Last week we talked about salads as deliciously simple balmy weather meals. This week? We’re talking cold soup!
Now hang on. I don’t mean cold soup like you heated up a can of grocery isle tomato and let it sit in the pot overnight. No siree bob! What I mean is soup that is meant to be cold. Soup that is deliberately chilled in the fridge and is so deliciously and ridiculously refreshing, you can’t help but scoop a second bowl full.
Want These? Click Here!
There’s all kinds of different cold soups you could make. There’s the Spanish inspired gazpacho which is almost entirely made of raw vegetables, pureed or finely diced and typically has a tomato base. I serve my version in a clear glass for flare! Or ajoblanco – another Spanish cold soup that is made of almonds, breadcrumbs and olive oil (aka white gazpacho) and is served with sliced grapes, balled melon or even pitted cherries. If the creaminess of ajoblanco is enticing to you, you could also make cold avocado and corn soup to showcase the brilliance of Summer corn on the cob. OR, if you want something less creamy and more fresh, why not try some chilled zucchini soup? Summer squash lends itself particularly well to soup because of its tender texture and great ability to breakdown.
The best thing about all these soups – and these are merely a taste of the myriad of combinations you could create – is that they come together so quickly. The brightness of flavor and color of Summer vegetables is an excellent starting point for creating something new. And let’s face it – cold soup, while centuries old in countries like Spain, Portugal and Mexico, is still pretty new in North America. This means whole new wow moments for us, that have been enjoyed and sauveured for lifetimes before us by ancestors. It’s moments like these that remind us how powerful food really is – not just for tastes and textures, but also in connecting us to the past.
And that’s where true kitchen innovation begins – starting with something from the past, something traditional and comforting and well known, and tweaking it. Hot soup? Delicious. Cold soup? Superb. Challenging our senses when cooking doesn’t take a lot of effort, merely modifying a cooking or serving technique, substituting one ingredient for another… In this case, serving something cold that we’d ordinarily expect to be hot. And with that comes profound culinary sensations.
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
How do you feel about cold soup? Ever tried it? Would you? Does soup NEED to be hot? What’s your favorite thing to serve along side soup? Share your thoughts below or join the conversation on our Facebook Page!
The Culinary Exchange can also be found on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube.
Come on! Follow Along!
Trackbacks/Pingbacks