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Fruit Soups
BOUILLON WITH APPLES Put 11/2 pounds apples, cored, peeled and sliced, into 3 pints of thin boiling stock (bouillon cubes may be used) with 2 cloves, 2 crushed cardamons, or a tiny bit of root ginger, and simmer till tender. Press through sieve, reheat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
A thin, savoury apple soup of the kind Central and Northern European kitchens serve hot in autumn. It is quick, but it depends entirely on the stock being light.
- Measures3 pints is 6 cups of stock by American measure (nearer 7½ cups if the pints are imperial); the apples are 1½ pounds, roughly four medium apples once cored and peeled. That volume will serve about six as a first course.
- Thin stock is the point"Thin" means light-bodied and lightly salted — a weak chicken or veal broth. If you use cubes, make them at half the strength on the packet, or the salt and savour will bury the fruit.
- Choose a tart appleBramley, Granny Smith or any cooking apple collapses readily and keeps the soup from turning cloying. Sweet dessert apples give a flat, syrupy result in a savoury broth.
- Cardamom"2 crushed cardamons" means two whole green pods, cracked so the seeds are exposed. Ground cardamom is far stronger; a small pinch is the equivalent.
- TimingSliced apple in simmering liquid is tender in 12 to 20 minutes depending on variety. There is nothing to gain by longer cooking once the slices break under a spoon.
- Fish out the spiceRemove the cloves and pods before sieving. A clove that goes through into the purée dominates the whole pot.
- Sieve or blenderA blender or stick blender does the work of the sieve in seconds, though a fine sieve afterwards gives the smoother texture the original expects. Reheat gently after puréeing and do not let it boil hard.
- Seasoning and servingSalt, pepper, and a spoonful of cider vinegar or lemon juice if the apples were mild — the soup wants a distinct edge. Serve hot with croutons or a swirl of cream; it is also good chilled.
Fruit soups belong to a tradition that runs from Scandinavia through Germany, Poland and Hungary, where cooked fruit was as likely to open a meal as to close it. Medieval and early modern European cookery moved freely between sweet and savoury, and apples cooked with cloves and ginger sat comfortably beside meat. Cardamom was long favoured in Northern European kitchens, in breads as well as in broths.