Author Archives: etracy93

food history, recipes, turkish cuisine

Even More Walnuts: Cerkez Tavugu (Turkish chicken with walnut sauce)

            This dish’s name, Cerkez tavugu, literally translates to “Circassian chicken.” Supposedly, the combination of shredded chicken in a creamy walnut sauce originated in Circassia, a region east of the Black Sea and just north of the Caucasus Mountains. Now part of Russia, Circassia was controlled by the Ottoman Empire for much of the Early Modern Era. During those centuries, the recipe was carried around the empire, hence the Turkish name and similarities to Greek skordalia and Balkan scordolea.

            The primary difference between the sauce for Circassian chicken and walnut scordolea is in the flavoring. Both use garlic, but the Turkish version replaces some of it with onion and seasons the dish with paprika. Traditionally, hot paprika is used, but I use sweet paprika and cayenne pepper to better control the heat. That ensures plenty of paprika flavor, with exactly as much bite as desired.

            Paprika, a blend of dried ground peppers, may have reached Turkey in two ways. From 1519 to 1556, Spain, much of the Low Countries, Naples, Sicily, part of Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary were all part of the empire of Charles V. Sweet and hot peppers might have been brought to Europe by the Spanish, who spread them across the Habsburg Empire. On their eastern frontier, Charles V, his brother Ferdinand I, and their descendants fought the Ottomans off and on for centuries. As the frontier shifted back and forth, peppers and paprika may have entered the Ottoman Empire via Hungary.

            Another possibility is that the Portuguese acquired peppers on their own voyages of exploration or from the Spanish. From there, peppers could be introduced across their vast trade network around the coasts of Africa, India, and into Indonesia and Malaysia. Unlike Europeans, who looked at hot peppers and mostly shrugged, Africans and Asians went crazy for them. Once chili peppers were introduced to Africa, they could have reached the Ottoman Empire through their holdings in Egypt and the North African coast.

            Regardless of how it got to Turkey, paprika and cayenne pepper make for an amazing sauce with an evolving flavor. When you first take a bite, it tastes slightly sweet. Then it’s sour and creamy, followed by a spicy finish.

            Ingredients:

  • 2 chicken breasts, ideally bone-in skin-on
  • A few pieces onion, carrot, and celery
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 2 slices good-quality bakery white bread, crusts removed
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled, crushed with the side of a knife, and coarsely chopped
  • ¼ cup chopped onion
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp sweet paprika (make sure it’s fresh), plus extra to garnish
  • ½ to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Chopped parsley, for garnish

            Directions:

  1. Slow cook the chicken with the onion, carrot, celery, a pinch of salt, and just enough water to cover. In a slow cooker, it typically takes about 4 hours on high or 6 on low.
  2. Remove the skin and bones from cooked chicken and shred the meat, either with two forks or clean hands. Cool completely.
  3. Place bread in a bowl, drizzle with milk, and let rest while you toast the walnuts.
  4. Heat the walnuts over medium heat in a skillet, shaking pan occasionally, until they smell toasty. Watch carefully, this only takes a few minutes.
  5. Place the toasted nuts into a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the bread and any extra milk, the garlic, onion, and a little salt. Process until smooth and blended.
  6. Add the lemon juice, paprika, and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper and process again. Taste for salt and cayenne, adding more if desired. This usually has a kick but is not overly spicy.
  7. With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the processor’s feed tube.
  8. Slowly add ½ cup water, mixing until incorporated. The sauce should have a thick, creamy texture.
  9. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, add the shredded chicken, and toss to combine. Garnish with additional paprika and chopped parsley.

Soon it will be time for apple and pumpkin dishes! For free recipes and posts sent straight to your inbox, make sure to subscribe.

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french cuisine, recipes, vegetarian

French Meze/Tapa: Green Lentil Salad

            Lentils are an excellent source of plant-based protein and full of vitamins. Besides soup, some varieties make excellent salads. Green lentils are particularly good for this, since they hold their shape the best. Common brown lentils will also work. Yellow or red lentils fall apart when cooked, and are better in dal or as a thickener for curries.

            Green lentils are most associated with France, where a particularly fine variety grows in the volcanic soil of the south-central Auvergne region. In 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die, Mimi Sheraton suggests trying the authentic lentilles de puy. These are dark green, speckled, and smaller than regular lentils. The genuine article is rather pricey, but I found French-style green lentils at Woodman’s and decided to give them a try.

