La Cultura Cura
I have a long week ahead of me. I feel like I'm getting sick. It's starting to get really cold.
Last week I stopped eating meat... this is no small endeavor for someone who grew up on freshly sliced prosciutto from the butcher down the road. I was taught to make gravy (i.e. red sauce) by first sautéing a chunk of pancetta. On top of that I spent the last year in a relationship with an Italian Jew from the Bronx and lived a few years in the South… both these experiences have leant themselves to, well, a lot of meat. Slow cooked baked beans, steak and grits, at least one day a month devoted to the slow simmering of a chicken.
Last week I stopped eating meat... this is no small endeavor for someone who grew up on freshly sliced prosciutto from the butcher down the road. I was taught to make gravy (i.e. red sauce) by first sautéing a chunk of pancetta. On top of that I spent the last year in a relationship with an Italian Jew from the Bronx and lived a few years in the South… both these experiences have leant themselves to, well, a lot of meat. Slow cooked baked beans, steak and grits, at least one day a month devoted to the slow simmering of a chicken.
Well, Hurricane Sandy was a wake up call. Firstly, when the power goes out most meat is not an option. Secondly, the meat industry is screwing up the ecosystem. So, I decided if I can't get my hands on small-farm, no hormone, locally butchered meat, I am not consuming it.
Yet, ever since the hurricane hit and I stopped eating meat, I’ve been feeling apathetic and under the weather. I have no doubt my body is detoxing, but I also wonder about the hurricane – and what it does to bodies and psyches.
To get to the point… I had to make something that would sooth the shock my body is going through.
For a soup to sooth the shock of Sandy, follow these simple steps:
1. In a big pot on a low flame begin by heating up enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot.
2. While oil is heating, roughly chop up an onion and throw it in the pot (you want to hear the onion sizzle when you drop it in… easy way to check it's hot enough is to spit into the pan and listen for the sizzle).
3. While the onion is simmering (keep the flame as low as you can while still maintaining that sizzling sound), chop up four potatoes (I used the purple kind) and throw them in into the pot. Give them a stir.
4. While the potatoes and onions are sautéing, chop up two carrots. Add to the pot, give it all a stir (all the vegetables can be chopped roughly).
5. Always be listening for that constant sizzle. If veggies are sticking to the bottom of the pan just move them to the side, add olive oil, let the oil heat up and then stir it all together. Keep the flame low but never so low that you stop hearing the sizzle.
6. In a similar fashion chop up a turnip, parsnip, bunch of celery, one yam and three beets (add your vegetables to the pot as you're chopping).
7. At this point your pot should be about half full of vegetables and coated in oil. There should be a thick steam coming out of the pot.
8. Add water until the pot is nearly full (leave about an inch at the top). Put a lid on and raise the flame. Bring it all to a light simmer. Once there, lower the flame, keep the lid on and let simmer.
9. Meanwhile, chop up a bunch of green beans and add to the soup.
10. Add a couple bouillon cubes, salt, and a bunch of finely chopped garlic and keep simmering.
11. Let your soup simmer for as long as you want.
12. After an hour or two, turn off the flame and let it sit for fifteen minutes or so.
13. Use an immersion blender or pour into a blender and briefly purée.
14. Pour back into pot. Freeze some of it, put some in a jar for a friend, and the rest top with plentiful parsley OR dill (go ahead and try both if you so please) and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.
15. In a few days take your soup out of the freezer and heat it up with a can of cannellini or add orzo. Always top with parsley or dill and parmigiano reggiano.
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