Just picking up on your point about soups and restaurants.I have just had Prato do dia lunch in my favourite Wrexham Portuguese cafe ,Vasco da Gama.Soup is always the starter,watercress today ,then Octopus,prawn and clam rice, arroz doce for dessert with a great coffee.£14.Fresh cooked food,wonderful value.Obrigado.When I visit my son in London, the prices make me heave!
I am still boggling that you have a favourite Portuguese restaurant in Wrexham. Is there really more than one? I can’t think of a single Portuguese restaurant in the whole of Cornwall! Which to judge by your descriptions of their food is a real shame.
We also have a Jay Rayne (Observer) recommended Portuguese restaurant called Lisbon Tapas which offers superb genuine Portuguese dishes.All a welcome development of Wrexham since the Hollywood sponsorship of Wrexham Football Club.
A Celebration of Soup, Lindsey Barehams's 1993 opus is my go to soup encyclopedia. It remains as relevant today, and is as accurate as it is inspiring.
I absolutely love chunky soups and they feature a lot at this time of year....in fact probably any time from late September to Easter ish.. I just cannot bring myself to like cold soup.....one of our local restaurants serves a chilled water melon & tomato soup with a dollop of milk ice cream on top. It makes a lovely refreshing end to a meal if I tell myself it's dessert, but I can't bring myself to order it as an aperitivo 😂😂
A chunky borscht all the way, heavy on the caraway. In the summer I'll make chilled pink soup, discovered last year in the Baltics, it's everywhere, and easily made with kefir or buttermilk and lots of dill. Or as I make it, magenta soup. It's taken over from gazpacho as my go to hot weather meal. But right now, it's cold and dark and the beetroot is calling.
Yes, I think that part of Europe gets cold soup right - or as right as it can be. I'm less of a fan except on the hottest of days though Olia Hercules has some lovely recipes in her book Summer KItchens
The very best borscht I have ever had was in a sports bar in Budapest. It was warm and smooth, extremely tasty, and just slipped down on a cold December day. I have tried very hard to replicate it but with no success.
Moosewood Daily Special is one of my favorites. Maybe Caribbean sweet potato left chunky. Or perhaps Creamless Broccoli. I love the recommendations for soap and salad combos. And I adore the lemon tahini salad dressing/ vegetable dip/ sandwich layer.
I used to love Douglas Rodriguez's Latin Ladles, and the congee inspo in Edward Lee's Smoke & Pickles. Soups are the main area I fridge-raid and freestyle rather than go to books but I'm now constantly looking for better bean/lentil soup ideas.
It’s boring but I love a chunky potato and leek soup with added carrot chunks and loads of black pepper and rosemary. Simple but satisfying. Soups are so comforting in the cold weather, I love them.
I know without looking that my most used soup recipe is Delia’s leek and potato from her Complete Cookery Course which was a real favourite of my late husband’s and one of the first soups I learnt to make.
I don’t need to look at the recipe any longer (and tweak it frequently, most recently by whisking left over mashed potato into it as there was no other potato in the house) but I know exactly where it is in the book which is at least 40 years old (my battered and bruised copy is a 1983 reprint).
Love the soup challenging having just made "rishta" ! It's a Lebanese/Palestinian/Syrian/Iranian lentil soup with pasta (and coriander and garlic). Made using the help of Claudia Roden's A New Book of Middle Eastern Food (1985). She tells us that "rishta" appears in early Arab manuscripts and comes from the Persian word for “thread”. In Lebanon a dough is made from flour and water. Extremely thin ribbon-like strips are cut and added just before the lentils are served. Tagliatelle is a quicker, less poetic, alternative.
Wow! I was so keen on the sound of that I went off to look for my New Book of Middle Eastern Food which was nowhere to be found. Must have lent it at some point and never got it back. Absolutely essential core cookbook so I may have to replace it!
Just picking up on your point about soups and restaurants.I have just had Prato do dia lunch in my favourite Wrexham Portuguese cafe ,Vasco da Gama.Soup is always the starter,watercress today ,then Octopus,prawn and clam rice, arroz doce for dessert with a great coffee.£14.Fresh cooked food,wonderful value.Obrigado.When I visit my son in London, the prices make me heave!
That sounds an amazing place. They don't have anything like that in Bristol, either!
I am still boggling that you have a favourite Portuguese restaurant in Wrexham. Is there really more than one? I can’t think of a single Portuguese restaurant in the whole of Cornwall! Which to judge by your descriptions of their food is a real shame.
We also have a Jay Rayne (Observer) recommended Portuguese restaurant called Lisbon Tapas which offers superb genuine Portuguese dishes.All a welcome development of Wrexham since the Hollywood sponsorship of Wrexham Football Club.