            They were amazing. Somehow, the green lentils tasted vaguely like sausage, peppery with a suggestion of sage, even though none of those ingredients were present. Naturally, they would make an excellent vegetarian main course. Not only are they delicious, but I was able to make a few salads with multiple servings in each from one affordable bag.

            The bag had a recipe for French-style warm lentil salad, which I’m sure would be great during the winter with mashed potatoes and/or a pork chop. For summer meze, I created my own simple recipe, dressed with vinegar and oil and flavored with onions. It can be enjoyed warm, room temperature, or cold.

            If you can’t find green French-style lentils by the dried beans and peas, look in the health food section. Bob’s Red Mill is the most common brand, and is what I used. They also carry specialty grains like bulgur, buckwheat, rice flour, and so on.

            Ingredients:

  • 1 cup green lentils
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¼ red onion, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

            Directions:

  1. Cook and drain the lentils according to package directions, adding a pinch of salt and the bay leaves to the water. Cool slightly.
  2. Toss the cooked lentils with the onion, oil, and vinegar. Taste for salt, and add pepper if desired.
  3. Let rest for at least an hour before serving for flavors to meld.

Next time, I’ll post another meze recipe, for chicken with walnut sauce.

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Summer meze
food history, middle eastern cuisine, recipes, summer, Uncategorized, vegetarian

Assorted Meze: Perfect Appetizers/Sides for a Barbecue

This spread is way easier than it looks

Menu: Hummus, Tahini Dip, Tomato Salad, Cucumber Salad, French-Style Lentil Salad, Turkish-Style Chicken with Walnut Sauce (last two recipes in subsequent posts)

            Just as Spain has tapas and Italy has antipasti, Greece and the Middle East have meze. Reading through Mimi Sheraton’s description of the different varieties in 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die (on pages 498 – 500), it became abundantly clear they would be perfect for entertaining a crowd, particularly during the summer. Most of the common varieties are served cold or at room temperature, and so could be made ahead. Only a few need last minute cooking, and many require no cooking at all. For a barbecue, meze would be ideal to either nibble before the other food comes off the grill or to serve alongside the main dishes.

            Because meze are traditional over such a large area, with diverse landscapes, climates, and traditions, the variety is endless. Common options include olives, vegetable and legume salads, sausages, various dips like hummus or baba ghanoush, fish, stuffed grape leaves, fried items, tabbouleh, and phyllo pastry turnovers, alongside more local specialties. A large proportion of meze are flavored with lemon, garlic, olive oil, or fresh herbs.

            Meze usually serve as a leisurely meal on their own, so having a variety with some substantial dishes is important. So is plenty of pita bread. For a representative summer/early fall selection, I chose hummus (a classic and always a favorite), tahini dip (interesting on its own), tomato, cucumber, and lentil salads, and Cerkez tavugu (Turkish chicken with walnut sauce). As long as you have a food processor, this entire menu is easy to put together. It’s a good idea to make the hummus, tahini dip, lentil salad, and chicken dish a day ahead to allow time for flavors to meld.

To make hummus:

            Across the Middle East, hummus is frequently eaten as a main dish with pita bread. The idea makes perfect sense. Historically, people got much more protein from legumes like chickpeas than from meat. Comparatively speaking, the chickpeas and flavorings were relatively affordable staples. True connoisseurs say that the best hummus is made with a mortar and pestle, with dried chickpeas, but to save time, canned chickpeas and a food processor make a delicious, protein and vitamin-packed snack or meal.

            Ingredients:

  • 1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans (about 15.5 ounces), drained
  • 4 cloves garlic (peeled, crushed with the side of a knife, and roughly chopped
  • ½ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
  • Juice of ½ to 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup olive oil, plus more to drizzle if desired
  • Chopped parsley to garnish, if desired
  • Pita bread and/or vegetables, for serving

            Directions:

  1. Combine the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, and juice of ½ lemon in the bowl of a food processor with a pinch of salt. Process to make a thick, slightly gritty paste, scraping bowl as necessary.
  2. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil through the feed tube. Once the oil is incorporated, taste for salt and lemon, adding more if necessary.
  3. Add water to thin hummus to the desired consistency. ¼ cup produces a thick paste, for a thinner paste, use ½ cup.
  4. Spoon hummus into a bowl. If desired, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with parsley, olives, roasted peppers, etc. (In the Middle East, pomegranate seeds are a popular garnish).
  5. Serve with pita bread and/or vegetables for dipping.

