The Three Opportunities: You can dictate the character of your soup by how you decide to start cooking it.

 

1. Bold and sturdy flavors come from starting the soup by fast-browning the onions and some of the vegetables in good tasting fat over medium-high heat.

 

2. Mellow flavors are achieved with slow-stewing onions and key ingredients, like herbs, in a little fat in a covered pot over low heat.

 

3. Clear, true flavors come from simmering everything in liquid with no pre-sautés.

 

Note: Wine is a powerful flavor booster because alcohol opens up flavors that neither fats nor water release. Also, red wine is high in umami, a chemical component of some foods which heightens flavors. So be generous with the wine. Use white wine in pale soups, red in dark ones, and anticipate 1/2 cup for every eight cups of liquid. Contrary to rumor, all the alcohol in wine and other spirits does not cook off.

 

A Basic Formula:

  • 2 parts onion

  • 1/2 part garlic

  • 2 parts members of cabbage family (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.)

  • 1/2 part carrot

  • 1/4 part celery with leaves

  • 1/2 part root vegetables (celery root, rutabaga, turnips, etc.)

  • 1 part leafy vegetables (salad greens, chard, kale, turnip greens, mizuna, dandelion, escarole, endive, collards, etc.)

  • 1 part dry white or red wine

  • Water as needed 


From The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift, Clarkson Potter, 2008.

Sally Swift
Sally Swift is the managing producer and co-creator of The Splendid Table. Before developing the show, she worked in film, video and television, including stints at Twin Cities Public Television, Paisley Park, and Comic Relief with Billy Crystal. She also survived a stint as segment producer on The Jenny Jones Show.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Lynne Rossetto Kasper has won numerous awards as host of The Splendid Table, including two James Beard Foundation Awards (1998, 2008) for Best National Radio Show on Food, five Clarion Awards (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014) from Women in Communication, and a Gracie Allen Award in 2000 for Best Syndicated Talk Show.