Soup: Winter’s Warmth

Are you sipping a cup of hot and sour from Pim’s Thai Orchid as you read this? Or maybe just anticipating opening a can of Progresso for lunch? Winter is soup season.

WHEN: Today, or perhaps sometime this weekend. Did you know that January is National Soup Month?

WHAT: “Soup is the song of the hearth... and the home.” — Louis P. De Gouy

WHERE: Forget your kitchen for just a moment. Soups—fabulous ones—are available throughout the Upper Valley. Here are some favorites:

Simon Pearce’s Cheddar Soup: Words fail. Nothing beats this heavenly concoction of cheese and cream, even if you can afford it calorie-wise only on rare and special occasions. Simon Pearce serves it at the table, where you can gaze over the frozen falls, or order it to go. Or, stay home in your pajamas and make it in your own kitchen. (Click here for recipe.)

Boisvert’s Curbside Kitchen’s Clam Chowder: Boston’s Legal Seafood clam chowder, served regularly at presidential inaugurations, is the standard against which I measure all other clam chowders. Boisvert’s gives it a robust run for the money. Remember that Boisvert’s has moved from the Lebanon green to 2 miles away on the Dartmouth College Highway. (Photo, top)

Carpenter and Main’s Soups To Go: The menu changes at this Norwich VT institution that is offering soup for take-out or curbside by the pint and quart for family style dining. Available Wednesday through Sunday, and as an aside, their affordable Sunday take-out suppers are worth checking out.

WHY: "Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite." — Auguste Escoffier

WHO: Louis P. De Gouy. Never heard of him? Nor had I. He’s a wordsmith of the pure poetry of soup, chef for decades at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria, author of the simply titled The Soup Book, and a founding member of Gourmet Magazine (1941-2009). That’s him in the photo, below.

WATCH: The master of all, Jacques Pépin, gives 5-minute-or-less cooking lessons every day on his Facebook page which are pure gold. Relaxed, approachable . . . his voice is as mesmerizing as his hands are skilled. Recently he made an enormous pot of Black Bean Soup, including an optional garnish of banana (yes!) or the more traditional hard-cooked egg. (Photo, below, click here for video.)

HOW TO: Soups are economical. The Co-op Food Stores promises that you can lessen food waste and make soup with any vegetable languishing on your counter or in your bin. Join them (here) for an online lesson on January 14.

Weather’s cold. Soup is hot. To quote Louis one more time “Soup is cuisine's kindest course. It breathes reassurance; it steams consolation . . .” And while slurping is still considered rude in America, no one will know you’re doing it if you’re dining alone. Bon appétit.

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Welcome! You’re reading Artful, a blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley, and I hope you’ll subscribe and then share this with your friends and on your social media. And in case you are wondering . . .

Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.