To make tahini dip:

            Tahini actually makes a fascinating, although distinctly bitter, dip on its own. Personally I prefer it sweetened for halva or used for hummus, but the bittersweet flavor is beloved across the Middle East. Here its flavor is further enhanced with garlic, salt, and lemon juice. All you have to do is crush 1 garlic clove with ¼ teaspoon salt in a mortar and pestle until it becomes a sticky paste. Stir the garlic paste into ½ cup of tahini, and mix in 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 2 tablespoons water. The paste will appear to “seize,” just keep stirring to smooth it out. Don’t add more water, which will make the oil separate out. Place in a bowl and serve with pita bread and/or vegetables (during the late summer and early fall, fresh carrots are particularly tasty).

Cucumber salad: refreshing and pretty
Tomatoes and parsley came from my own plants

To make tomato salad:

            First, make sure you have fresh seasonal tomatoes. If so, cut them into chunks or thin slices, place on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with chopped parsley for a beautiful red and green effect. (If tomatoes aren’t in season, choose a different meze dish for the best flavor.)

To make cucumber salad:

            Cucumbers, with their mild flavor and high water content, are quite refreshing, which reminds me of a story I heard recently. During the early centuries AD, Christian ascetics competed with each other, seeing who could eat the least food, go the longest without sleep, and so on. This was particularly common in the deserts of Egypt and Syria. In one instance, an ascetic tested his resolve by sitting in the hot sun with a cucumber and seeing how long he could go without eating it. He lasted for several days (presumably he had some water), at which point I shudder to think of the condition of the cucumber.

            For a better-tasting salad, use 2 large or 4 small cucumbers. Peel them if desired, and slice thinly. Toss with ¼ red onion, also thinly sliced, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar, and a few finely chopped mint leaves. If desired, add a few crumbles of feta cheese.

            Another common way to prepare cucumbers for meze is to combine with yogurt. Next time, I’ll have a recipe for green lentil salad, so be sure to subscribe.

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Scordolea - Balkan creamy walnut sauce
food history, recipes, sauce, vegetarian

Walnuts, Two Ways, Version 2: Scordolea (walnut sauce for cold chicken)

Scordolea, on cold chicken and sauteed zucchini

            When we left off with the history of the Balkans at the end of the 5th Century AD, most of the region was secure under the Eastern Roman Empire. The Huns vanished from history shortly after Attila’s death in 453, and the Germanic confederations had moved into the former Western Roman Empire. Meanwhile, the Eastern Empire became increasingly Greek. Justinian I was the last emperor to speak Latin and seriously attempt to reconquer the West, so after his death in 565, most scholars call the empire Byzantine, even though the term wasn’t used at the time. War against the Vandals in North Africa, Ostrogoths in Italy, Visigoths in Spain, and Persian Sassanids in Syria didn’t affect the Byzantine territory in the Balkans much. Even the Arab conquests of the 7th Century, which essentially cut imperial territory in half, were far away in Syria and Egypt.

            Pulling troops away to fight on the frontiers left the Balkans vulnerable, and in the 8th and 9th Centuries, new groups of peoples moved in, including nomadic Avars, Magyars, and Bulgars. Magyars settled in the Carpathian Basin and became Hungarian, while the Bulgars settled north and east of Greece. Eventually they adopted the language and customs of another new group, the Slavs, and became Bulgarian. Even Vikings made their way down the rivers of Eastern Europe to trade in Constantinople, though they didn’t stay.

            By 1000 AD, the Balkans were home to Greeks, Romanians (who continued to speak a language descended from Latin), Albanians, Hungarians, and Slavic-speaking Croatians, Bosnians, Serbians, and Bulgarians. Residents traded and exchanged ideas with Italian and German merchants. Over the next few centuries, Byzantine control weakened, particularly as most of their territory in modern Turkey was seized by the Seljuk Turks, originally from Central Asia. Hungary, Romania, and Croatia were never under Byzantine authority, and the non-Greek border regions broke away repeatedly. By the 14th Century, when the Ottoman Turks, descendants of the Seljuks, crossed the Bosporus into Europe, the Balkans was a patchwork of independent kingdoms.

