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Idea comes from 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die, pg. 35, recipe is my own

            For some reason, leeks are a Welsh symbol. They are particularly associated with St. David’s Day, dedicated to Wales’s patron saint. Exactly how this happened is unclear, and history doesn’t provide many clues. At some point after 500 BC, Celtic peoples came to dominate the British Isles, including Wales. Starting in 43 AD, the Roman Empire conquered England and Wales, staying until the 5^th Century.

            During these centuries, the native population became somewhat Romanized, adopting many Roman customs and, from the 4^th Century onward, Christianity. These Romano-Britons spoke a Celtic language similar to Welsh. After the legions left to deal with everything else going on in the 5^th Century, Anglo-Saxons from modern Germany began invading the island. The Romano-British chieftains put up a spirited defense, but were gradually pushed west into Wales, which is why the land to the east came to be called “Angle-Land,” later England. Did the proto-Welsh use leeks, which were a favorite of the Romans, to distinguish themselves from the Saxons? It’s possible.

            One of these proto-Welsh chieftains became the basis of the King Arthur legends. In other words, the man behind the myth was Welsh, not English. Perhaps because Wales is hillier and less fertile than England, or perhaps because they were busy fighting first each other and later the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons mostly left the Welsh alone. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, so did the descendants of William the Conqueror. They were busy fighting rebellious Saxons, building an empire in France larger than what was controlled by the French king, and fighting their relatives over shares in that empire. There were some incursions into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, but the Anglo-Norman kings of England were mostly occupied elsewhere.

            This changed in the 13^th Century, probably because the kings of England lost most of their land in France. With the French kings much stronger than before, reconquest was a difficult proposition. So the English kings turned their energy towards the rest of the British Isles. King Edward I conquered Wales in the 1280s, and from then on heirs to the English throne were called the Prince of Wales. One story goes that the Welsh asked King Edward for a prince that spoke neither English nor French, so he presented them with his infant son, the future Edward II, who did not yet speak any language.

            Unlike Scotland and Ireland, Wales merged into the English monarchy with only a few early rebellions. It remained a culturally distinct backwater, but Welsh longbowmen played an essential role in the Hundred Years’ War. Without them, the English could not have won so many battles against much larger French forces.

            In Wales’s cool, wet climate, raising livestock was more profitable than growing most crops. Oats, barley, rye, and root vegetables grow more easily than wheat. Traditional Welsh dishes tend to be homey and comforting, not spicy and exciting. Not many Welsh specialties are known outside the British Isles, but one of the more famous is leek broth, called cawl cennin in Welsh. It’s a simple mix of leeks, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage, flavored with bacon and thickened with oatmeal.

            Except for the potatoes, this sounds a lot like the thick soups, called pottages, eaten by most medieval Europeans. The ingredients varied by social class and the occasion, but for the common people, vegetable-based soups and bread were the core of the diet. These were supplemented with butter and cheese, some meat and fish (usually salted), fruit in season, and beer, cider, or wine, depending on the region. Leeks and salted pork products like ham or bacon gave pottages more flavor, and vegetables like carrots and cabbages kept reasonably well over the winter. Grains, particularly those like oats and barley that were less useful for making bread, were often added as thickeners.

            Once potatoes became common in the 17^th Century, they went into the pot too. Before soup bases and bouillon cubes, water would have been the liquid. Until the 20^th Century, chicken was more expensive than beef, mutton, or pork, so there would be no chicken broth in a common, everyday dish. Today, a bit of bouillon or soup base is typical in leek broth, adding extra flavor for just a few cents.

            As far as affordable home cooking goes, leek broth is a great choice. The root vegetables are full of vitamins, and the oats make it taste sort of creamy and surprisingly filling. The soup/stew has a fair amount of starch, but carbohydrates are not the enemy, especially in the form of carrots and whole grains like oats. A chunk of whole grain bread would be a great accompaniment, maybe with a piece of cheese or glass of milk for extra protein. And don’t skip the bacon. Per serving, it does not add that much fat, and a little bit adds a ton of flavor. Which makes a popular New Year’s resolution a bit easier.

Ingredients:

• About 8 ounces bacon, diced
• 2 large leeks, halved lengthwise, cleaned, and thinly sliced crosswise
• 8 ounces carrots, thinly sliced
• 6 medium-sized red potatoes, cut into roughly ½ inch cubes
• Half of a small green cabbage, thinly sliced
• About ½ cup to 1 cup rolled oats (not steel-cut or instant)
• Chicken broth or water (broth from a soup base is perfectly good here)

Directions:

1. Place the bacon in a large soup pot over medium heat. Cook until starting to crisp, then add the leeks, carrots, and potatoes. Do not drain the fat. All the other ingredients are healthy, and it is essential for the best flavor.
2. Cook the root vegetables in the bacon fat with the bacon, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to cook down and release their moisture.
3. Add enough water to cover, about 12 cups. If desired, add 1 teaspoon soup base or bouillon per cup of water.
4. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are soft.
5. Stir in the cabbage and oats. Cook on low heat, stirring frequently, until the cabbage softens and the soup begins to thicken.
6. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve hot. Don’t worry about presentation; leek broth tastes a lot better than it looks.

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