Soupy Days

Soupy weather outside the office window

It’s a gloomy twenty-first day of December. The clouds here in San Francisco have floated eastward over the hills to sink and settle into the valleys, casting damp grey light over the rows of old wooden houses. Cars swoosh cautiously through shiny streets, and the otherwise bright Victorians are sulking impatiently in the light rain, their drooping eaves dripping with mist.

The holidays are still a couple of days away, but instead of anticipation and streets full of festive twinkliness, San Francisco has the dull silence of empty kitchens and dark offices. Most residents here have originally come from somewhere else, and many have already packed up and headed out of town to spend a few days back home.

Today, more than almost any other day, calls for basic quiet food that nourishes and reassures. This is the shortest day of the year, and it needs soup.

Rich extravagance is nigh; we don’t need to upstage pending celebratory meals that will come later this week. A thick stew would be too hearty; that kind of food is for genuinely cold days later in the winter. No, this sleepy “calm before the storm” evening calls for something simple and filling, like split pea soup.

I’ve made minor adaptations to a Swiss recipe from Bernard Clayton’s Complete Book of Soups and Stews. It’s based on one from a Peter Rifibach at the Hotel Bären in Guttannen, and fits today’s mood perfectly.

Half a pound of yellow split peas
A quarter pound of lardons, pork cracklings or bacon
Two tablespoons of butter
Half a turnip, chopped
Half a cup of chopped celery
One cup of leeks, washed and sliced
Six to eight sprigs of parsley, tied in a bundle
Three quarters of a pound of potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
Six cups of beef stock
A cloth spice bag (sachet d’épice) containing two bay leaves, two cloves, six black peppercorns and a crushed clove of garlic
A teaspoon of salt
Two cups of cream
Half a cup of chopped parsley

Soak the split peas in water for a 8-10 hours beforehand. Drain them.

Melt the butter in a large pot with the pork. Add the turnip, celery, leeks and parsley. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Add the potatoes, peas and beef stock. Cover and simmer for at least 2 hours. For the last half hour of cooking, add the spice bag and parsley bundle.

Remove the spice bag and the parsley bundle. Remove the pot from the heat, add salt and cream, and puree the soup in a food processor.

Ladle into warm bowls, garnish with parsley.

Take a deep breath. Enjoy.