            In the 1350s the Ottomans made their first incursion into Europe, gaining momentum in the 1390s. In 1453, the captured Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire. The emperor at the time, Mehmed II, was fascinated by the different lands and cultures under his control, and had a highly cosmopolitan court. He even hired Venetian painters to decorate his palaces. For the next 400 years, the Ottoman court and bureaucracy remained diverse. Among the cultural practices shared, food was one of them.

            Foods like phyllo dough and coffee were introduced by the Turks, and they loved their sweets and rosewater. Many of the dishes introduced during this time remained popular even after the Ottoman Empire declined in the 19th Century, often with a local twist. Such is the case with Scordolea. Where the walnut sauce originated is unclear, but variations were spread far and wide by the Ottomans. The main ingredients are walnuts, soaked stale bread, and garlic, usually. Occasionally, almonds replace walnuts, and in the most popular Greek version, usually spelled as skordalia, nuts are sometimes omitted and the bread replaced with potatoes.

            Getting the recipe right involved some trial and error. At first, I used too many walnuts, not enough bread, and tried to thin the paste with oil rather than water, resulting in a broken emulsion. The paste was sticky, the oil collected on top, and the standard white supermarket bread, which I thought would be neutral, gave the sauce a distinctive flavor. It’s good with barbecue, grilled cheese, peanut butter, and as French toast, but not for this. I needed an unsweetened, less “squishy” white bread. Fortunately, the grocery store bakery carries such loaves at a reasonable cost.

            The second attempt had less walnuts, more bread and milk, and I made sure to drizzle the oil in slowly while the food processor was running. This scordolea had a nice balance of walnut and garlic flavors, with a hint of lemon, though it looked like thick cream of wheat on its own. A garnish of some parsley I picked for my brother’s rabbit and forgot to send home with him improved the presentation significantly.

            Scordolea is eaten with a wide variety of foods. Since the sauce has its own strong, delicious flavor, it’s great for enhancing neutral-tasting foods, in this case, cold chicken and sauteed zucchini. Pretty much any affordable, easy-to-cook staple is transformed by scordolea. It is easy to see why Mimi Sheraton classified it as one of her 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die in the book by the same name.

            Ingredients:

  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 2 slices good-quality bakery white bread, crusts removed
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed with the side of a knife, and coarsely chopped
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • Chopped parsley, for garnish
  • Cooked chicken, seafood, vegetables, or anything else you would like to eat with the sauce

            Directions:

  1. Place the bread slices in a bowl and drizzle the milk over them. Let the milk absorb for at least 5 minutes.
  2. Place the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat. Cook, shaking pan occasionally, until the nuts smell toasty. This won’t take more than a few minutes, so watch carefully.
  3. Put the toasted nuts into the food processor, pulse a few times, then add the bread, any extra milk from the bowl, the garlic, and a pinch of salt. Process to form a smooth paste.
  4. Add the lemon juice to the walnut paste and process until blended.
  5. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil through the food processor’s feed tube to incorporate. Taste for salt, adding more if necessary.
  6. Run the motor again, and slowly add about ¼ cup water to thin the sauce. It should be on the thick side, but for a thinner sauce, slowly add more water until the desired consistency is reached.
  7. For serving, garnish the scordolea with chopped parsley. Serve with your desired protein and/or vegetables.

            And as always, subscribe for free posts and recipes, sent right to your inbox.

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Tarator - Balkan cucumber walnut dip or soup
food history, recipes, summer, vegetarian

Walnuts, Two Ways, Version 1: Tarator (Balkan walnut/cucumber soup)

Tarator, a cucumber-walnut “soup” from the Balkans

            The Balkans, or the southeastern corner of Europe south of the Danube and west of the Black Sea, has a fascinating and often tumultuous history. Fertile valleys and plains, broken up by various hills and mountains, were home to numerous ancient civilizations – Greeks, Illyrians, Dacians, Scythians, and Sarmatians. The Persian Achaemenids tried to expand their empire here just before and after 500 BC. During the 3rd Century BC, there was even a brief Celtic incursion.