A Celebration of Soup, Lindsey Barehams's 1993 opus is my go to soup encyclopedia. It remains as relevant today, and is as accurate as it is inspiring.
I've got that too, Martin, but more often turn to Hannah Wright. Guess that's exactly what well-loved cookbook means!
I am keenly awaiting the arrival of a copy that I have just purchased . Chez nous it is the season for soups.
I was very touched by your kind words about Hannah Wright and your ability to bring the word fart into the post. Keep it up!
I try and be eclectic 😉
I absolutely love chunky soups and they feature a lot at this time of year....in fact probably any time from late September to Easter ish.. I just cannot bring myself to like cold soup.....one of our local restaurants serves a chilled water melon & tomato soup with a dollop of milk ice cream on top. It makes a lovely refreshing end to a meal if I tell myself it's dessert, but I can't bring myself to order it as an aperitivo 😂😂
I'm 💯 with you there, gazpacho perhaps excepted but the weather has to be right!
A chunky borscht all the way, heavy on the caraway. In the summer I'll make chilled pink soup, discovered last year in the Baltics, it's everywhere, and easily made with kefir or buttermilk and lots of dill. Or as I make it, magenta soup. It's taken over from gazpacho as my go to hot weather meal. But right now, it's cold and dark and the beetroot is calling.
Yes, I think that part of Europe gets cold soup right - or as right as it can be. I'm less of a fan except on the hottest of days though Olia Hercules has some lovely recipes in her book Summer KItchens
The very best borscht I have ever had was in a sports bar in Budapest. It was warm and smooth, extremely tasty, and just slipped down on a cold December day. I have tried very hard to replicate it but with no success.
Well do try the carrot borscht which might not be orthodox but it is delicious!
Thanks! I just read the recipe which looks great so thanks for the tip.
Moosewood Daily Special is one of my favorites. Maybe Caribbean sweet potato left chunky. Or perhaps Creamless Broccoli. I love the recommendations for soap and salad combos. And I adore the lemon tahini salad dressing/ vegetable dip/ sandwich layer.
I’ve never owned that book but agree a Caribbean sweet potato soup is ace. Will look out for a second hand copy
I used to love Douglas Rodriguez's Latin Ladles, and the congee inspo in Edward Lee's Smoke & Pickles. Soups are the main area I fridge-raid and freestyle rather than go to books but I'm now constantly looking for better bean/lentil soup ideas.
Latin America should certainly be a good hunting ground. I had some great soups in Mexico last year
It’s boring but I love a chunky potato and leek soup with added carrot chunks and loads of black pepper and rosemary. Simple but satisfying. Soups are so comforting in the cold weather, I love them.
Honestly not boring at all - at least I don't think so. It was basically the soup I made with the turkey carcass! https://fionabeckett.substack.com/p/the-friday-5-123
Love the sound of the carrot borscht!
Do try it!
It’s summer where I am so good carrots are a bit of a wait away (even if we do currently have soup weather), but I’ll definitely bookmark it.
I know without looking that my most used soup recipe is Delia’s leek and potato from her Complete Cookery Course which was a real favourite of my late husband’s and one of the first soups I learnt to make.
I don’t need to look at the recipe any longer (and tweak it frequently, most recently by whisking left over mashed potato into it as there was no other potato in the house) but I know exactly where it is in the book which is at least 40 years old (my battered and bruised copy is a 1983 reprint).
Thanks for reviving some lovely memories for me.
It was probably the version I made too given the Complete Cookery Course was my bible at the time!
Love the soup challenging having just made "rishta" ! It's a Lebanese/Palestinian/Syrian/Iranian lentil soup with pasta (and coriander and garlic). Made using the help of Claudia Roden's A New Book of Middle Eastern Food (1985). She tells us that "rishta" appears in early Arab manuscripts and comes from the Persian word for “thread”. In Lebanon a dough is made from flour and water. Extremely thin ribbon-like strips are cut and added just before the lentils are served. Tagliatelle is a quicker, less poetic, alternative.
Wow! I was so keen on the sound of that I went off to look for my New Book of Middle Eastern Food which was nowhere to be found. Must have lent it at some point and never got it back. Absolutely essential core cookbook so I may have to replace it!
That’s sad - it’s such a great read! But if soup is what you need we’ve added a Lebanese version on our website (in the event of not finding a copy!!)
Moro’s chestnut and chorizo soup is my go to on chilly days. So delicious and feels like a full meal, also easy to adjust for vegetarians.
Haven't tried that but so many good recipes in that book!
The lentil soup from the original Moro cookbook is just gorgeous