Edible Expert - When Less is More
WHEN LESS IS MORE: SIMPLE SOUPS
Written by Monique Siu and Kevin Gibson
Photo by Christine Hyatt
For Fall 2007
The comforting nature of soup is universal. All cultures have their own curative and restorative soups. For us, the comforting soups of childhood were Campbell’s Tomato or Chicken Noodle, and congee with beef, ginger and preserved vegetables. Reminiscing about the many wonderful soups we have eaten, we remember ones of great refinement and sophistication, and also deeply satisfying rustic ones.
Some soups are the prelude to a serious dinner; others a make-do, Sunday night one-dish meal. The Soupe au Pistou is a celebration of the season, with a profusion of ripe, seasonal vegetables. Still others are hearty winter meals of dried beans, lentils or split peas, or steaming bowls of broth packed with wontons and noodles.
We have often been inspired by the soups in France, where they are a traditional first course. The French love their soup! The most amazing French soups we have had were also the simplest. A puréed pumpkin soup at Violon d’Ingres in Paris tasted of pure pumpkin and was simply garnished with tiny buttery croutons and squares of Gruyère. At Hiramatsu we dined on a delicate broth poured over rare, thinly sliced breast of squab. A simple leek and potato soup with chunks of Gruyère was served at the start of every family dinner cooked by Aunt Melanie.
At Castagna, we are particularly fond of puréed soups of single vegetables. We feel that food should taste of what it is—an idea so simple and basic, many fail to realize its importance. We love the excitement of waiting for each vegetable to come into season and then into abundance. Waiting means that we are eating each vegetable when its flavor is at its best: the asparagus and nettles in early spring followed by the pristine and beautiful white cauliflowers. In summer, we love cold cucumber and tomato soups. By fall, we can’t wait for squash, pumpkins, carrots and celery root.
Simple soups prepared using whole, local and seasonal ingredients embodies our entire food philosophy.
Honoring this food aesthetic—cuisine based on local, seasonal ingredients—is not the property of chefs or the elite. Eating this way is available to everyone—especially here in Portland with our long growing season and our wonderful farmers’ markets. You don’t need complicated stocks, extravagant amounts of cream and butter, or expensive ingredients to make exquisite soups. In fact, stock and cream get in the way of a pure, fresh taste. You only need water and, of course, great vegetables.
Although we focus on the flavor of the individual vegetable, we love to vary our soups with garnishes—the garnish adds the spark. Use garnish to create a contrast in textures or flavors, like crisp croutons or pungent fresh herbs. Add a foil of richness by garnishing with crème fraîche and caviar stirred into a smooth cauliflower soup. Enhance the soup’s flavor with a hint of salt from crisp duck cracklings, or with spicy, seared shrimp that contrasts with the sweetness of carrots.
Extraordinary culinary skills are not required in making great soup. Anyone can do it. The great chef Fernand Point was right when he said, “Good cooking is lots of little things done well.”
Monique Siu & Kevin Gibson are owners of Castagna and Café Castagna in Portland.