            The Romans were the first outside power to conquer and hold the Balkans. From the 2nd Century BC to the 5th Century AD, they both absorbed and influenced local cultures. Wealthy Romans were fascinated by Greek civilization, and many of the non-Greeks began to speak Latin. Anyone who spoke Latin or Greek and adopted Greco-Roman customs (which fused together somewhat during this time) could become a citizen, and many of the local people did. During the later Roman Empire, two of the most influential emperors, Diocletian and Constantine the Great, came from the Balkans, probably around modern-day Serbia.

            From the 3rd Century AD onward, new waves of invaders entered the Balkans. The first were the Germanic Goths, who were eventually pushed back, but not before killing Emperor Decius in battle in 251 (Decius was also from the region, by the way). After abandoning the province of Dacia in modern-day Romania, the Romans secured the Danube frontier for another century, when various Germanic confederations pushed into the Balkans again, fleeing from the Huns. The Goths were back, accompanied by the Vandals and others.

            What happened next was complicated, but basically went as follows. The leader of the Goths, named Fritigern, asked the Romans if his people could settle in the Empire in exchange for military service. The Romans, facing manpower shortages, agreed, but then broke their word and mistreated the Goths, which led them to revolt. After they killed another emperor, named Valens, in battle in 378, the Romans eventually honored their agreement. Over the next decades, Germanic troops made up more and more of the army.

            After the Empire was divided for good in 395 AD, most of the Balkans became part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Through a combination of better leadership, greater wealth, and a shorter frontier, the Eastern Empire was able to force/bribe the Germanic groups to leave. These Goths, Vandals, etc. then headed west and dismantled the Western Roman Empire. After the Eastern Empire teamed up with the Western Empire and the Goths against the Huns in the 450s, the last “barbarian” group in the Balkans was the Ostrogoths, or Eastern Goths. The emperors sponsored sending them to Italy in the 490s to drive out the Visigoths, or Western Goths, and no Germanic confederations tried to invade the Balkans again. But that did not mean the region was safe, as I will explain in the next post.

            With so many diverse cultures coming and going, along with a favorable climate with plenty of sunshine and rain, the food in the Balkans became just as diverse. Records indicate that the Dacians grew wine grapes. The Romans, who valued fresh produce, either introduced or improved a variety of fruits and vegetables. They were known to enjoy cucumbers, which make up the base of tarator.

            In 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die on page 381, Mimi Sheraton suggests 3 ways to prepare walnuts, which have grown in the Balkans for millennia. One of those methods is an egg salad called aselila. Even with a walnut-based dressing replacing mayonnaise, the hard-boiled eggs are a non-starter for me. The walnut and cucumber mix sounds a little like tzatziki sauce, with cucumbers, yogurt, garlic, and dill. It is finished with a bit of sunflower oil and chopped walnuts. The whole idea seems a bit odd as a soup, but pretty good as a dip, so I made my recipe thicker.

            Preparation is simple. There are two tricks to get the best results. First, toss the diced or grated cucumbers with salt and let drain for an hour to remove excess moisture that might otherwise make the dip watery. Second, the garlic needs to be crushed with salt, but there is not enough of it to do so in a food processor. A mortar and pestle work best. Once this is done, combine with the yogurt and dill and let sit until the cucumbers are finished draining, so the flavors can infuse.

            Ingredients:

  • 2 large or 4 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced or grated (I like diced for more texture)
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons coarse salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed with the side of a knife, and coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup whole milk plain yogurt (doesn’t have to be Greek yogurt, just make sure not to use low-fat or fat-free)
  • A few sprigs dill, minced after removing any tough stems, or ½ teaspoon dried
  • Sunflower oil, to drizzle
  • Coarsely chopped walnuts, to garnish

            Directions:

  1. Toss the cucumbers with one teaspoon of the salt and place in a colander to drain for an hour.
  2. Place the garlic and remaining salt in the bowl of a mortar. Work with the pestle until a sticky, mostly smooth paste forms. A few lumps of garlic are fine.
  3. Combine the yogurt, garlic paste, and dill in a bowl and allow to sit until the cucumbers are finished draining. Add the cucumbers to the yogurt mixture and discard the liquid.
  4. Place the cucumber-yogurt mixture in a serving bowl. Drizzle with the sunflower oil and sprinkle liberally with the chopped walnuts.
  5. Serve the dip with pitas, other bread, or crackers.

