipe]

This is a fast one. Prepare the black-bean soup as instructed on the can. Serve each guest a bowlful and let him add onions and rice in the amount he wishes.

Meat Soups

[recipe_title]Borscht[/recipe_title]

(Serves four)

[recipe]5 beets[/recipe]

[recipe]1 large potato[/recipe]

[recipe]1 large onion[/recipe]

[recipe]4 scallions[/recipe]

[recipe]1 small red cabbage[/recipe]

[recipe]3 cans beef broth[/recipe]

[recipe]1 clove[/recipe]

[recipe]4 peppercorns[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons sugar[/recipe]

[recipe]Juice of 1 lemon[/recipe]

[recipe]2 egg yolks[/recipe]

[recipe]3/4 pound sliced, cooked beef (chuck, round or top sirloin)[/recipe]

[recipe]Sour cream or heavy cream, whipped, and red pepper[/recipe]

Grind with coarsest blade of meat chopper the beets, potato, onion and scallions. Remove stem and ribs from cabbage and shred finely. In skillet with a little butter, sauté all vegetables until just limp. Heat broth to boiling, add vegetables, clove and peppercorns. Simmer gently until vegetables are tender. Mix sugar, lemon juice and egg yolks. Add this to soup, stir; do not boil. In each soup plate place several slices of cooked beef, which have been warmed, and spoon soup over them. To serve: Top with either sour cream or whipped fresh cream that has been liberally doused with red pepper.

[recipe_title]Peas Porridge[/recipe_title]

(Serves eight)

[recipe]1 pound split peas[/recipe]

[recipe]Ham bone[/recipe]

[recipe]3 large onions, chopped[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 teaspoon tarragon[/recipe]

[recipe]3 tablespoons parsley, minced[/recipe]

[recipe]Ground black pepper[/recipe]

[recipe]3 quarts water[/recipe]

(What is meant by a ham bone is the remains of a baked ham, which still has some meat and fat on it.) Put all ingredients into a very large pot. Bring to a boil; skim off any scum that forms and reduce heat to a low simmer. Stirring occasionally, cook uncovered for 5 or 6 hours until mixture has become a thick purée. (You may need more water. Do not let soup get so thick that it is in danger of burning on the bottom of the pot.) Remove ham bone and pieces of ham fat. After bone cools, cut off whatever meat is left on it. Stir meat into pot of soup. Serve when heated thoroughly.

OK, you've got the script. Now, go out there and put on a show.