Hanging out at the No-Name Dill Pickle Soup
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Simple Cooking ISSUE NO. 92 OATCAKES ~ HUMMUS, HOLD THE PITA FIVE DOLLARS Hanging Out at Dill Pickle Soup f this were a culinary romance, I would have sampled the No-Name zupa ogórkowa in a crowded tavern in Warszawa. IReality being what it is, I came across this soup in the Polish imported groceries section of the local Stop A Diner Story (with Recipes) & Shop. This part of Massachusetts has a strong Polish The Story So Far: On a run-down part of Water Street sits a presence (there’s even a Polish National Credit Union), tiny, brightly painted, nameless diner. Alec, our narrator, who which makes for easy access to freshly made pierogi owns a used-book store in the row of Victorian commercial and to locally produced kielbasa and even kiszka — a buildings that loom beside it, has gradually become a regular, sausage made of buckwheat groats, pork liver, pork getting to know the Professor (the burly, bearded proprietor snouts, beef blood, diced pork fat, and so on, that has and grill cook), Greg (the Gen-Y waitron-busboy-dishwasher), become one of my breakfast favorites. and, more recently, the Professor’s young daughter, Jess. In Supermarkets here have also gotten into the act, the past few episodes, the Professor has been in hot pursuit carrying a selection of imported Polish grocery items. of the quintessential pea soup recipe. Unfortunately, these are dominated by pickled vegetables swimming in distilled vinegar strong enough to melt inter, in this part of the world, doesn’t give up plastic. Still, I give the shelves a quick glance as I push without a struggle. In fact, it has to be dragged my cart by, and thus it was that an unfamilar glass jar Woff the stage cursing and flailing about. Even so, flagged me down. It was labeled “Cucumber Soup.” there was a hint of spring in this morning’s weather, warm I once made a curry with cucumbers in it. It was and moist enough for a bank of fog to come rising up off very good, and since then I’ve been (mildly) interested the river and blanket the town. It added a bit more thrill in cooked cucumber dishes. In fact, I’ve even made a to the walk downhill over the snow-crusted sidewalks, cucumber soup, following the recipe that appears in older especially with a dog eagerly tugging on her leash. editions of Fannie Farmer. It turned out to be more for When I pulled open the No-Name’s door and went the bridge club than for me — bland, rich, and, well, in, I found the diner empty of customers. The Professor gelded. However, all I had to do was pick up the jar to was leaning over the counter, dourly regarding the head- see this soup was something else. True, its contents lines of the morning paper. were shot through with threads of cucumber (and, for “Quiet in here,” I said, when he looked up. that matter, carrot). But the medium for these was one The Professor grunted. “The working class has big mass of mashed potato. The label lied. This was a eaten and gone,” he replied, “while the leisure class has potato soup, and I love potato soup. yet to venture out into the gloom. That leaves only you as Certainly, if the jar had simply contained chunks a potential customer… well, you and,” he glanced down, of cucumber floating in an herb-speckled broth, I might “your faithful dog.” still have bought it and taken it home, but not with bated Sasha quivered all over to express her joy at be- breath. My palate draws me to foods that are fatty and ing noticed, and, even more so, in the anticipation that, salty and becomes more diffident when the offerings are with the diner being empty, she could actually sit on a sour and/or sweet. This is why my culinary explorations counter stool right beside me. almost never take me to Germany, let alone the European Just then, Greg came out of the kitchen, bear- countries to its east. Borscht, sauerkraut, sauerbraten, ing a tray heaped with clean cups and dishes. His face pickled herring ... I can eat these things, sometimes even brightened when he saw Sasha‘s head poking up just high enough to clear the counter. “Ah ha!” he said. “At last, a customer for our special tasting menu!” He set down the tray with a clatter and hurried back into the kitchen. The Professor, inured to such behavior, didn’t even bother rolling his eyes, He brought up a cup and saucer from beneath the counter with one hand, even as he snared the coffee pot with the other. As I stirred continued on page 6 with pleasure, but entice me they do not. 4 to 6 brine-cured pickles, stem ends trimmed off This