How to Turn Your Good Soup Into Something Glorious
A top chef let me in on this trick and science agreed with him
I never use a recipe to make soup.
Take an onion, a carrot and a leek — or use whatever veg you have left over and turn it into a bowl that will delight your taste buds and make you grateful to be alive.
You don’t need a recipe. This is a simple method of making soup that will always deserve the approving accolades it attracts.
But don’t take my word on it.
My colleague, Ros, used to bring in homemade soup for lunch and I used to bring in mine. One day we were extolling the virtues of our respective soup-making wizardry — so we swapped bowls.
Ros made a mean soup. She salted and peppered it well, filled it with chunky veg and I’d happily sup a bowl for lunch — but if I had the choice, I’d still eat mine. Ros enjoyed my broth. “Delicious, but maybe a bit too rich for my palette,” she said.
Okay…
It was enough to kick off our competition. We had a blind tasting. Once a week we fed the office troops. They would get half a bowl of her soup and half a bowl of mine, then they’d vote on which soup they preferred.
We did this for three years. Many faces spooned our offerings. Many tongues savoured our broths.
We made a hundred soups. Often we challenged each other to make the same soup; one week it was pea & ham, the next it was chicken testicle, and mushroom madness the week after.
And in all those flavour jousts, most of the troops voted in my favour. As much as they enjoyed her soup, they thought mine better. I lost only once.
Ros was gracious in defeat, and I was a courteous victor. We both enjoyed putting a smile on the faces of the workers.
It wasn’t until my last day Ros plucked up the courage to ask, “What’s your secret?”
“I’m a descendant of Tonto McTavish,” I said, “The great bank robber.”
“No, I mean your soup.”
“I learned the secret from a top chef.”
It’s simple.
Take a big glug of extra virgin olive oil and fry your veg for two minutes in the pot first. Add your salt and pepper when it is frying. This enhances the flavour and you won’t need as much seasoning. Only then should you add your stock.
You can turn any veg you like into a tremendous taste fest using this method — I often use up whatever we have left in the fridge.
There is some science behind this
Fat can create unique textures that appeal to our many senses.
People used to think that the preference for fatty foods was based solely on their smell and texture. Newer research suggests that we have receptors specifically for fat. This would make ‘fatty’ the sixth basic taste.
Scientists have discovered a specific receptor that responds to linoleic acid, which is part of many triglycerides found in natural fats.
There are many building blocks of flavour. Taste receptors, volatiles, and gustatory cortex are all involved and when you look for the ideal combination, fat plays an important part.
A throwback to our suckling days, perhaps?
Breast milk is 87% water. The remaining combinations of ingredients are fat (3.8%) fat, protein (1%), lactose (7%), and 1.2% other motherly goodness.
The fat and lactose, respectively, provide 50% and 40% of the total energy of the milk.
If you can replicate the combination of good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) and sugar (lactose) in your soup — you might just be on to a winner, too.
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