An Exaltation of Soups (56 page)
Read An Exaltation of Soups Online
Authors: Patricia Solley
O
P
REPARE
1. Cook the rice in 2 cups of the water and set aside.
2. Prep the remaining ingredients as directed in the recipe list.
O
C
OOK
1. Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat and cook until it is just golden brown.
2. Reduce the heat to a simmer and carefully whisk in the yogurt, beating until it has incorporated the butter. Pour in the stock and the remaining 1 cup of water, the garlic, and salt. Whisk constantly
until it is perfectly smooth. Stir in the rice and dill and let simmer to heat through.
O
S
ERVE
You may serve the soup immediately, ladling it into bowls and topping with a little fresh dill, or you may let it cool to serve at room temperature or refrigerate to serve it cooler.
M
ILK IN
I
SLAM
Milk, yogurt, and all other dairy products are not only permitted foods under Islamic dietary laws, they are recommended. “And verily in cattle will you find an instructive sign. From what is within their bodies, between excretions and blood, we produce, for your drink, milk, pure and agreeable to those who drink it” (Qur’an 16:66).
T
HE
F
RAGILITY OF
Y
OGURT
Treat yogurt carefully around heat and never bring it to a boil or it will curdle. Low-fat or nonfat yogurt is the worst, so you can be either completely safe by stabilizing the yogurt with a slurry of flour, cornstarch, or beaten eggs, or if you can handle the strength of it, use goat yogurt, which doesn’t curdle when you boil it—it just gets stronger. Unexpectedly, Romanian playwright of the absurd Eugene lonesco has a character in
The Bald Soprano
catalog the benefits of yogurt: “very good for the stomach, the lumbar regions, appendicitis and apotheosis.”
C
HILDREN
S
ING
“T
HE
F
IVE
P
RINCIPLES
”
All Muslims have to say
The
shahaadah
once a day
All Muslims have to say the
salaah
And that they say five times a day
Muslims say
salaah
five times a day
All Muslims have to pay
The
zakaat
once a year
Zakaat
is for the poor once a year
And that they pay once a year
Muslims pay
zakaat
once a year
All Muslims have to fast
Ramadhaan
once a year
All Muslims have to fast
Ramadhaan
And that they fast 30 days in a year
Muslims fast thirty days for Allah
All Muslims go to
hajj
Once in a lifetime
All Muslims would go to the
hajj
And that they’d do if that they can do
Muslims go to
hajj
if they can do so
—F. S. A. M
AJEED
ID AL
F
ITR
At last! The long month of fasting is over. Eid al Fitr is the feast that marks the end of Ramadan and begins three days of celebration and sharing food with the poor.
AKISTAN
CHICKEN BROTH
YAKHNI
R
IDDLE
M
E
T
HIS
Q
UESTION
: What is it that leaves its house only after breaking down the door?
Serves 6 to 8
T
RADITIONALLY THIS
soup is made out of the bones and vegetable scraps that are left over from preparing the main courses of the feast. It can be made from chicken bones or beef bones, potato and carrot peelings, and the trimmings and skins of onions, garlic, and celery. It can also be made from whole chicken pieces, with the chicken stewed until it is just done, then removed and saved for frying as a main dish with rice. It’s the seasonings that make the soup special, though, steeped as they are in the broth like some exotic tea. In the end, it’s a steaming broth whose fragrance wafts you out of the kitchen and into the spice bazaar—earthy and aromatic, exciting your nose as well as your palate. Serve it in pretty cups or glasses and invite your guests to drink up.
10 cups (2½ quarts) rich Chicken Broth
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
Vegetable kitchen scraps
3 cinnamon sticks, or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cumin seed, or ½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cardamom pods, or ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
Crumbled dried mint, for garnish
O
P
REPARE
Prep the ingredients as directed in the recipe list.
O
C
OOK
1. Put all the ingredients in a large soup pot and slowly bring the broth to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let the spices steep for 30 minutes.
2. Strain the soup through several layers of moistened cheesecloth or through coffee filters if you have used mostly ground spices. Don’t press on the solids; you want the broth as clear as it is fragrant. Return to the pot for the final reheating.
O
S
ERVE
Bring the broth to a boil, ladle it into pretty cups or glasses, and garnish each portion with a very fine pinch of mint.