            Tarator seems odd as a soup, but as a dip, it’s fantastic. It sort of tastes like non-sour dill pickles, but creamy. Considering that tarator uses the same flavorings of salt, garlic, and dill, it makes perfect sense. The yogurt, sunflower oil, and chopped walnuts make it more substantial, so it could almost be a hot-weather meal on its own with pitas.

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food history, french cuisine, recipes, stew, vegetarian

Ratatouille + Recipe

Ratatouille, not made by rats

            Let’s revisit another late summer dish I made last year. Ratatouille, a rustic vegetable stew hailing from the same region of Southern France as soupe au pistou, is even easier to make. Mimi Sheraton describes it as one of 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die in the book of the same name. Unlike some of the foods in the book, no travel or specially ordered ingredients are required. It’s just vegetables commonly available at the store or farmer’s market, served with bread, pasta, or alongside meat, if desired.

            Many of the same ingredients, like eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, are combined in similar ways all around the Mediterranean. One example is the Sicilian caponata, which also includes capers, vinegar, and typically celery. But you don’t have to be anywhere near the Mediterranean to enjoy ratatouille. Just make sure to make it in the summer, when the vegetables are at their best (and most affordable).

            Note that ratatouille can be baked in the oven, and many recipes use that method. I prefer the stovetop because it heats the kitchen less. Like most stews, ratatouille reheats very well, and leftovers make a great omelet filling.

            Ingredients:

  • 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes, tossed with 1 teaspoon salt, and left to sit for half an hour
  • 2 medium zucchini, sliced into roughly half-inch thick rounds
  • 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
  • 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
  • 4 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed with the edge of a knife, and minced
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 4 sprigs parsley, thick stems minced separately from leaves
  • 4 fresh basil leaves or more to taste, left whole until needed

            Directions:

  1. Combine the eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and minced parsley stems in a large pot with 2 tablespoons water.
  2. Bring to a simmer over medium low heat, then cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 to 35 minutes.
  3. Mince the basil and add to the pot with the parsley leaves. Taste for salt, adding more if necessary, then simmer for 10 more minutes.
  4. Serve the ratatouille with bread, pasta, grilled meat, or all of the above. Sprinkle with additional parsley if desired.

            Eating the ratatouille while watching the movie of the same name is encouraged. It isn’t weird, I promise. For more recipes, subscribe below for free. And if you’re feeling extra generous and would like to support my work, I would be most grateful.

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food history, french cuisine, recipes, soup, stew, vegetarian

French Summer Vegetable Soup: Soupe au Pistou

Soupe au pistou, a southern French classic

            Last summer, in my exploration of 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die by Mimi Sheraton, I made my own version of soupe au pistou, a southern French soup loaded with summer vegetables, and loved it. Now that it’s August and vegetables are at their peak, I made it again and recorded my recipe. Southern France is quite different from Paris, Normandy, Brittany, and the other northern regions, in climate, culture, and food. If a trip isn’t in the cards for the near future, some of the local cuisine will help us both imagine it. Maybe it will happen someday, but for now, think of rolling hills, olive trees, and enjoy the lack of crowds.

            Note that you can switch up the vegetables depending on what you like or have on hand. Just make sure to include tomatoes, onions, potatoes, white and green beans, pasta, and of course the pistou. Beyond that, feel free to add a sprinkle of cheese, or switch out the angel hair for other pasta, adjusting cooking time accordingly.

            Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces (about 1 ½ cups) navy or other small white beans, soaked and drained according to package directions
  • 1 onion, quartered and thinly sliced
  • 8 tablespoons (equal to ½ cup) olive oil
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • Salt
  • 6 small red or other waxy potatoes, cut into roughly ½ inch cubes
  • 2 carrots, sliced crosswise with the larger pieces cut in half
  • 2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
  • 4 ounces green beans, cut into roughly 2-inch pieces
  • 4 ounces angel hair pasta, broken into roughly 2-inch pieces
  • 4 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife blade
  • 80 fresh basil leaves, about 2 cups loose
  • Grated parmesan cheese, if desired
  • Sprig of parsley, if desired

            Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the navy beans, onion, and a pinch of salt and sauté until the onions take on some color, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring a few times, until they begin to break down.
  3. Add just enough water to cover the beans and vegetables and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook with the lid tilted for 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary.
  4. Add the potatoes, carrots, another pinch of salt, and more water to cover the new additions. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
  5. For the pistou, combine the basil, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and, if desired, a bit of parmesan and a sprig of parsley, in a food processor and blend until smooth. It won’t look like a large amount, but a little goes a long way.
  6. Test the white beans. If they are soft, add the zucchini and green beans and taste for salt, adding more if necessary.
  7. Increase the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, add the angel hair, and cook for another 3 minutes. Serve the soup with the pistou and optional cheese.

            For more seasonal, global, and historical recipes, make sure to subscribe for free. Of course, if you want to donate and buy me some virtual vegetables, I’m not about to complain.

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Calabrian cuisine - chicken, spaghetti, and zucchini
food history, italian cuisine

Cook’s Tour of Italy Menu 77 (Pgs. 238 – 241): Menu for 4, Calabrian Coast

Region: South Mainland/Islands (Calabria)

Menu: Calabrian Onion Soup with Potatoes, Skewered “Tuna” with Lemon and Oregano, Spaghetti with Garlic and Chili, Baked Zucchini with Mozzarella, Roasted Grapes with Caciocavallo

Recommended Wine: Nozze d’Oro, Sicilian white

            Here is another southern Italian menu with potatoes. As discussed before, even though bread and pasta are more widely eaten there, people living in the region do occasionally eat potatoes. Like in neighboring Basilicata, Calabria has a long history of inequality and poverty, though tourism has improved the region’s economy in recent years. Directly across the Strait of Messina from Sicily, Calabrian farmers grow many similar crops, including olives and citrus fruits. Of particular note are bergamot oranges, whose aromatic peel gives earl grey tea its distinctive flavor.

            The soup was a mix of onions, potatoes, and chicken broth, flavored with a bit of butter and brandy. It had a surprisingly sweet edge to it, probably due to sautéing the onions first, caramelizing their sugars. After getting used to it, this was an interesting change of pace, especially when balanced with a bit of cheese, in this case Romano. Personally I prefer the Roman minestrone or the French soupe au pistou, but there was definitely nothing wrong with this.

            Chicken replaced tuna with lemon and oregano, which go well with pretty much any protein. Centuries if not millennia of heavy fishing have made tuna rarer while factory farming has brought the price of chicken down, but at one time chicken was the pricier treat. Spaghetti with a simple mix of oil, minced garlic, and chili flakes is easy to make, uses pantry staples, and pairs well with either.

            It seemed a bit unusual to cook zucchini in the oven, for the simple fact that during the summer when it is in season, many people prefer not to turn the oven on. Maybe the situation is different in Italy, where people are more likely to open windows than rely on air conditioning, and where drier heat makes that feasible. Either way, I outright disregarded the advice to serve the zucchini on separate plates. It saves a few dishes, and the green color was a nice contrast with the chicken and pasta.

            Roasting grapes was an interesting experiment. They aren’t cooked for so long that they become raisins, which are more cost-effective to buy than to make. Rather, they bake just long enough to soften and collapse a bit, concentrating their sugars. I personally prefer them fresh where the skin has a bit of a crunch, but these are enjoyable. No caciocavallo was available.

            Overall, this would be a great special summer menu that isn’t difficult to make. If you’re worried about turning on the oven, I’m sure the zucchini could be grilled, with slices of mozzarella added at the end of cooking. And to be honest, there’s no need to mess with fresh grapes. Table (as opposed to wine) grapes are bred to be juicy and have that slight crunch as you bite through the skin. They’re best enjoyed as is, without bothering with the oven.

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Aspargessuppe - Danish asparagus soup with mock veal dumplings
danish cuisine, food history, soup

Aspargessuppe: Danish Spring Asparagus Soup

1000 Foods (pgs. 344 – 346), recipe found in text

            Ever since the days of Ancient Rome, asparagus has been a symbol of spring and early summer. Ready sooner than most other vegetables, it seems to be especially popular in northern Europe, where long winters mean a longer season without fresh produce. Perhaps this makes people eager to enjoy everything about summer while they can.

