Simply soup-er

Sue Lawrence takes you to her traditional kitchen to enjoy three old-style Scottish broths

There is a charming paragraph in the legendary Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking where she describes her first soup-making experience. She had been advised by the gastronomic authority among her contemporaries to take almost everything in the larder, including the remains of the salad, tip it into a pan with some water and, in due course, some soup would emerge. Since the salad remains included pickled herring, the resulting taste must have been unforgettably grim. She soon realised that the soup-pot cannot be treated like a dustbin.

And, although there are many excellent cooks who, when asked what exactly went into their delicious soup, say, a handful of this, a dash of that, it is perhaps a good idea – certainly for first-timers – to follow the basic guidelines of a recipe. Some vegetables are far more watery than you might think and you end up with thin gruel. Add insufficient liquid to dried beans and pulses and you will have a mixture so thick you can use it to to cement bricks.

Given the choice, however, I would always opt for thick and chunky, a soup with plenty of body. I find thin soups – even the best consommés – just a little too samey, whereas in a hearty soup there is a cornucopia of beans, barley, pasta, rice or vegetables to wade through. Having said that, there are times when a thinner variety is required – at the start of a nine course banquet or on a hot summer's day, when a smooth, preferably chilled soup is ideal. Although I confess ...

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• By : Sue Lawrence
• In : Food
• Issue : 1
• Page : 54
• Words : 994