The Secret to Making your Good Soup Glorious

I never use a recipe to make soup.

Take an onion, a carrot and a leek — or use whatever veg you have leftover — and turn it into a bowl that will delight your taste buds and make you grateful to be alive.

You don’t need a recipe. This is a simple method of making soup that will always deserve the approving accolades it attracts.

But don’t take my word on it.

My workmate, Ros, used to bring in homemade soup for lunch and I used to bring in mine. One day we were extolling the virtues of our efforts when we thought it a good idea to try each other's soups.

Ros made a mean soup. It was salted and peppered well, full of chunky veg and I’d happily sup a bowl for lunch — but if I had the choice, I’d still eat mine. Ros enjoyed my broth, “Delicious, but maybe a bit too rich for my palette,” she said.

Okay…

It was enough to kick off our competition. We decided to have a blind tasting. Once a week we fed the office troops. They would get half a bowl of her soup and half a bowl of mine, then they’d vote on which soup they preferred.

We did this for three years. Many faces spooned our offerings. Many tongues savoured our broths. I lost only once.

We made a hundred soups. Often we challenged each other to make the same soup; one week it was pea & ham, the next it was chicken testicle, and mushroom madness the week after.

And in all those flavour jousts, the majority of my troops voted in my favour.

Ros was gracious in defeat and I was a courteous victor. We both enjoyed putting a smile on the faces of the workers.

It wasn’t until my final day Ros plucked up the courage to ask, “What’s your secret?”

“I’m a descendant of Tonto McTavish,” I said, “ The great bank robber.”

“No, I mean your soup.”

I learned the secret from a top chef. It’s simple.

Take a big glug of extra virgin olive oil and fry your veg for two minutes in the pot first. Add your salt and pepper when it is frying, this enhances the flavour and you won’t need as much seasoning. Only then add your stock.

You can turn any veg you like into a tremendous taste fest using this method — I often use up what we have left in the fridge.

There is some science behind this.

Fat has the ability to create unique textures that appeal to our many senses.

People used to think that the preference for fatty foods was based solely on their smell and texture. Newer research suggests that we have receptors specifically for fat. This would make ‘fatty’ the sixth basic taste.

A specific receptor has been discovered that responds to linoleic acid, which is part of many triglycerides found in natural fats and oils such as sunflower oil, soya bean oil, or corn oil.

There are many building blocks of flavour. Taste receptors, volatiles, and gustatory cortex are all involved and when you look for the ideal combination, fat plays an important part — perhaps it is a throwback to our suckling days and the combinations of ingredients that make up breast milk.

My Favourite Recipe

My favourite recipe is the easiest.

Fry 2 chopped onions in extra virgin olive oil... season as you sizzle.

Add 2 chopped carrots.

Add one pepper... fry for 2 mins.

Add 1 tin chopped plum tomato.

Stir for 3/4 minutes.

Add fresh basil.

Zap with a blender and serve with crusty bread.