            An interesting Danish recipe for asparagus is a soup enriched with veal dumplings and garnished with asparagus tips. Supposedly, it is not as common as it used to be, at least in restaurants. Most likely, this has to do with how fiddly it is to make. The recipe in the text requires at least five saucepans – one to cook and puree the asparagus, one to heat cream or half-and-half, one to heat broth, one to make a combination bechamel/velouté sauce, and one to cook the dumplings. Egg yolks are added at the last minute. Once they are, the soup has to be heated very carefully to prevent curdling.

            I don’t have five saucepans, and I assume most other people don’t either. If the broth and cream are heated in the microwave, the number can be reduced to a more manageable three. You can save another step by not straining the pureed asparagus. The soup won’t be as smooth, but I personally prefer for it to have a bit more texture.

            The first thickener is a combination of two of the French “mother sauces,” bechamel and velouté. Both use a butter and flour mix called roux to thicken a liquid. For bechamel, or white sauce, the liquid is milk, and for velouté, it is a light broth, typically poultry or fish. Yes, velouté is essentially gravy, but using the French term makes it sound fancy. Additional thickening comes from tempered egg yolks. About half of the soup is gradually whisked into the beaten egg yolks to bring them up to temperature, then the mix is added to the pot and heated carefully.

            This was an excellent soup. The asparagus flavor was clear and distinct, enriched but not overpowered by the bechamel/velouté and egg yolks. For some reason, the combined beef and pork “veal” dumplings didn’t puff up like they were supposed to. I suspect this was because I had previously frozen them and didn’t allow adequate time to thaw before cooking, but they still tasted good. For an easier recipe, the soup would be just as good plain. As with most asparagus soup recipes, the asparagus tips are set aside after cooking, reserved as the perfect garnish.

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Anoush Aboor - Armenian wheat and apricot pudding
armenian cuisine, dessert, food history

Armenian Christmas Pudding: Anoush Aboor (wheat berry and dried apricot pudding)

1000 Foods (pgs. 507 – 508), recipe is in the text

            If you’re wondering why I made a Christmas pudding in the middle of summer, it’s because I had all the ingredients in the pantry and wanted to use up what I could. The mix of wheat berries, dried apricots and golden raisins, nuts, and honey sounded like a healthy, tasty alternative to heavy desserts while still satisfying the craving for something sweet and starchy.

            Particularly popular at Christmas, anoush aboor is eaten year-round in both Armenia and Turkey. With the exception of the sugar and cinnamon, all the ingredients have been grown in the region for thousands of years. Situated in eastern Anatolia, near the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, this area was home to some of the earliest farmers. They grew wheat, barley, peas, and beans, raised sheep, goats, and cattle, and soon began selectively breeding and cultivating a variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

            Apricots, an essential part of the dish, were originally domesticated somewhere in Turkey or Armenia. When the fruit was introduced to Rome, the Romans called it prunus armeniacus, meaning roughly “Armenian plum,” or praecox for early, since they ripen before most other stone fruits. Fresh apricots are delicious in the early summer, but are highly perishable and rarely available out of season. To have apricots year-round, people have been sun-drying them for millennia. In the Middle East’s hot dry summers, this was easy and didn’t require the use of often-scarce fuel. Even today, Turkey produces much of the world’s supply.

            Literally, the name anoush aboor translates to “sweet soup,” probably because of its porridge-like consistency. The wheat berries are cooked until they “pop” and release their starch into the water, thickening it. Despite being cooked in just water, the pudding had an almost creamy texture and even taste, sweetened with a mix of sugar, honey, and dried fruit. Chopped almonds and walnuts (I skipped the pine nuts and added extra of the others) gave it a nice crunch, and a sprinkle of cinnamon was a nice finishing touch.

            I had one problem with the recipe. It called for a teaspoon of salt. Since I made a half batch, I used half a teaspoon, which didn’t sound like much. Unfortunately, even that amount made the pudding taste distinctly briny and a bit unpleasant. The pudding was much better stirred into unsalted hot wheat cereal to cut the salt while adding texture, but to be honest, I don’t think I would make this again. Back before modern cakes, cookies, and brownies it might have been a nice treat. Today, it’s pretty lackluster.

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