An Exaltation of Soups (50 page)
Read An Exaltation of Soups Online
Authors: Patricia Solley
O
P
REPARE
Prep the ingredients as directed in the recipe list.
O
C
OOK
1. Heat the chicken fat in a large soup pot over medium heat and stir in the onions. Cook until golden, then stir in the rice and cook until it is opaque.
2. Stir in the tomato paste and pepper, then pour in the stock and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
3. Add the diced carrots, cabbage, spinach, and herbs; return to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 20 more minutes, or until the cabbage is just tender. Season with salt. Stir in the chicken and let it heat through for another 5 to 10 minutes.
O
S
ERVE
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve immediately.
A T
ALE OF
B
INYAMIN
K
ASKODA
, P
ERSIAN
J
EWISH
D
ETECTIVE
Pinhas Sadeh, in his marvelous collection of Jewish folktales, tells the story of a clever Jew in Teheran, Binyamin Kaskoda, gumshoe extraordinaire for the Shah. When a thief broke into the Shah’s treasury, Binyamin was put on the case. “Your majesty, have all the known thieves in Teheran lined up,” he said, “and I will tell you which one robbed you.” When they were all gathered, Binyamin gravely looked deep into each of the suspects’ eyes. “I now know who the thief is,” he exclaimed. “Everyone else can go home.” When they all turned to go, Binyamin angrily shouted, “Hey, you thief! Who said you could go too?” Involutarily the true thief turned around, and that was it for him. Binyamin, rewarded by the Shah, no doubt went home to celebrate with a bowl of
Ash-e kalam-o haveej.
RAQ
LEMONY LAMB SOUP
KIBBE HAMMOUD
R
AVISHING
R
OSEWATER
This exotically fragrant decoction was distilled at least as early as the ninth century, when Al-Kindi, Baghdad philosopher and scientist in the Caliph’s House of Wisdom, wrote about it in his
Kitab Kimya’ al-’ltr wa al-Tas’idat
(Book of Perfume Chemistry and Distillation). To this day, blooming damask roses are harvested at dawn, some ten thousand blossoms are slowly simmered with about thirteen gallons of water, and the steam is condensed in a cooling tank, collected, and bottled as a clear elixir. Its uses? They are legion. A medicine that benefits the heart and stomach. A delicate food flavoring splashed into elegant dishes, into tea, into soups. And a mark of hospitality, light-heartedly welcoming or sending off guests by misting them with essence of rose from exquisitely wrought silver sprinklers—really, when you think about it, so generous, so poetic, such a rare and intimate gift.
Serves 6 to 8
O
KAY
, I
AGREE
: this recipe looks impossible. Who can even think of making meat paste torpedoes and then stuffing them with exotic spiced meat? Trust me, it’s worth it. And if you have a food processor and just take the
kibbe
-making one step at a time, you will end up with one of the most extraordinary soups you could ever imagine. A deep tomato-red lemony broth populated with meat-on-meat
kibbes
(more on them in a minute) and sprinkled at the last minute with spicings of fragrant mint. Swoon. And what about those
kibbes?
Imagine a ground meat shell, then imagine biting into it: your teeth press on a thin crust of beef and rice, then you breach the shell and juicy lamb and spices explode on your teeth into your mouth, sending up semaphores of saffron, rosewater, and deep spices.
F
OR THE
KIBBE
FILLING
1½ pounds boneless lamb, with fat, finely minced (freeze the meat and fat first, then thaw just enough to cut it into cubes and process in a food processor)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
A pinch of saffron threads, ground to a powder and dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
5 drops rosewater (see sidebar)
1 teaspoon
baharat
spice (mix ¼ teaspoon black pepper; ¼ teaspoon cumin; ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves; ⅛ teaspoon ground coriander; pinch of ground cardamom; pinch of nutmeg; and pinch of ground cinnamon).
Salt to taste
F
OR THE
KIBBE
SHELL
1 pound lean boneless beef, with no fat, finely minced (again, freeze the meat and let thaw just enough to cut into cubes for processing)
2 cups ground rice (available in specialty markets; or see below)
Salt and pepper to taste
Ice water
F
OR THE SOUP
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves, chopped
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 6 canned tomatoes
4 tablespoons tomato paste
8 cups (2 quarts) Beef Stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into thin finger shapes
2 to 3 lemons, juiced
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh mint or ½ teaspoon dried, for garnish
T
HE
D
ANGERS OF
S
PICE
Baharat
—literally “spice” in Arabic—is an all-purpose spice mix that varies from region to region, usually including pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, and coriander, and sometimes including rose petals or hot peppers or dried citrus peel. Always, though, it is heady, fabulous, bringing zest and excitement to plain, everyday dishes. The following story of
baharat
is adapted from Pinhas Sadeh’s
Jewish Folktales
(1989).
Consider the story of the poor Jewish peasant who came to Baghdad and found himself in a spice bazaar with its barrels of cinnamon and cloves, pepper and ginger, coriander and mint, and all kinds of other good scents. Suddenly he fainted dead away. Nothing could revive him, not smelling salts, not cinnamon, not anything. Just as it looked as if he would never recover, a quick witted man seized a shovel, scooped up some donkey dung, and brought it right under the peasant’s nose. Instantly the peasant opened his eyes, sneezed twice, and got to his feet. “A miracle!” the spice merchant exclaims. “By no means,” replies the hero, “it was the spices that made him swoon; the familiar scent of manure brought him back to earth.”
O
P
REPARE
1. If you are unable to find ground rice, soak 2 cups long-grain rice in water overnight. Drain the rice, rinse it well, then scrape it into a blender and start blending on high speed, slowly pouring in just enough water to allow the blades to easily grind it. Drain it in a strainer and rinse one last time.
2. Prep the remaining ingredients as directed in the recipe list.
3. Make the
kibbe
filling: Mix the minced lamb with the onion
in a food processor, then add the saffron liquid, rosewater, spices, and salt. Set aside.
4. Make the
kibbe
shell: Mix the beef with the ground rice, salt, and pepper and process in the food processor. Add ice water (as much as ¼ cup), pulsing, to get a very smooth and workable paste.
5. Dip your hands in ice water, then take a round tablespoon of the beef-rice paste, hold it in your left hand (if you’re right-handed) and stick your right index finger into the center of it, working the paste to make a little mini-vase shaped like a torpedo. If the paste cracks, dip your finger in the ice water and smear it over the crack to seal. Fill the torpedo with a tablespoon of the lamb-onion filling and close the opening by pinching the edges together and smearing them with ice water to seal. Set the
kibbes
side by side on a plate and refrigerate until you are ready to cook them in the soup. There will be about 40 of them. (You may freeze them if you’re not using them until the next day or later.)
O
C
OOK
1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot with a wide bottom over medium heat and fry the garlic and tomatoes until soft and concentrated. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 more minute. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Carefully add the
kibbes
, one by one, in different parts of the pot so they aren’t touching, cover, and let them cook for 15 minutes.
3. Add the cucumber fingers and cook for another 15 minutes, until the cucumber is cooked but still firm and the
kibbes
are cooked inside. Test one to make sure—you don’t want them undercooked.
O
S
ERVE
Stir in the lemon juice, check for seasoning, and sprinkle with the mint. Carry the soup to the table and ladle it into bowls, evenly distributing the
kibbes
among them.
OROCCO
SPICY PUMPKIN AND SPLIT PEA SOUP
L’HAMAAK DIL GAR’A