lack of connection is the reason why it didn’t and discarded, the rest coarsely grated even occur to me that the cucumber in this soup might 1/2 cup pickling liquid from the jar of pickles be pickled, or — to put the horse before the cart — that salt and black pepper to taste it would turn out to be cucumber pickle soup. Except it wasn’t that, either. serve with: your favorite rye bread and butter I once wrote in an essay about potato soup that • Put the unpeeled potatoes and the carrot chunks into a pot and pour over the water and milk. Bring to a simmer, there’s no shortage of seasonings to bring a welcome spritz cover, and cook for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes can of flavor to a good potato soup. But a good potato soup needs be easily pierced with a serving fork or skewer. (Cooking only a spritz of flavor. Add more and the potato retreats to the potatoes in their skins keeps them from getting wa- play backup for someone else’s show. terlogged and lets the nutrients in the skin leach into the Now, two decades later, here was a lovely exampling of cooking liquid.) that dictum. The sharp-sour, dill-inflected savor of the • As the potatoes and carrots cook, cut the scallions in pickle invigorated the delicate taste of the potato, without half at the point where they turn green. Cut the bottom pieces in half lengthwise, then slice these into large dice. in any way elbowing it aside. (In fact, it made me think Coarsely chop the green ends. that this might be an answer to that dolor that afflicts all but the most carefully crafted potato salads.) I can count • Set a soup pot over medium heat and add the butter. When it has melted, put in the prepared scallions, the on the fingers of one hand the number of commercially minced garlic, and the ground caraway seeds (if using). made soups that I enjoy eating.* It was a pleasure to add Mellow everything gently until the scallions are translu- another to that roster, especially a soup with such a short cent. Keep this warm over a low flame. and admirably unsullied list of ingredients. • When the potatoes are done, remove them from the pot I was able to buy one more jar. Then, on a sub- but reserve the cooking liquid and keep it warm. Once the sequent visit to Stop & Shop, the slot was filled with jars potatoes are cool enough to handle, slip off their skins of something called “vegetable salad.” Cucumber soup (easily done with yellow potatoes). Cut the potatoes into was gone for good. It was never restocked, and I couldn’t quarters and return these to their cooking liquid. Cut the find it anywhere else, including online. Its absence was carrots into little chunks and add them to the soup pot. so total that I found myself wondering if my memory of it • Sprinkle the minced dill over the potatoes. Then, using was but a remnant of a dream. But I wasn’t going to let the edge of a stiff plastic spatula, chop/mash the potatoes it escape so easily. I would just have to make it myself. into a coarse slurry. There should be lots of potato chunks, but none of them very large. Recipes for pickle soup aren’t hard to find if you happen to own any Polish cookbooks. We don’t.† This was • Stir these mushed potatoes, the chopped pickles, and the probably for the best. If what you’re trying to recapture is pickling liquid into the soup pot. Bring this up to a bubbling simmer and let it cook for 5 minutes. If the soup is too thick a memory, the worse way to go about it is to reach for it for your taste, thin it with more milk. Taste for seasoning, through other people’s ideas. However “authentic,” they adding salt as necessary and plenty of black pepper. rarely give you what you’re looking for. And the recipe I worked out for myself did do that — perhaps because Later, I did consult some Polish cookbooks, and by the time I had the soup the way I wanted it, memory loved finding a recipe for “Dill Pickles for Soup” in Robert found itself finessed and graciously gave in. and Maria Strybel’s mammoth 887-page Polish Heritage Cookery. It came with the comment, “If you like zupa ogórkowa as much as we do, you may want to put up Dill Pickle Soup pickles especially for this purpose and have them on hand The pickles can be half-sour, kosher dill, or garlic, but if all year.” There was nothing in the least unusual about the possible they should be naturally cured and vinegar free, recipe except that the pickles were processed in 8-ounce which means you’ll find them in the refrigerated case where jars — just the right size for a single batch of soup! cold cuts and other deli-like items are sold.