Denise at Quickies on the Dinner Table, an accomplished cookbook author, cook, and newest member of the Blogcritics family, charitably offers up another cold summer soup. I say charitably because if you read her recent blog post, The Devil, The Spice Trade, & Mr. Scoville , you would appreciate the need for something cooling. She is the queen of expressive, passionate fusion cooking. This simple and sublime dish pictured above is flawless. In this soup, yogurt is the star on the marquee. Please stick to real thing, no reduced-fat yogurt here. Actually, it is a thinned down version of Tzatziki, where mint is used in the place of dill. If Denise’s soup does not start a party in your mouth, check your pulse; you may be dead.
In mine own cauldron, I cooked up the Gandules and Asparagus soup pictured above. Gandules, or pigeon peas, are a staple of Caribbean cooking. This legume contains high levels of protein, along with amino acids. You can purchase them dried, canned, or frozen. The cooking of the soup is a bit involved, but worth the effort. First you want to create a strong flavor base of bacon, leeks, red peppers, onion, and shallots. Next we add a whole bottle of Albarino, an amazing white wine from Spain. Allow the wine to reduce until almost dry to intensify the imprint left on the soup. Add the pigeon peas and water and simmer away. I puree and strain this soup in order to achieve a truly silky, velvety mouth feel. The garnish for the soup is reserved gandules, pan-roasted asparagus tips, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Soup is an ancient food, and in my humble opinion an amazingly complex and wonderful culinary treat in a bowl. The countless different preparations and serving temperatures boggle the mind. The only limitation is the imagination and flair of the sorcerer working the cauldron.
Article comments
1 - deana
This is a great recipe and love the fond soup memories... it is a primal attachment, don't you think? Well, maybe not cold soups but surely the cauldron kind!!!
2 - Stella
I agree that learning how to make 'soups' is an important skill for any chef or cook at all. So many people struggle with a homemade soup, yet it really is the easiest things to make once one gets the hang of it.
By the way, I love your use of vocabulary here Lazaro. I especially like this word "conjure" (smile)...
3 - citronetvanille
Great article, one among many...it's an hommage to "soups" - they're one of my favorite meals, fulfilling and healthy (if you don't add too much cream) - I don't think I ever tasted gandules, nor albarino, I will look into it. Thanks so much Lazaro for featuring my gazpacho and introducing those wonderful yogurt and asparagus delights!
4 - intuitive eggplant
I'm a soup girl from way back. All of these soups look and sound heavenly! Excellent post.
5 - Chef Dennis
Great Article Lazaro! and three amazing soups!
I have never cooked Gandules, its a good day when I find food I have never seen or used!
Keep writing these articles and keep making that soup!
6 - Tanantha @ I Just Love My Apron
I could feel the aroma as you described it! Soups can be simple or complex as you wish it to be. I have soup often just to warm me up in the cold. It's just so comforting. Great pick on those 3 delicious-looking soups!
7 - denise fletcher
Nourishment is for the body, but soup is definitely for the soul! You've touched a nerve here - I have countless memories of my grandmother stirring up wondrous aromas from her battered cooking pots sitting atop our trusty, albeit sooty, kerosene stove. It was always something good but nothing else got me quicker into the kitchen then the beckoning smells of my favourite soups! I love your soup recipe - pigeon peas are so new to me and including Albarino is a stroke of genius. Of course it only happens to be one of my very favourite white wines!
So simple yet potentially so sublime - I think soup making is an almost lost art and one that needs a revival. How very timely and persuasive your article is!!