CHAPTER 1
SOUPS AND SALADS
Soups
At one time the word "soup" was used to refer to the solid ingredients that float in a broth. It has now become more general and is used here to include a wide variety of liquid dishes. Many bear French names, such as: "potage, consommé, bouillon, velouté, bisque, potée,. ..."
Before modern refrigeration soup was prepared for the evening "supper", as a way of using up the leftovers from the midday meal. This tradition is maintained to a large extent in rural France, even to this day. In Belgium, however, soup is often on the noon menu. Although in Europe soup is usually served at the beginning of a meal, in China it is presented at the end — to fill the "interstices". Although it was basically a peasant dish and somewhat of a family symbol, soup has now become more sophisticated. A lobster bisque served in a high-class restaurant is quite different from the home-made dishes improvised from leftovers — but not necessarily better.
Soups are often characteristic of a country or a region. In the following paragraphs you will find brief descriptions of a number of them — many of which I have enjoyed in my travels. I have not specified ingredients or quantities, so as to encourage the home cook to try, taste, and improvise.
Borscht
This is the famous red beet soup, presumably of Russian-Jewish origin. To make it, you have to start with raw beets. In France they are very difficult to find unless you go to a farm where they are grown, as the French insist on cooking the beets before sending them to market! Assuming that you have raw beets, cut them very fine — or better, grate them. This way they have more surface and will allow the bright red dye (anthrocyanine) to pass into the cooking water. The beets are simmered for an hour in beef broth (bouillon) to which has been added onions, salt, pepper — and sometimes a little tomato paste and a bit of sugar. This soup can be served either hot or cold and is traditionally topped with sour cream. Some cooks add a bit of lemon juice for flavor, but the citric acid tends to make the beautiful red color somewhat paler.
There are many variations of borscht depending on the country that has borrowed it. In the Swedish version ("rödbetssöppa") butter and flour — and a glass of sweet wine! — are added to the beet-bouillon mixture. The soup is garnished with sliced sausage of the Frankfurter type. A Spanish version is flavored with cumin and topped with sliced flat parsley and garlic-flavored yogurt instead of sour cream.
Bouillon
The word "bouillon" usually refers to the broth or "juice" resulting from the cooking of vegetables, meat, fish etc. However, in the North of France it often means the ensemble of various vegetables, as well as the liquid. In the Southwest it is the custom to eat first the meat and vegetables that are floating in the soup and then add wine (red, of course) to the remaining bouillon before drinking it from the bowl. The expression for this procedure is "faire chabrot" (or "chabrol"), as illustrated on the previous page.
Clam chowder
The word "chowder" is probably a deformation of the word "chaudrée", from old French, and thus employed in Québec. It was the soup prepared in the cauldron ("chaudron") that hung in the fireplace. This soup is the all-time American favorite and the origin of the name of our old student eating establishment. It exists in two different regional forms: New England and Manhattan. To make either one you must of course have some clams — although not necessarily, as described below. If you have fresh clams, you can proceed as indicated in the chapter on seafood. The water used for steaming is saved as the stock for the soup. If you use canned clams, be sure to save the liquid. Unless they are quite small, the clams are usually cut in several pieces. In North America canned clam juice is also available to increase the amount of stock, if necessary, although it is quite salty.
To prepare either variety, fry bacon or other salted pork bits and place on paper towels to remove excess fat. Fry chopped onions lightly in the same frying pan. Now decide which style you want to make. The New England version employs milk, while in New York tomato juice with some mashed pulp (as from the can) is the basic liquid. Peeled, diced potatoes are now added to the appropriate seasoned liquid and cooked until tender. Some cream and a bit of butter are usually added to the New England chowder, although seasoning with thyme is more appropriate for the "tomatoy" version.
The dispute between New Englanders and New Yorkers has been going on for a long time. It is the question of milk vs. tomato juice in clam chowder. I am told that in the state of Maine a law was once passed that prohibited the use of the tomato in any product called "clam chowder"!
In New England and Eastern Canada, cod or other white fish in small pieces sometimes replaces clams — yielding "fish chowder". If canned corn "niblets" with the juice are substituted for clams, it is known as "corn chowder".
Consommé
This term is usually used to describe a meat or fish bouillon that becomes quite clear on long cooking, or that has been clarified. If you need a consommé, the easiest way to go is to open one of those red-and-white cans. However, you can do better. Once you have prepared a bouillon by long cooking meat or fish, with appropriate vegetables and seasoning, it can be clarified to produce a consommé. The traditional method is to use egg whites. The lightly beaten egg whites are stirred into the lukewarm bouillon, which is allowed to stand for an hour or so. It is then poured through a cloth that has been soaked in cold water. You can do essentially the same thing with the aid of the refrigerator. Put the bouillon in it for the night. The next day lift off and discard the solid grease layer and filter the liquid through a fine sieve or cloth. The result may be less elegant, but it is certainly quite acceptable.
Consommé with shrimp
This Japanese soup ("ebi no sumashi-jiru") is a marvelous delicacy. It brings back memories of the Chowder House and prompts me to tell you the story of one of my many friends there. He was a Niseï, born in California of Japanese parents. As a small boy, he was sent alone by ship to meet his grandparents in Japan. It was in the Fall of 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he was forced to stay in Japan, where he learned the language and culture of the country. With the American occupation he returned to the United States to find his parents and to study chemistry. He made numerous contributions to the varied cuisine of the Chowder House, including this soup.
The traditional clear bouillon is made from dried tuna fish and algae. Although an instant form of this basic stock is available in Asiatic grocery stores, you will probably use fish...