Y
AKHNI AS
M
EDICINE
In a 2001 Gallup poll conducted in the urban and rural areas of Pakistan’s four provinces, 7 percent of all respondents said they relied exclusively on
yakhni
to cure them of the flu. The rest? Thirty-three percent said they took Joshanda, a popular herbal medicine; 13 percent went to the doctor; and 12 percent just let it run its course.
C
HRISTMAS
O
NCE UPON A
time, some two thousand years ago, a baby was born in Bethlehem who was destined to change the history of the world and the hearts and souls of millions of people across the world.
I’ve always liked the fact that apostles Luke and Matthew, and everyone else since then, have made so much of this birth. They didn’t have to. Most other religions don’t dwell on births. And, certainly, other events in Christ’s life—his crucifixion and resurrection—are far more central to Christian doctrine and mysteries, and far more revelatory.
But there you are: they and we
do
make much of it. We love it. We love the concept. We spiritually mill around his little manger, grinning from ear to ear, amazed at the miracle of babies in general and of Christ’s life in particular. We don’t much think about the passion to come. These days we don’t much fast or tuck ourselves away in solitary prayer and reflection. Nope, it’s a community thing. Imagine: a serious holiday, anchored in a profound mystery, that absolutely requires unbridled smiling, generosity, and “good will towards men.”
So we go to church and festivals together. Sing carols together, even just walking down the street. Exchange Christmas cards. Give gifts to one another, often going overboard in the spirit of the Wise Men. We party, eat, and drink with abandon when we can, and we sit down to traditional meals on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day—and we eat soup.
OLIVIA
CHRISTMAS CHICKEN SOUP
PICANA DE POLLO PARA
N
AVIDAD
Serves 6 to 8
T
ASTY AND FILLING
, this traditional soup is just the thing to pump you up after the traditional fasting on Christmas Eve, and to fuel hours of dancing into the night to celebrate the birth of Jesus—and life and love in general.
1 bay leaf
1 (3-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup shelled fresh or frozen green peas
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup peeled and minced ripe or canned tomatoes
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks with leaves, minced
½ cup raisins, plumped in hot water for 5 minutes, then drained
1 hot chile pepper, seeded and chopped
¼ cup finely minced fresh parsley
6 to 8 whole potatoes, peeled (1 per person)
12 to 16 (1-inch-thick) slices fresh corn on the cob (2 per person)
2 cups water
2 cups dry white wine
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled between your palms
1 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt
O
P
REPARE
1. Prep the ingredients as directed in the recipe list.
O
C
OOK
1. In a large, heavy Dutch oven, layer the ingredients, beginning with the bay leaf, then the chicken on the bottom, then the
peas, onion, tomatoes, carrots, celery, raisins, chile, and parsley. Put the whole potatoes on top, then the slices of corn. Mix the water, wine, herbs, and seasonings, and pour over the ingredients.
2. Place the Dutch oven on a burner and bring the soup to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest heat, seal the pot with aluminum foil, and top with the cover. Simmer for 2 to 3 hours.
O
S
ERVE
Pluck the corn and potatoes off the top of the casserole and reserve. Ladle a chicken piece into each soup bowl with a generous ladleful of vegetables and broth. Then top each portion with one whole potato and two pieces of corn. Finally, evenly distribute the remaining soup among the bowls. Discard the bay leaf. Serve immediately.
C
HRISTMAS
S
OUP AT THE
B
EAUTY
S
HOP
There I was, fingers dipped in a manicure bowl in Falls Church, Virginia, when Christina, originally from Oruru, Bolivia, told me all about this rich and chunky soup. A petite and dramatically beautiful woman with sharp features and honey-colored eyes, a stylish dresser with brilliant clothes and small, rich jewelry, she came to the United States when she was twenty years old with her six-year-old daughter. A perfectionist, she loves to cook, especially breads and pastry, everything from scratch. Now married to a man originally from Mexico, she still likes to cook the traditional Bolivian soups,
chanko
best of all—a heavy meat and potato soup. “In Bolivia,” she says, “we like meat the best. Meat and potatoes.”
But she has a special spot in her heart for Bolivia’s traditional Christmas soup, for sentimental reasons. “You go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve, then come home, open Champagne, hug all the little children and open presents, then sit down to a big bowl of
picana
to eat while you drink the Champagne. Then the best part—turning on the music and dancing.” “You start dancing at 2 o’clock in the morning on Christmas?” I ask in disbelief. She shrugs. “Dancing, always, always—we love to dance. Dancing until dawn, so many times.”
