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Vegetable Soup (Carrot of a small turnip Small)
1/3 of a carrot 1/3 of a small turnip Small piece of cabbage 1 stalk of celery 1 onion 2 potatoes 2 quarts water 2 teaspoons vegetable oil or butter 1/4 cup nut soup stock 1 cup strained tomatoes 1 teaspoon summer savory 1 tablespoon salt Grind the vegetables through a food chopper with the coarse cutter. Put to cook in two quarts cold water. Simmer for three hours. Dissolve the soup stock in the tomato, heat it to boiling, and add it to the soup. Cook one hour longer. Add the savory and salt, and if there is not two quarts, add hot water to make that amount.
The soup stock may be omitted and one-third cup of split peas cooked with the vegetables to take its place.
The broth from this soup may be used for bouillon.
A plain vegetarian vegetable soup built on nut stock rather than meat broth. Almost everything translates directly; the cooking time does not.
- Four hours is far too longThe original simmers the vegetables three hours, then another hour after the tomato goes in. Finely ground root vegetables and cabbage are fully cooked in 30 to 45 minutes, and beyond that the cabbage turns sulphurous and the potato dissolves into starch. Simmer about 45 minutes, then 15 minutes more after the tomato.
- Nut soup stockA vegetarian preparation of the health-reform kitchens: ground peanuts or other nuts as a paste or powder, used the way a modern cook uses bouillon paste. Such stocks were sold ready-made by health-food companies of the period, though books of this kind also gave recipes for making them at home. The nearest substitutes are a spoonful of smooth peanut butter or almond butter whisked into the hot tomato, or simply a good vegetable bouillon. The recipe's own alternative, a third of a cup of split peas cooked with the vegetables, works well and adds body.
- The food chopperA hand-cranked grinder with a coarse plate. Pulse the vegetables in a food processor in short bursts, or chop them small by hand; a continuous processor run gives you purée rather than the coarse grind intended.
- SaltA full tablespoon in two quarts is heavy by present standards, particularly if you use a commercial bouillon in place of the nut stock. Start with a teaspoon and adjust at the end.
- Strained tomatoesCooked tomatoes pressed through a sieve to remove skin and seeds. Passata or plain tomato purée is the same thing; canned crushed tomatoes will do if you do not mind the texture.
- Summer savoryA peppery, thyme-like annual herb, still sold dried. Add it at the end as directed, since its aroma cooks off quickly. Thyme with a pinch of marjoram is a reasonable stand-in.
- The fatTwo teaspoons of oil or butter is listed but never called for in the method. Add it with the vegetables at the start, or stir it in at the end for a slightly richer finish.
- YieldTwo quarts finished, deliberately topped up with hot water to keep that measure. Six to eight servings as a first course. The thin broth strained off, as the last line suggests, makes a light bouillon.